Natural Selection
This term describes the process in which organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
What is natural selection?
A physical or behavioral characteristic that can be observed in an organism.
What is a trait?
A predator is an example of this kind of environmental influence.
What is selective pressure?
Name something that must be true for natural selection to happen.
Acceptable Answers:
Variation in traits
Traits must be inheritable / passed down
More offspring are born than can survive (competition)
Environment affects survival
Individuals with beneficial traits reproduce more
For natural selection to occur, this must exist within a population.
What is variation? or Trait Variation?
This type of variation happens randomly and can introduce new traits into a population. *Remember the altered gene from last class*
What is mutation?
When food becomes limited, this increases among organisms.
What is competition?
Name a selective pressure in an environment
Acceptable Answers:
Predators
Climate / temperature changes
Limited food
Disease
Habitat loss / human activity
Competition for mates
This term refers to traits passed genetically from parents to offspring.
What are inheritable traits?
This is a type of adaptation that you can see
What is structural adaptations?
A change in climate can lead to this long-term population shift.
What is adaptation? or What is evolution?
Name something that can cause a population’s traits to change over time.
Acceptable Answers:
Change in environment
Mutation / new genetic variation
Natural selection
Migration / movement into or out of the population
The idea that individuals with better traits have more success in producing offspring.
What is survival and reproduction (fitness)?
Type of adaptation that an organism does naturally
What is Behavioral Adaptations?
This happens when individuals with less beneficial traits die before reproducing.
What is natural selection? or What is survival of the fittest?
Name an example of a trait that could give an animal a survival advantage
Acceptable Answers:
Camouflage
Faster running speed
Stronger jaws / claws
Thick fur / heat tolerance
Better eyesight
Poison / defense
This scientist developed the theory of natural selection.
Who is Charles Darwin?
Type of adaptation that you cannot see but is present inside of the organism? *Think about the genetic makeup*
What is physiological adaptations?
A term describes a trait that helps an organism survive in its environment after it has been changed
What is natural selection? or What is an adaptation?
Give an example of a change in the environment that could affect survival.
Acceptable Answers:
Climate warming or cooling
New predator introduced
Food source disappears
Pollution
Natural disaster (volcano, drought, flood)