Natural Selection

Multiple Choice

Natural selection

• organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring

• process used by humans to develop new organisms with desirable characteristics

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of selective breeding?

• A giraffe's long neck.

• Clipping a horse's tail so it's not too long.

• Training a horse to run faster.

• Cross breeding a labrador retriever with a poodle .

Multiple Choice

Natural selection is where ___________ decides which traits should be passed on.

• nature

• a human

• traits

• evolution

Multiple Choice

Selective breeding is where _____________ decides which traits should be passed on.

• nature

• a human

• traits

• evolution

Multiple Choice

How can farmers best use selective breeding to increase apple production?

• By limiting the number of trees growing so they can have more space.

• By choosing trees that are the largest in size.

• By increasing the amount of water and fertilizer the trees receive.

• By choosing trees that consistently have the most apples.

Multiple Choice

Over time, honey suckle flowers develop a sweet smell to attract pollinators. This is an example of

• selective breeding

• extinction

• natural selection

• evolution

Multiple Choice

What is natural selection?

• a living individual that can carry out life processes

• Process by which an organism that better adapts to their environment survive and reproduce

• Process by which a community better adapts to their environment to give traits to one another within their generation.

• the time between when an organism is born and when they reproduce

Multiple Choice

Darwin observed many finch species on the Galapagos Islands. To explain these observations, he

proposed that each species evolved from the same common ancestor, which was a finch species

that migrated to the islands from the mainland. What additional evidence did Darwin use to support

his explanation?

• The finch populations were very numerous, and different species often bred with one another.

• The finch species lived in different habitats on different islands, which isolated them from one another.

• The finch species were distributed evenly among all of the islands, but did not interbreed.

• The beaks of the finches were identical, allowing them to eat the same foods on any of the islands.

Multiple Choice

A population of rabbits grows rapidly from one year to the next. Then one year, a disease strikes approximately one fourth of the adult rabbits. The disease remains with the population in the years that follow.

As explained by Darwin’s theory, which of these conditions allows the rabbit population to evolve by natural selection?

• The disease affects adult and juvenile rabbits equally.

• The disease reduces the ability of the rabbits to reproduce.

• Some rabbits are resistant to the disease, and they pass the resistance to their offspring.

• No rabbits are resistant to the disease, and all die when the disease strikes them.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is a situation that could cause evolutionary change that is NOT due to natural selection?

• A volcano erupts and kills many individuals in a population.

• A mutation produces sea stars that are less visible to predators.

• An insecticide is sprayed in a community to combat mosquitoes.

• Cattle are treated with antibiotics to prevent the spread of infections.

Multiple Choice

A population that is isolated in a remote environment is still able to experience genetic variation. How could genetic variation that contributes to evolution occur in such a population?

• A mutation in a liver cell produces liver cancer.

• Lateral gene transfer occurs that produces an organism that is less resistant to drought.

• A mutation in an egg cell causes a change in DNA that produces an organism that is more sensitive to sunlight.

• A mistake in DNA replication before meiosis produces an organism that is better able to outrun predators.

Multiple Choice

The figure shows how natural selection of a single-trait gene affects lizard survival.

Which of the following most likely causes the changes in allele distribution?

• The allele for light gray coloration disappears from the population. This may be because light gray lizards are more visible to predators and therefore they might be less likely to survive and reproduce.

• The allele for black coloration decreases fitness and becomes less common. This may be because black coloration keeps the lizards cool during hot summer temperatures.

• Medium gray coloration in lizards appears to be a neutral mutant allele that allows the lizards to hide better from predators. This leads to increases in phenotype and allele frequency of gray coloration.

• Because black and medium gray lizards are less visible to predators, these alleles are neutral to natural selection and therefore will not disappear from the population of lizards.

Multiple Choice

Grass plants in a population range in height from 6 cm to 25 cm. The short plants receive little sunlight, and the tall plants are eaten by grazing animals. Which statement best describes the effect of natural selection on the grasses?

• Because average height grass plants are favored, stabilizing natural selection is occurring.

• Because average height grass plants are favored, disruptive natural selection is occurring.

• Because tall grass plants are favored by the animals that eat grass, directional selection is occurring.

• Because short and tall grass plants are favored, normal natural selection is occurring.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best illustrates natural selection?

• An organism with favorable genetic variations will tend to survive and breed successfully.

• A population monopolizes all of the resources in its habitat, forcing other species to migrate.

• A community whose members work together utilizing all existing resources and migratory routes.

• The largest organisms in a species receive the only breeding opportunities.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT part of the that mechanisms of natural selection?

• Organisms produce more offspring than can survive.

• Disease and natural disaster will limit population growth.

• Species today descended with modifications from ancestral species.

• Organisms with advantages will survive and reproduce.

Multiple Choice

What is the most likely explanation of the data shown below?

• There has been a drought in the area that is affecting all life forms.

• The population of natural predators of the moths has gotten smaller.

• The moths are living in an environment with light trees.

• The moths are living in an environment with dark trees.

