Nettie Stevens — Questions and answers

Read the full story

What big mystery was Nettie Maria Stevens trying to figure out at the start of the 20th century?

Choices

  1. How plants grow taller.
  2. What makes an organism male or female. ✓
  3. Why mealworms eat so much.
  4. How cells split apart.

Answer: What makes an organism male or female.

From page 1

Before Nettie Stevens' important work, what did many scientists think might decide if an animal was male or female?

Choices

  1. The color of its fur.
  2. The type of food it ate.
  3. Things like how warm it was or what its mother ate. ✓
  4. The number of its legs.

Answer: Things like how warm it was or what its mother ate.

From page 2

What made Nettie Stevens' journey into science special compared to others at the time?

Choices

  1. She started her studies when she was very young.
  2. She went straight to a famous university after high school.
  3. She began her science career later in life after teaching for many years. ✓
  4. She only studied plants, not animals.

Answer: She began her science career later in life after teaching for many years.

From page 3

Why was the mealworm a good choice for Nettie Stevens' studies?

Choices

  1. They were very colorful and pretty to look at.
  2. They were easy to find, breed, and had clear chromosomes to see. ✓
  3. They could fly very fast.
  4. They could talk and tell her what she wanted to know.

Answer: They were easy to find, breed, and had clear chromosomes to see.

From page 4

What special difference did Nettie Stevens notice when she looked at the chromosomes of male and female mealworms?

Choices

  1. Female mealworms had tiny wings, but males did not.
  2. Male mealworms had a very small chromosome that females didn't have. ✓
  3. Female mealworms had 10 more chromosomes than males.
  4. Male mealworms glowed in the dark.

Answer: Male mealworms had a very small chromosome that females didn't have.

From page 5

According to Nettie Stevens' discovery, what determines if an offspring will be male or female?

Choices

  1. The weather outside when the baby is born.
  2. Whether the father's sperm carries an X or a Y chromosome. ✓
  3. The mother's age when she has the baby.
  4. The amount of food the baby eats.

Answer: Whether the father's sperm carries an X or a Y chromosome.

From page 7

What important scientific idea did Nettie Stevens' work help prove with strong evidence?

Choices

  1. That all animals are the same size.
  2. That the moon affects tides.
  3. The chromosome theory of inheritance, showing traits are linked to chromosomes. ✓
  4. That fruit flies like bananas.

Answer: The chromosome theory of inheritance, showing traits are linked to chromosomes.

From page 8

What are some of the important things that Nettie Stevens' discovery helped scientists understand later on?

Choices

  1. How to build taller buildings.
  2. Why some people have color blindness or other genetic conditions. ✓
  3. The best way to bake a cake.
  4. How to predict the weather accurately.

Answer: Why some people have color blindness or other genetic conditions.

From page 9

What important message did Nettie Stevens believe about the value of a scientific fact?

Choices

  1. It depends on how famous the scientist is.
  2. It depends on how much money it makes.
  3. It depends on its truth and its power to explain, not who found it. ✓
  4. It depends on how quickly it was discovered.

Answer: It depends on its truth and its power to explain, not who found it.

From page 10