Natural Selection & Peppered Moths

What caused the soot to cover the trees in Great Britain from 1780 to 1830?

• burning coal

• setting fires

• black wind

• dead moths

Why did the number of white peppered moths decrease so much by 1895?

• they did not blend in with the trees and birds ate them

• they tasted better to the birds than the black moths

• they were easier to reach on the trees

• white moths flew away to find better trees to blend in with

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

• natural selection

• mutation

• camouflage

• adaptation

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Why do moths 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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In natural selection, the selective agent is the

• humans
• mutations
• breeders
• environment

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Why did dark moths have a survival advantage when they were near factories?

• They could hide in the birds shadow.

• They could push the white moths into the flames.

• They did not have a survival advantage.

• They blended in with the dark tree trunks.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

What is it called when better adapted organisms survive to pass traits along to their offspring.

• Evolution
• Natural Selection
• Extinction
• Artifical Selection

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The example of the peppered (brown) moths living near English industrial cities demonstrates that

• A change in an environment can result in the evolution of species living there
• Evolution occurs so slowly that is it not possible to determine that it has happened in less than a million years
• The environment near these cities has always favored dark colored moths

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The trees these moths used to live on were white, but have been covered in soot from coal factories. Which moth will be more successful in this environment?

• Dark moth
• Light moth
• Both will be equally successful
• Neither will be successful

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Since the 1800s humans have stopped burning coal, and the trees have returned to their original color. Which moth will be more successful in this environment?

• Dark moth
• Light moth
• Both will be equally successful
• Neither will be successful

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NGSS.MS-LS2-4

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