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A Plague of Frogs--Study Questions to accompany the book.
CHAPTER 6: When the Fish Began to Walk
1. What is evolution?
2. How old is the Earth?
3. Why was the term Deep Time developed?
4. Explain how evolution causes changes.
5. What is a tetrapod?
6. Why is being a tetrapod important?
7. What is a sentinel species?
8. Explain why the ‘canary in the coal mine’ scenario does and does not apply to the deformed frogs.
9. Why did some people refer to the frogs as “thalidomide frogs”?
10. What is a species? Is it always a clear definition? Explain.
11. Besides limb development, what do you think might be highly conserved between species? Why?
12. What does a toxicologist do?
13. Compare chemical toxicity in humans with drinking wine.
14. What is a carcinogen?
15. What is a genotoxin?
16. Defend or refute: The Bocks’ lake outbreak was good news for the deformed frog research.
17. Give as complete a definition of the word evolution as you can.
18. What does the concept of Deep Time mean?
19. Design a timeline to show the relative appearance of major life forms on the planet.
20. Which organisms make up the group of animals known as the amphibians?
21. What are the benefits of a tetrapod limb?
22. Give a brief description of what makes a sentinel species.
23. Why is it important for a sentinel species to have the same end point as a human?
24. Describe the happenings in Great Britain in the 1960's and the sedative thalidomide.
25. What is meant by the term conservation when it comes to DNA?
26. What is the main focus of a toxicologist?
27. What does a dose response curve represent?
28. Describe the process of metabolic activation as it occurs in the liver.
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