Natural Selection
Rock Layers
Geologic Time/Fossils
Misc.
100
What does this sequence illustrate?
a. how variation results in an adaptation
b. how camouflage results in variation
c. how selective breeding results in an adaptation
d. how mimicry results in variation
a. how variation results in adaptation
100
What does the law of superposition say?
Older rocks are at the bottom, younger rocks are at the top.
100
What is a fossil?
Remnants of an organism that have been preserved in rock. Could be actual body parts, or impressions like footprints.
100
Which of the following is an example of an adaptation?
a. a bird learning to fly
b. a plant growing taller during the summer
c. a polar bear's thick fur in a cold environment
d. an animal migrating to a new habitat
c. a polar bear's thick fur in a cold environment
200
What is the difference between natural selection and artificial selection?
In artificial selection humans are the ones who decide which traits are preferable, whereas in natural selection nature decides which traits are preferable.
200
What is the difference between relative age and absolute age?
Absolute age is a fossils numerical age in years, whereas relative age is its age when compared to another fossil (this one is older than that one)
200
What is the geologic time scale?
A scale used to organize the history of the earth and its species.
200
Can an individual organism make a conscious decision to adapt and change its physical characteristics?
No. You cannot change your DNA
300
Individuals within a population have slightly different traits, called variations. How do variations improve the likelihood that a population will survive?
a. Variation enables individuals to produce offspring that will survive into adulthood
b. Variation enables the population to create new genes, which help individuals survive a significant change in their environment.
c. Variation provides the raw material upon which natural selection acts in a population.
d. Variation enables individuals who are very different from the rest of the population to reproduce more successfully.
C. variation provides the raw material upon which natural selection acts in a population
300
Organize the rock layers from oldest to youngest using the letters.
C, B, A, D, E
300
Put the following geologic time periods in order from oldest to youngest: Jurassic, Cambrian, pleistocene
cambrian, Jurassic pleistocene
300
A scientist has found that the color patterns of many marine fish species in the larval stage are very similar. These same species of fish show great differences in appearance in the adult stage.
What is one conclusion the scientist could make from these observations?
a. The similarities in the larval stage may be used to establish common ancestry in some marine fish species.
b. Adult fish species’ appearances can reveal close evolutionary relationships.
c. The larvae of many marine fish species reveal that they do not share a common ancestor.
d. The larvae of many marine fish species are very different in appearance.
a. The similarities in the larval stage may be used to establish common ancestry in some marine fish species.
400
In natural selection, who or what is doing the selecting for desirable traits?
nature/the environment
400
Which statement is true about rock layers?
a. Only the older rocks contain fossils of complex life forms.
b. Only the younger rocks contain simple life forms.
c. Both older and younger rocks contain more complex life forms.
d. Only the younger rocks contain fossils of complex life forms.
d. Only the younger rocks contain fossils of complex life forms
400
What is an index fossil?
A fossil that scientists can use to date other fossils because it appears and disappears quickly.
400
What is the difference between a trace fossil and a body fossil?
Body fossils preserve an actual body part such as teeth or bones, whereas trace fossils preserve the activities of an organism, such as footprints.
500
What is the name of the scientist who discovered natural selection and evolution and wrote about it in his book, "On the Origin of Species"?
Charles Darwin
500
What is another name for the law of superposition?
the law of stratigraphy
500
Explain how the fossil record provides evidence for the theory of evolution.
We observe species becoming more complex and adapting to their environment over time as we look at the fossil record from oldest to youngest.
500
How old is planet earth in years?
4.5 billion