Unit 6 Review Sheet

Evolution

Vocabulary

Evolution Origin of Species Charles Darwin

Theory Galapagos Islands Natural Selection
Fitness Survival of the Fittest Adaptation
Competition Extinction Overproduction
Species Common Ancestor Genetic Variation
Mutation Speciation Geologic Time
Fossil Fossil Record Binomial Nomenclature
Phylogenic Tree /Phylogeny Morphology Dichotomous Key
Taxonomy Competition

Charles Darwin and Natural Selection

- Who was Charles Darwin? Where did he collect the majority of his evidence for natural
selection? What organism did he study? Charles Darwin is famous for his theory of Natural
Selection. He collected the majority of his evidence at the Galapagos Islands. He studied
finches.
- Explain each one of the points of Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection
o Populations have variation. Organisms within a population have differences in
structure, function and behavior.
o Some variations are favorable. Organisms with favorable traits better suited for an
environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
o More offspring are produced than can survive. Not all offspring have favorable traits
and therefore, will not survive.
o Those that survive have favorable traits. Only the offspring with favorable traits that
will make them more competitive are likely to survive.
o A population will change over time. The environment will act as a selecting agent,
causing certain traits in a population to be more common than others.
- What does “survival of the fittest” mean? Organisms with better traits/adaptations are more
likely to survive.
- How is antibiotic resistance an example of natural selection? Some bacteria have a mutation in
its DNA so that it is resistant to antibiotics (meaning it is not killed by antibiotics). Therefore,
these bacteria are more “fit” and are more likely to survive.

Evidence for Evolution

- What is a fossil? See definition
- How is the fossil record used as evidence for evolution? By determining the age of fossils and
looking at their morphology, you can use the fossils to show structural changes in an organism
over time, as well as speciation (formation of new species).
- What are three things that scientists use to determine evolutionary relationships between
organisms (to build an evolutionary/phylogenic tree)? Age (when an organism existed),
morphology, and molecular evidence (DNA).
 - Can you identify the most successful organism in this evolutionary tree? B, because it existed
for many generations. What organism is most closely related to J? B What is the most recent
common ancestor for F and G? D Have any organisms gone extinct? Yes – A, C, D, E

Genetics
- What causes genetic diversity (what is the source of genetic diversity)? mutation
- What kind of changes do mutations cause (i.e. structural change)? Structural, function and
behavioral changes
- How does sexual reproduction increase genetic diversity? Crossing over and recombination
occur during meiosis (the formation of gametes). This creates new combinations of genes,
therefore variety in a species that reproduces sexually.
- What are advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction? Asexual – faster
than sexual, but not as much diversity as sexual. Sexual – takes a long time to produce
offspring, but creates diversity within a species
- Why is diversity important to a species? If the environment changes, it’s likely that at least
some organisms in a species are going to survive since they would have some variation that
allows them to adapt to the environment. Ex. I AM LEGEND. Some humans survived the
mutated virus because they had a mutation in part of their DNA that coded for proteins of the
immune system. Therefore, they were resistant to the virus and survived.

Classification
- How do we classify all organisms? Taxonomy
- What are the 4 major kingdoms of the domain Eukarya? Protist, Animal, Plant, Fungi
- How do you write the scientific name for an organism in binomial nomenclature? You write the
genus and species the organism belong to; capitalize the genus; write in italics or underline. Ex
Homo sapiens
- Can you use a dichotomous key to classify an organism?