Evolution &
Adaptations
Adaptations
A genetic trait selected for over time because it gives a survival advantage, like the long necks of giraffes or the sharp teeth of a lion.
What is an adaptation?
This molecule is found in cells and carries genetic information.
What is DNA?
The tendency for objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest.
What is inertia?
This is the largest object in our solar system.
The smallest unit of life, all living things are made of these.
What are cells?
Structures with the same origin but different functions, like a whale's flipper and a bird's wing.
What are homologous traits?
A section of DNA that codes for a particular trait.
What is a gene?
This law of physics allows us to relate mass, acceleration, and net force.
What is F=ma?
What is Newton's second law?
Like the Earth, these planets are mostly made of rocks.
What are terrestrial planets?
The energy something has because its molecules are moving.
What is thermal energy or heat energy?
A species that later evolved into two or more related species.
What is a common ancestor?
A change in the DNA of a cell.
What is a mutation?
The energy something has because it is moving.
What is Kinetic Energy?
Like Jupiter, these planets are mostly made of gas.
What are the gas giants or Jovian planets?
This process allows plants to make food from carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight.
What is Photosynthesis?
The process in which organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
What is Natural Selection?
In this type of reproduction, an organism makes offspring without genetic material from a second parent.
What is asexual reproduction?
The energy something has because of its position.
What is Potential Energy?
An attractive force that all objects exert on all other objects and that keeps planets in orbit.
What is gravity?
The smallest unit of a chemical element, these combine to form molecules.
What are atoms?
A "leftover" structure from an ancestor species that serves a greatly reduced function, like the human appendix.
What is a vestigial trait?
This type of trait can be "covered up" and skip generations.
What is a recessive trait?
The number of times a wave passes every second.
What is frequency?
These two factors affect the strength of gravity between two objects.
What are mass and distance?
The name of this former supercontinent means "all of the Earth."
What is Pangea?