Introduction to Natural Selection

Which best describes the role of mutations in natural selection?

• Mutations help an organism to better survive in their environment

• An organism may acquire a helpful mutation by interacting with the environment

• A mutation may result in a beneficial trait that makes an organism more likely to survive and reproduce

• Organisms with certain traits are more likely to win competitions for mutations

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The long and sharp beak of a woodpecker is an example of:

• Natural Selection

• Selective Breeding

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Why is competition important for natural selection?

• It shows which variations are more successful, allowing the organisms with those variations to survive.

• It causes organisms, regardless of which traits they have, to die out, reducing the population size.

• It causes organisms to get stronger due to having to outcompete other species.

• Competition is not important for natural selection.

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Where do adaptations come from?

• The individual organism decides to adapt

• Mutations that give an organism an advantage in its environment

• Genetic recombination during meiosis

• Both mutations and genetic recombination are sources of adaptation

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The more genetic variation a population has,

the more likely it is for some individuals to

• evolve

• migrate

• survive

• mutate

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Mutations are important because they bring about

• death of the organism in which they develop

• genetic variation needed for a population to evolve

• benefits for the individual, not for the population

• changes in genotype, but not phenotype

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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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Which organisms are most likely to survive?

• the best adapted

• the fastest

• the strongest

• the most domesticated (tamed)

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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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The differences among a species, like different bird beaks, are called

• genes.

• variations.

• traits.

• theories.

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