Natural Selection

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

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

NGSS.MS-LS4-6

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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NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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.

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NGSS.MS-LS1-4

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.

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NGSS.MS-LS2-1

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NGSS.MS-LS2-4

A population of finches that have 3 different beaks live on an island. Each beak type is adapted to one of 3 specific food sources. Two of the three food sources are eliminated during a hurricane. What will happen to the finch population?

• The food source will adapt to the remaining finches

• All 3 finches adapt to the remaining food source

• All 3 finches will die

• The finch that is adapted to the remaining food source will survive

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.

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NGSS.MS-LS2-4

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.

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.8.7

CCSS.RL.9-10.7

Why is the mouse population changing over time?

• The light mice can reproduce more successfully than the dark mice
• The hawks eat more dark mice than light mice because the dark mice taste better
• The hawks eat more light mice than dark mice because they can see the light mice more easily
• The hawks eat more dark mice than light mice because they can see the dark mice more easily

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NGSS.MS-LS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

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-LS1-4