Lucy (Australopithecus) - Answers 1
Lucy (Australopithecus) - Answers 1. Where was the skeleton of Lucy found? Tick one.
England
✓ Ethiopia Australia
Austria
2. What part of Lucy’s skeleton was found first? Tick one.
jaw bone
✓ elbow bone ankle bone
3. Look at the section titled Discovery of a Lifetime. Find and copy one word which means a broken piece of something. fragment
4. What is the name of the song Lucy is named after? The song Lucy is named after is ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ by The Beatles.
5. How tall was Lucy? Tick one.
3.5 metres
2.1 metres
1.5 metres
✓ 1.1 metres 6. Which of these foods would Lucy have eaten? Tick two.
✓ nuts cheese
✓ fruit chocolate
Page 1 of 6 visit twinkl.com Lucy (Australopithecus) - Answers
7. Why was Lucy such as important discovery? Use evidence in the text to support your answer. Pupils’ own responses, such as: Lucy was an important discovery because she was the first fossil found for her species. At the time, Lucy was the earliest human ever found and she helped scientists understand how humans have evolved.
Page 2 of 6 visit twinkl.com Lucy (Australopithecus) - Answers 1. What year was Lucy discovered? Tick one.
1947
✓ 1974 2007
1924
2. How old was Lucy’s skeleton when it was found? Tick one.
less than 1 million years old
more than 5 million years old
✓ more than 3 million years old less than 3 years old
3. Look at the section titled Discovery of a Lifetime. Find and copy one word which means a feeling or guess based on instinct. hunch
4. What does the word Australopithecus mean? Tick one.
✓ southern ape southern skeleton
Australian ape
African ape
5. What is the name given to the fossil found in South Africa in 1924? The name given to the fossil is the ‘Taung Child’. (Also accept Australopithecus africanus.)
6. How old do scientists think Lucy was when she died? Tick one.
29 years old
12 months old
21 years old
✓ 12 years old
Page 3 of 6 visit twinkl.com Lucy (Australopithecus) - Answers
7. How did Lucy get her name? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. Pupils’ own responses, such as: Lucy got her name because while they were working, the team were listening to The Beatles song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’. They had found out the skeleton belonged to a female and the nickname, ‘Lucy’, stuck.
8. How is Lucy different to modern humans? Use evidence rom the text to support your answer. Pupils’ own responses, such as: She was much smaller than the average 12-year-old human at only 1.1m tall; she weighed 29kg, much less than an average 12-year-old human; she had long, dangly arms; she spent much of her time up in the trees; she was a herbivore; modern humans are omnivores (able to eat and digest both plants and meat); her brain was smaller than a modern human.
Page 4 of 6 visit twinkl.com Lucy (Australopithecus) - Answers
1. What process did Lucy’s discovery help scientists better understand? Lucy’s discovery helped scientists better understand the process of humanevolution.
2. Where were the scientists digging when they discovered Lucy? Tick one.
New York, USA
✓ Afar region, Ethiopia
Southern Greece
South Africa
3. Why did the scientists choose to dig in this place? The Afar region of Ethiopia was known as a possible hotspot for finding fossils.
4. What year was the ‘Taung Child’ discovered? Tick one.
1942
1974
✓ 1924 2004
5. Why do you think the ‘Taung Child’ was given the name Australopithecus africanus? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. Pupils’ own responses, such as: The ‘Taung Child’ was given the name Australopithecus africanus because ‘australopithecus’ means ‘southern ape’. The ‘Taung Child’ was found in the southern hemisphere and ‘africanus’ means that it was found in Africa.
6. What injury was discovered on Lucy’s skeleton? Lucy’s skeleton had a single tooth mark from a carnivore on her pelvis.
Page 5 of 6 visit twinkl.com Lucy (Australopithecus) - Answers
7. Why was Lucy such an important discovery? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. Pupils’ own responses, such as: Lucy was an important discovery because she was from a new kind of human ancestor that had only recently been discovered. She was given the category of a new species. She was the earliest ‘human’ ever found at that time. Her discovery allowed scientists to better understand how humans evolved and what they would have been like 3 million years ago when Lucy was alive.
8. What similarities and differences are there between Lucy and modern humans? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. Pupils’ own responses, such as: She was much smaller than the average 12-year-old human at only 1.1m tall; she weighed 29kg, much less than an average 12-year-old human; she had long, dangly arms; she spent much of her time up in the trees; she was a herbivore; modern humans are omnivores (able to eat and digest both plants and meat); Lucy’s brain was smaller than a modern human; she walked upright like modern humans.
Page 6 of 6 visit twinkl.com