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Study Guide
Study Guide
My child is prepared for Friday’s Test and has completed this study guide ________________________
Vocabulary: Use the following words to fill in the blanks: genetic variation, mutation, adaptation, sexual
selection, evolution, theory, natural selection, artificial selection, genetic drift, migration (gene flow), and
reproduction. Some words may be used more than once.
1. In order for a population to evolve, organisms in the population must have differences or ______________
______________.
2. There are 5 mechanisms that change the gene frequencies in a population. They are _________________ ,
__________________ ________________________, ___________________ __________________,
___________________ ____________________, and __________________ ___________________.
3. ___________________________-The chance of an individual migrating to another population and sharing its
genes there.
4. _____________________- A change in a DNA sequence, usually occurring because of errors in replication or
repair.
5. __________________________ - The ultimate source of genetic variation.
6. ________________ _______________ - The change in allele frequencies in a population due to random events
like habitat destruction which results in changes in successive generations.
7. _________________ ________________ - A process of evolution in which traits that result in better fitness of
an individual survives to the next generation. Survival of the fittest!
8. _________________ ________________ - is defined as the process whereby organisms with the best genetic
adaptations will survive and reproduce.
9. __________________ - Theory in which populations will inherit small changes over time.
10. A ____________________________ is more than an educated guess. It is a widely accepted set of explanations
of observations and phenomena.
11. ______________________ - An inherited characteristic that increases the chance of survival
12. In _______________ __________________, human breeders, rather than the environment, select the variations
of traits to be passed to offspring.
13. Darwin provides a mechanism for evolution to occur. He proposed that ____________________
____________________ took place as individuals best suited to the environment survived and reproduced.
14. Charles Darwin realized that the measure of success for an organism was not only a long period of survival but
also successful ____________________.
15. Every organism must either carry out _____________________ or become extinct. ( A characteristic of all
living things)
Evidence of Evolution:
1__________________________- The study of extinct Life.
Fossil records show that species have changed over time. In ___________________ dating, scientists compare
fossils found in different layers of rock to determine the relative age of an organism. In __________________
dating, scientist look at half-lives of element decay to determine the exact age of a fossil.
2. _______________________- The study of organisms at an early stage of development provides evidence of possible
common ancestors between two different species.
3. _______________________- Organs found on different organisms that have similar structures but have evolved
different uses for these structures.
4. _______________________- Organs or structures that have been reduced in size in an organism that suggests that
they adapted to life without their use.
There are two ways that scientists date fossils. This picture represents
E _________________ dating in which the position of fossils in rock layers are
used to determine age. Fossils in lower layers are _____________ and fossils
D in upper layers are ________________. In this picture, layer _____ is the
C youngest layer and layer _____ is the oldest.
B
A
Darwin cited evidence for the theory of evolution. One of these is represented
by this diagram. It shows _________________________- the study of
organisms at an early stage of development. The similarities in the
development of many organisms suggest an evolutionary relationship
(common ancestor).
During which month did the population of rabbits reach carrying capacity? ________
3
Study the picture to the left. A population of insects is sprayed with a new
insecticide. Most of the insects are killed but a few survive. In the next
generation, spraying continues, but many more of the insects are unaffected by
the insecticide than the first spraying. Which of the following BEST explains
these results?
a. The insecticide caused a mutation in the species.
b. A few insects in the first population were immune and passed
this trait to their offspring.
c. The insecticide caused a side effect of immunity that was
passed on to the next generation of insects.
d. The insects learned to fight off the insecticide.