Natural Selection and Adaptations

Darwin knew that within a population, there are a variety of traits, and some traits are better than others for a certain environment.

• true

• false

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Any heritable characteristic that increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in its environment is called a(an):

• gene

• mutation

• allele

• adaptation

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Select all that can be adaptations of living things:

• useless eye-like structures in blind cave fish

• feathers helping the flight of birds

• a lizard's colors making it camouflage

• the way a plant carries out photosynthesis

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Natural selection acts only on __________traits because those are the only characteristics that parents can pass on to their offspring.

• dominant

• desirable

• inherited

• mutated

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A characteristic or quality of an organism that is genetically inherited from one generation to the next is known as –

• A variation

• A gene

• A trait

• A mutation

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All rabbits living in a particular area would be an example of a(n):

• Population

• Species

• Individual

• Adaptation

The differences among a species, like large and small bird beaks, are called:

• Species

• Breeds

• Variations

• Favorable traits

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Leopard seals are animals adapted to survive in the freezing conditions of Antarctica. Individual seals vary in their different traits, such as the number of spots on their coats, the thickness of their layer of blubber, and the shape of their heads. Which one of these traits would have the greatest impact of a leopard seal surviving in a cold environment?

• number of teeth

• thickness of their blubber layer

• shape of their head

• number of spots on their coats

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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This illustration provides information on four variations in the size and shape of antlers in a population of moose. In order to grow antlers, a male moose must use a large amount of the energy it gets from food. In an environment where food resources are limited, which type of antler would be more common?

• A

• B

• C

• D

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NGSS.MS-LS4-4

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This is the process that ultimately creates new variations and changes in DNA; leads to the creation of new alleles

• Mutation

• Microevolution

• Natural selection

• Gene flow / genetic drift

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