Evolution Fast & Curious

Which of the following best defines natural selection?

• The process by which organisms intentionally change their traits to survive

• The process by which organisms with favorable inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce

• The random mutation of genes in a population over time

• The artificial breeding of organisms by humans to produce desired traits

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Which of the following is a line of evidence that supports the theory of biological evolution?

• Homologous Structures

• Fossils

• Molecular Biology/Biochemistry

• All of the above

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

NGSS.MS-LS3-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-3

Which of the following is a condition required for natural selection to occur?

• All offspring must be genetically identical

• The environment must remain completely stable

• Organisms must produce more offspring than can survive

• Mutations must occur in every generation

What is geographic isolation, and how does it relate to natural selection?

• It is the process of organisms migrating together, which increases genetic diversity within a single population

• It occurs when a physical barrier separates a population, preventing interbreeding and allowing different traits to be selected in each group

• It refers to the isolation of a single gene within a population that causes rapid evolution

• It is the process by which organisms in the same location develop identical traits over time

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS4-2

NGSS.HS-LS4-4

A scientist studying a population of bacteria notices that after repeated exposure to an antibiotic, most bacteria die but a small number survive and reproduce. How does this scenario illustrate the concept of natural selection?

• The bacteria intentionally developed resistance to survive the antibiotic

• The antibiotic caused new mutations in all bacteria, making them resistant

• Bacteria with inherited resistance survived and passed that trait to offspring, increasing resistance in the population

• The bacteria reproduced asexually, creating genetically identical offspring that were all resistant

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

A cladogram shows that Species A and Species B share a more recent common ancestor than Species A and Species C. What does this tell us about the relationship between these species?

• Species A and Species C are more closely related than Species A and Species B

• Species A and Species B are more closely related to each other than either is to Species C

• Species B and Species C evolved from Species A

• All three species are equally related to one another

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

A population of deer lives in a forest. Over several decades, the forest is gradually replaced by open grassland. Using your knowledge of how environmental changes affect species, explain what could happen to the deer population as a result of this habitat change.

• The deer population will remain unchanged because deer can adapt instantly to any environment

• The deer population may decrease, adapt over many generations to grassland conditions, or go extinct if they cannot survive the new environment

• The deer will immediately evolve new traits within one generation to survive in the grassland

• The deer population will increase because open grassland always provides more resources than forests

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Homologous structures, such as the forelimbs of humans, whales, and bats, all share a similar bone structure despite serving different functions. How do homologous structures support the concept of common ancestry?

• They show that all organisms were designed with the same purpose in mind

• They indicate that these species share a common ancestor from which the basic limb structure was inherited and then modified over time

• They prove that all species evolved from whales because whales have the most developed forelimbs

• They suggest that these organisms live in the same environment and developed similar structures independently

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

A model of natural selection shows a population of beetles where green beetles survive better on green leaves and brown beetles survive better on brown bark. Over time, in a forest with mostly green leaves, the population shifts to mostly green beetles. Using the conditions required for natural selection, explain why this shift occurred.

• Brown beetles chose to leave the population because they preferred bark environments

• Green beetles produced offspring with inherited green coloration, and because green beetles survived and reproduced more in the green-leaf environment, the green trait became more common over generations

• The environment caused all brown beetles to mutate and turn green within one generation

• Green beetles were artificially selected by humans to dominate the population

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS3-1

On the cladogram, which organism is the closest relative of the parrot?

• Frog

• Hare

• Caiman

• Parrot

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2