Vocabulary
A trait that helps an organism survive.
Adaptation
This scientist is famous for discovering natural selection, explaining how plants and animals change over time.
Charles Darwin
True or False? All individuals in a species are the same.
False - Individuals in a species show variation—they have differences in traits like size, color, and behavior.
This type of adaptation involves physical body features.
structural adaptation
Camouflage and mimicry are examples of this type of adaptation.
structural adaptation
The process where animals with helpful traits survive and have more offspring than others.
natural selection
Natural selection is a process where living things with traits that help them ___________ and ___________ are more likely to pass those traits to the next generation.
survive and reproduce
Differences in traits (such as fur color, height, and speed) are caused by genetic ___________, which create genetic variation within a population.
mutations
This type of adaptation involves actions.
behavioral adaptation
Polar bears have thick fur and fat to survive cold; this shows how adaptations are shaped by the __________.
environment
A change in a population over many generations.
Evolution
True or false? Survival of the fittest means that only the biggest, fastest, and strongest organisms survive.
False
Variations within a population that are _________ will improve the overall fitness of the population.
Harmful or beneficial
beneficial
This type of adaptation involves internal body processes.
physiological adaptation
Evolution happens over time as a result of natural selection acting on these.
adaptations or traits
A change in an organism’s DNA sequence that can create new traits.
genetic mutation
__________ selection is guided by environmental pressures, while _____________ selection is guided by human choice.
Natural; artificial
Variations within a population that are _____________ will decrease the overall fitness of the population.
Harmful or beneficial?
harmful
Opossums pretend to be dead when they feel threatened.
behavioral adaptation
A mutation that is harmful in one environment may be helpful in another because of differences in __________ pressures.
environmental
This term describes differences in traits among individuals in the same species.
genetic ___________
genetic variation
True or False? Natural selection always leads to organisms becoming “perfectly adapted” to their environment.
False – Natural selection favors traits that increase fitness, but environments change and not all traits are perfect; evolution works on what is “good enough” to survive and reproduce.
True or false? A trait that is beneficial in one environment will always be useful, no matter where the organism lives.
False - A trait that is beneficial in one environment might not be useful in another environment.
Humans sweat to cool down and regulate body temperature.
physiological adaptation
Organisms have __________ that help them survive in their environment. Traits that give a survival advantage are selected through __________, and over many generations, these changes can result in __________.
Adaptations/Traits
Natural selection
Evolution