Evolution Natural Selection

Individuals that are better able to cope with the challenges of their environment tend to

• Increase in population over time.

• Decrease in population over time.

• Leave fewer offspring than those less suited to the environment.

• Both (a) and (c)

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

The Asian shore crab invaded parts of the eastern coast of the United States about 15 years ago. The Asian shore crab preys on blue mussels. In the time since the Asian shore crab arrived, the average shell thickness of the blue mussel population has increased. Which of the following is the most likely reason that this increase in shell thickness has occurred?

• Blue mussels with thick shells attract more crabs that mussels without thick shells.

• Blue mussels with thick shells grow in larger colonies than mussels without thick shells.

• Blue mussels with thick shells catch more food per day than mussels without thick shells.

• Blue mussels with thick shells survive and reproduce more successfully than mussels without thick shells.

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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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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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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Darwin wrote that organisms with traits that are best suited to the environment will ________________

• increase in number
  

• become extinct
  

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Definition: adaptation

• inherited characteristic that increases chances of survival

• organisms with traits well suited to their environment survive and reproduce at a greater rate

• a growing population causes a scarcity of resources

• differences in the DNA sequence

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A trait that makes a species better suited to survive in its environment is called a(n) _________.

• variation

• adaptation

• natural selection

• isolation

A slight difference in an inherited trait between individual members of the same species.

• variations

• adapatations

• homologous structures

• analogous structures

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

A term that typically describes a species that no longer has any known living individuals

• Generation Time

• Fossil Record

• Extinct

• Speciation

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What is the advantage of having different shaped beaks?

• To look different from other species.

• To be able to eat the food readily available in the environment.

• To protect itself against predators.

• To protect itself against prey.

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