Multiple Choice

The pair of population graphs below display the results of two different five-year hunting cycles, one on light trees and one on dark trees. The population of light-colored moths is shown by the light gray dots, and the population of dark moths is shown by the dark gray dots. How do these results demonstrate natural selection?

• The moth populations shown here demonstrate random fluctuations over time that are not explained by tree color.

• On light trees, individual moths tried to become lighter in color to match the tree background. On dark trees, individual moths tried to become darker in color.

• The moths that were the same color as their background were more likely to survive and reproduce. Over time, the populations of these well-adapted moths increased.

• Small particles of tree bark became embedded in the moth’s wings, causing the moths to become darker on the dark trees and lighter on the light trees. These acquired traits were then passed down to the next generation of moths, causing the populations to change color over time.

Multiple Choice

Suppose a certain species of insect lives in the lush green canopy of the rain forest. Some of the insects are bright green in color, and some are bright yellow. Assume there is a natural predator of the insect in the area. What do you expect to happen to the populations of the green and the yellow insects over time?

• The green insect population will increase and the yellow insect population will decrease.

• The green insect population will decrease and the yellow insect population will increase.

• Both insect populations will remain constant over time.

• Both insect populations will increase over time.

Multiple Choice

What does the term Generation mean?

• the time between when an organism is born and when they reproduce

• a living individual that can carry out life processes.

• a total of all biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) things.

• A change in the DNA sequence.

Multiple Choice

What is a mutation?

• a total of all biotic and abiotic things

• the time between when an organism is born and when they reproduce

• A change in the DNA sequence.

• an ancestor that two or more descendents have in common.

Multiple Choice

What is Heredity?

• the passing of traits from one generation to the another from parent to offspring.

• the passing of traits from one generation to the parent and the common ancestor.

• the passing of characteristics from one generation to another from offspring to the parent.

• the passing of traits from one generation to another from descendents to the ancestors.

Multiple Choice

What are Genetic Traits?

• a total of all biotic and abiotic things in an ecological community

• specific characteristic determined by the genes in DNA

• A change in the DNA sequence

• Process by which an organism that better adapts to their environment survive and reproduce

Multiple Choice

What is the purpose of all species including the Ground Finches of Galapagos Island?

• A species adapts to survive long enough to regenerate itself.

• A species adapts to survive long enough to reproduce.

• A generation that adapts long enough to stretch its traits such as the beak.

• A generation that adapts to revert back to the common ancestors' traits.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following could be factors of natural selection of traits for organisms?

• food, shelter, available mates, random chance

• shelter, food, weather, because they 'want to'

• food, shelter, random chance, population

• population, food, because they 'want to', shelter

Multiple Choice

Students were discussing how giraffes were shaped by their environment and how the environment was shaped by giraffes. Which statement is most likely correct?

• Student A: Giraffes had a random mutation that made their necks super long and able to eat tall trees.

• Student B: Trees grew taller to try and escape giraffes, while giraffes always had long necks

• Student C: Giraffes and trees grew together, trees growing taller and giraffe neck growing longer as ways to survive and reproduce.

Multiple Choice

Moth adapted from white to black in color because of the pollution in their environment. There were a lot of dark trees in the area. What adaptation prevented moths from being eaten by birds?

• long necks

• camouflage coloring

• fast flying

• bright colors

Multiple Choice

Dark colored moths on dark colored trees is ___.

• an adaptation

• natural selection

• a finite resource

• selective breeding

Multiple Choice

Darwin observed many finch species on the Galapagos Islands. To explain these observations, he

proposed that each species evolved from the same common ancestor, which was a finch species

that migrated to the islands from the mainland. What additional evidence did Darwin use to support

his explanation?

• The finch species lived in different habitats on different islands, which isolated them from one another.

• The beaks of the finches were identical, allowing them to eat the same foods on any of the islands.

• The finch populations were very numerous, and different species often bred with one another.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements best describes what will most likely occur to the moth populations in the image?

• The light moths will be captured by predators more easily than the dark moths, and the population of light moths will rise.

• The light moths will change their wing color to match that of the dark moths.

• The light moths will be captured by predators more easily than the dark moths, and the population of dark moths will rise.

• The dark moths will be captured by predators more easily than the light moths, and the dark moths will probably go extinct.

Multiple Choice

Selective Breeding is

• making organisms reproduce during times of stress

• a process to create an organism with desired traits from parents with those desired traits

• natural method of producing offspring with desired traits

• creating a new species

Multiple Choice

An example of selective breeding is

• a dog breeder mating 2 dogs to make more dogs

• a person pollinates 2 white rose plants to only create white roses

• a farmer grows bees to pollinate the plants on his farm

Multiple Choice

Increasing helpful traits to an organism is one way a breeder may use selective breeding.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Evidence shows that the wolf is the ancestor to all of the breeds of dogs shown below. How did this variation arise in a relatively short period of time?

• Genetic manipulation

• Natural Selection

• Random Chance

• Selective Breeding

Multiple Choice

What selective breeding food crops might a farmer select?

• plant produces the least amount of grain

• plant was the most disease resistant

• the plant was the smelliest plant