UNIT 1- Natural Selection & Evolution

Question 1

What is Natural Selection?

Answer 1

Natural Selection is the process by which certain inherited traits make it easy for some individuals to thrive and multiply. Changing the genetic population over time.

Question 2

Who first identified the Natural Selection process?

Answer 2

Charles Darwin.

Question 3

What type of evidence (that is available today) did Darwin lack that help support his theory?

Answer 3

DNA of organisms

Question 4

What is Fitness in terms of Natural Selection?

Answer 4

Fitness is a species relative ability to survive and reproduce.

Question 5

Why is Natural Selection considered to produce evolutionary change?

Answer 5

Natural Selection changes the genetic composition of entire populations.

Question 6

Explain why this statement is not accurate: “The light peppered moths needed to adapt to the dark trees after the industrial revolution so they decided to change their color in order to survive”.

Answer 6

This statement is not accurate because light colored moths do not decide to be dark. Over time the species traits began getting darker because of the environment, and the darker moths began reproducing to make more- even darker moths. The light moths, that also lacked favorable traits, soon died off.

Question 7

In Miss Page’s Bio class, we have the four factors of Charles Darwin’s ideas. What is the first one?

Answer 7

FACTOR 1: More Individuals are born than can survive and reproduce.

Question 8

In Miss Page’s Bio class, we have the four factors of Charles Darwin’s ideas. What is the second one?

Answer 8

FACTOR 2: Individuals within a population inherit traits from their parents. These traits show variation.

Question 9

In Miss Page’s Bio class, we have the four factors of Charles Darwin’s ideas. What is the third one?

Answer 9

FACTOR 3: Individuals in a population will struggle to survive due to limited resources (e.g., food, habitat or mates) and predation.

Question 10

In Miss Page’s Bio class, we have the four factors of Charles Darwin’s ideas. What is the fourth one?

Answer 10

FACTOR 4: Some offspring inherit variations of traits that help them better survive and reproduce in their environment.

Question 11

“Many stickleback inherit spines on their backs, with some having spines on their underside.”, What factor out of the four, would this fact go into?

Answer 11

Factor 2; Individuals within a population inherit traits from their parents. These traits show variation.

Question 12

“Some stickleback have inherited body armor plates.”, What factor out of the four, would this fact go into?

Answer 12

Factor 4; Some offspring inherit variations of traits that help them better survive and reproduce in their environment.

Question 13

How does each factor contribute to natural selection?

Answer 13

Each factor is an example of shifts that happen over periods of time, furthermore changing traits that help or hurt organisms. Natural Selection is the process that species change over time, the factors expand on how.

Question 14

What two scientists had different ideas about the change in populations? We studied each one, and compared their ideas.

Answer 14

Charles Darwin & Jean Baptiste de Lamarck.

Question 15

What is a summary of the ideas of Acquired Characteristics by Jean Baptiste de Lamarck? (scientist 1)

Answer 15

Lamarck’s idea of Acquired Characteristics are: When the environment changes so do the animal’s traits. If an animal has a disadvantage the animal can work on the trait to change, and it will, soon to be passed down to future gen.

Question 16

What is a summary of the ideas of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin? (scientist 2)

Answer 16

Darwin’s idea of Natural Selection are: Environments that are not fit with an animal, that animal will die off if lacking favorable traits. As well as the offspring with the same characteristics that are a disadvantage.

Question 17

What is Genetic Diversity?

Answer 17

Genetic Diversity is the variety of genes and alleles in a species or ecosystem.

Question 18

What TWO main sources do genetic diversity come from?

Answer 18

Mutation & Sexual Reproduction

Question 19

What is Mutation?

Answer 19

Mutation is a change in DNA and ultimate source of new genetic variation.

Question 20

What is Adaptation?

Answer 20

Adaptation is like a match made with an organism to an environment.

Question 21

What is an embryo?

Answer 21

An unborn organism in the earliest stages of development.

Question 22

How is embryology relevant to the study of evolution?

Answer 22

The more similar the organisms are as embryos the more related they are.

Question 23

Explain how studying DNA sequences (genes) helps scientists to determine which species are closely related.

Answer 23

The more similar two organisms’ DNA are, the more closely they are related.

Question 24

How does the fossil record support the theory of evolution?

Answer 24

Fossils show evidence of species that lived long before our time, providing evidence and supporting the idea of evolution.

Question 25

What are homologous structures?

Answer 25

Homologous structures are structures of animals that indicate a similar structure, but a different function.

Question 26

What is an example of homologous structures?

Answer 26

An example of this would be the structure of the human arm and the whale fin are similar, yet used for different functions.

Question 27

What are vestigial structures?

Answer 27

Remnants or “ancient features that are still seen in organisms, although are no longer useful.

Question 28

What is an example of vestigial structures?

Answer 28

An example of this would be an appendix that humans have to digest raw meat.

Question 29

What is the difference of homologous and vestigial structures?

Answer 29

Homologous structures are what organisms use, just different from others. Vestigial structures are useless, not depending on differences or not.