Natural Selection Warm-Up

What word describes a trait that helps an organism survive in its environment?

• natural selection

• mutation

• camouflage

• adaptation

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

What word describes the process of having the advantageous traits that helps an organism survive  and reproduce?

• natural selection
• adaptation
• mutation
• genetic engineering

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Why do frogs and other organism reproduce so many eggs or offspring?

• so that their babies can have friends to play with
• the more offspring the more likely the offspring will survive
• the more offspring the less likely offspring will survive 
• the more offspring the less competition

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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Which organisms are most likely to survive?

• the best adapted
• the fastest
• the strongest
• the most domesticated (tamed)

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Any inherited trait that gives an organism an advantage in its environment is called ___.

• a mutation
• an adaptation
• evolution
• natural selection

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Which of the following means "genetic change over time"

• natural selection
• speciation
• evolution
• fitness

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-6

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Do organisms "decide" to evolve and change?

• Yes, they know they need to change to survive 
• No, they change because of natural selection

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1. Blue jays are birds that live in the forest. They can have beaks of different thicknesses.

Blue jays use their beaks to get to the seeds they eat. Blue jays with thinner beaks can easily reach and eat the seeds inside pinecones. Blue jays with thicker beaks can easily open and eat seeds with hard shells.

The diagrams below show three possible blue jay populations.

1. If their environment changes to have only seeds in pinecones, which of the following blue jay populations will most likely survive?

• Populations 1 and 2 will most likely survive.

• Populations 2 and 3 will most likely survive.

• Only Population 2 will survive because it is the only population with variation.

• All the populations will survive because the blue jays will change the thickness of their beaks if they need to.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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Northern foxes can have different fur colors.

The foxes hunt squirrels for food. Foxes that have fur the same color as their environment are better at getting closer to squirrels and catching them.

The diagram below shows a population of foxes that live in one area. At time 1, the population had the same number of brown and white foxes. At time 2, after many generations, there were many more brown foxes and fewer white foxes in the population.

How did the environment change between time 1 and time 2? How did the population change?

• You cannot tell how the environment changed. With each generation, more foxes passed on the gene for brown fur to their offspring.

• The environment became brown. Brown foxes are more likely to survive, so the white foxes changed to have brown fur.

• The environment became brown. Brown foxes are more likely to survive, so both kinds of foxes passed on the gene for brown fur to their offspring.

• The environment became brown. With each generation, more brown foxes survived long enough to pass on the gene for brown fur to their offspring.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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Guppies are small fish that live in South American rivers. They can have different-sized spots on their bodies.

The river bottoms are covered in rocks. Guppies with spots that are the same size as the rocks on the bottom are harder for bigger fish to see and catch.

The diagrams show three possible guppy populations.

If their environment changes to have only large rocks, which of the following guppy populations will most likely survive?

• Only Population 2 will survive because it is the only population with variation.

• All the populations will survive because the guppies will change the size of their spots if they need to.

• Populations 1 and 2 will most likely survive.

• Populations 2 and 3 will most likely survive.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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