Definitions
Giraffes
The long-necked giraffes had a better chance of survival because they could eat the leaves from trees. The shorter necks giraffes could not compete well for food and could not survive as long.
What is the difference between a theory and a fact?
In the scientific method, there is a clear distinction between facts, which can be observed and/or measured, and theories, which are scientists' explanations and interpretations of the facts.
This is the difference between a body fossil and a trace fossil.
Body fossils are parts of an organism's body, and trace fossils are anything made by or left behind by an organism.
How does genetic variability affect a population's chances of survival?
A genetically diverse population of individuals is more likely to survive than a population of individuals with similar genetic makeup. Variation allows some individuals within a population to adapt to the changing environment and natural selection allows the expression of those beneficial traits to persist.
Peppered Moths of Manchester
Its patterning makes it well camouflaged against lichen-covered tree trunks when it rests on them during the day. There is also a naturally occurring genetic mutation, which causes some moths to have almost black wings. The black wing color became a more beneficial adaptation during the rise of the Industrial Revolution.
What is the name of the scientist who developed the Theory of Evolution?
Charles Darwin
A method of dating rocks and minerals using radioactive isotopes
What is radiometric/radioactive dating?
Describe how an adaptation, such as better running speed, relates to natural selection.
Natural selection produces adaptations, such as better running speed, to help individuals survive and reproduce.
Using stone tools, using fire to cook with, building shelters, and eventually learning to farm, building technology to make life more convenient
Many of Darwin's major discoveries happened in this location.
What are the Galapagos Islands?
Fossils can only be formed in this type of rock.
What is sedimentary rock?
Why do scientists consider homologous structures evidence for evolution?
Homologous structures provide evidence for common ancestry.
This term refers to the genes of all members of a population.
What is gene pool?
Stick insects have a camouflage superpower! They usually look like either sticks or leaves and can hide remarkably well in their natural environment.
The process in which nature determines which individuals/adaptations survive is known as this.
What is natural selection?
This explains how sedimentary rock is formed.
Sedimentary rocks are formed from deposits of pre-existing rocks or pieces of once-living organisms that accumulate on the Earth's surface.
Why is having a way of defining species and distinguishing between them important for the study of evolution?
A distinction between species allows scientists to understand the common origin of all species. A common definition of species allows scientists to agree on all aspects of the theory of evolution.
The adjustment of organisms to their environment in order to improve their chances at survival in that environment.
What is an adaptation?
American pronghorn vs Cheetah
Pronghorns evolved to be the 2nd fastest land mammal because only the fast pronghorns were able to outrun their main predators, which were cheetahs
The principle that all species can be traced back to the same organism is known as this.
What is common ancestry?
This explains what a fossil record is used for.
The fossil record is a collection of fossils documenting the history of life on Earth. These fossils can teach us about the existence, diversity, and extinction of organisms and their relationship to modern organisms.
If a population stopped reproducing sexually, but still reproduced asexually, how would its genetic variation and chances of survival be affected over time?
Its genetic variation and chances of survival would decrease over time.
The presence of differences in sequences of genes between individual organisms of a species.
What is genetic variation?
Medium ground finches of the Galapagos Islands
Medium ground finches with larger beaks could take advantage of alternate food sources because they could crack open larger seeds. The smaller-beaked birds couldn't do this, so they died of starvation.
Random changes to an individual's DNA code that fuel the variability in populations and thus enable evolutionary change.
What is a ? mutation
In order for evolution to happen, this must exist in a species.
What is genetic variation?
Explain the differences between the effects that artificial and natural selection have on a population.
Natural selection is any selection process that occurs as a result of an organism's ability to adapt to its surroundings. Artificial selection, on the other hand, is selective breeding that is imposed by an external entity, usually humans, in order to enhance the frequency of desirable features.