Natural Selection Graphs

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

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

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

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

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NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

What happened to beak length over generations from 1960 to 2010?

• The distribution of short beaks increased.

• The distribution of long beaks increased.

• The distribution of medium beaks increased.

• The distribution of medium beaks decreased.

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Organisms better adapted to the environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than organisms who aren’t adapted to the environment.

• Evolution

• Natural Selection

• Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics

• Mutation

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Scientists measured the height of the giraffes in two different populations. Which population has the largest number of tall giraffes?

• The population in Niger has the largest number of tall giraffes.

• The population in Somalia has the largest number of tall giraffes.

• Both populations have the same number of tall giraffes.

• These bar graphs do not show which population has more tall giraffes.  

The newt population became more poisonous over

• selective breeding

• natural selection

• the newt's diet

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Eider ducks live in the ocean and have a layer of warm feathers underneath their regular feathers. They can have feathers of different thicknesses. These feathers helps the ducks stay warm in cold water. Ducks with thicker feathers are more likely to stay warm and survive in cold water. But, in warm water, thicker feathers can make the ducks overheat and die. The diagram below shows a population of ducks that live in an area of an ocean. At time 1, the population had the same number of ducks with thin and thick feather layers. At time 2, after many generations, there were many more ducks with a thin feather layer and fewer ducks in the population with a thick feather layer. How did the environment change between time 1 and time 2? How did the population change?

• The water became warm. As a result, ducks with thin feathers were more likely to survive, so both kinds of ducks passed on the gene for thin feathers to their offspring.

• The water became warm. With each generation, more ducks with thin feathers survived long enough to pass on the gene for thin feathers to their offspring.

• You cannot tell how the environment changed. With each generation, more ducks passed on the gene for thin feathers to their offspring.

• The water became warm. As a result, ducks with thin feathers were more likely to survive, so the ducks with thick feathers changed to have thin feathers

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Scientists measured the spine size of a population of cactuses found in an area in 1970. They measured the spine size of the cactus population again in 2015. Which of the statements below best describes the difference in the cactuses at the two time points?

• There was more variation in spine size in 1970 than there was in 2015.

• The cactuses in 1970 had smaller spines than the cactuses in 2015.

• The cactuses in 1970 had larger spines than the cactuses in 2015.

• There were more cactuses in 1970 than there were in 2015.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Scientists measured the spot size of all the guppies (small fish) that lived in a river 40 years ago. They measured the spot size of the guppy population again last year. When was there more variation in the spot size of guppies in the river?

• There was more variation last year.

• There was more variation 40 years ago.

• There was the same amount of variation in spot size 40 years ago and last year.

• These bar graphs do not show the amount of variation in the population.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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 diagram above shows a population of guppies that lived in a river. Scientists had previously only seen guppies with medium or large spots in this river; they had never seen any guppies with any other spot sizes. The diagram below shows how the population changed after many generations. Karina says the change in the guppy population was caused by a mutation. Miles says the change was caused by a change in the environment. Zora thinks both Karina and Miles are correct. Who do you think is right? Explain what happened to the guppies over many generations.

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Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS3-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Which of the following graphs best represents stabilizing selection in a population?

• A bell-shaped curve that narrows over time

• A bell-shaped curve that shifts to the right

• A bell-shaped curve that shifts to the left

• A flat line

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4