Praxis 5005 Practice Question
A teacher is introducing the geologic time scale to third-grade students. She tells them that the entire history of Earth, from its formation to the present day, was 24 hours long, with 12:00 midnight representing the time of the formation of Earth and 12:00 midnight the following night representing the present day. About what time did humans appear in this 24-hour time scale?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: In the 24-hour representation of Earth's history, humans appeared very recently, roughly 200,000 years ago, which corresponds to just a couple of minutes before midnight. Therefore, 11:58 PM accurately reflects this brief span in relation to Earth's 4.5 billion-year timeline.
Option B, 9:00 PM, suggests a much earlier appearance of humans, which is inaccurate. Option C, 6:00 PM, places humans in a time period when dinosaurs were still dominant, which is incorrect. Option D, 1:00 PM, is far too early, as it would represent the rise of complex life forms long before humans existed. Thus, 11:58 PM best illustrates the recent emergence of humans in Earth’s extensive history.
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