Stephen Jay Gould

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/stephen-jay-gould

1. When was Stephen Jay Gould born?
2. When did Stephen Jay Gould die?
3. Where was Stephen Jay Gould born?
4. What was Stephen Jay Gould's most famous idea about how species change over time?
5. Why did Stephen Jay Gould write essays in Natural History magazine?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Stephen Jay Gould born?September 10, 1941
2. When did Stephen Jay Gould die?May 20, 2002 (age 60)
3. Where was Stephen Jay Gould born?New York City, USA
4. What was Stephen Jay Gould's most famous idea about how species change over time?He proposed "punctuated equilibrium," which says species stay the same for a long time and then change quickly in short bursts.
5. Why did Stephen Jay Gould write essays in Natural History magazine?He wanted to explain science in a fun and clear way so many people could understand and enjoy it.

Punctuated Equilibrium: A theory positing that evolutionary history is characterized by long periods of stasis interrupted by brief, rapid bursts of change.
Contingency in Evolution: The idea that evolutionary history is shaped by chance events, making the current state of life not inevitable.
Macroevolution: Evolutionary change at or above the level of species, often studied through the fossil record.