Natural Selection

A mechanism of microevolution

Reference:
Understanding Evolution. 2014. University of California Museum of Paleontology. 22 August 2008. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/>.
Habit of the Mind
•Applying past knowledge
to new situations
Objectives
• Understand how natural selection
influences genetic variation.
• Describe the process of natural
selection as a mechanism of
microevolution.
Vocabulary
• Adaptation
• Microevolution
• Mechanism
• Natural selection
• Species
• Population
Microevolution
A change in gene frequency within
a single population over time
 Natural Selection
Mechanism of Microevolution

Definition: The process in nature by

which, only the organisms best adapted
to their environment tend to survive
and transmit their genetic
characteristics in increasing numbers to
succeeding generations while those less
adapted tend to be eliminated.
Video: What is Natural Selection?
 Natural Selection
Mechanism of Microevolution

• A large amount of variability exists

amongst a species of animal.
• Some of these differences may be related
to the animal’s ability to survive.
• Species that are best adapted to their
environments will survive and reproduce.
 Natural Selection
Mechanism of Microevolution

• Heredity causes offspring to resemble their

parents.
• This indicates that genetically well-adapted
organisms will have genetically well-adapted
offspring.
• Traits that lead to survival of a species will be
passed down, while traits that do not lead to
survival of a species will eventually disappear.
 Key Question to Ponder

What is the relationship

between an organism’s traits
and its potential for survival
and reproduction?
Adaptation
• A feature that is common in a population because it
provides some improved function.
• Adaptations can take many forms:
• A behavior that allows better evasion of predators
• An anatomical feature that allows the organism to access
a valuable new resource
• Coloring that allows a greater chance of survival

Top 10 Animal Adaptations

Mantids
Question to Answer…
• How is the use of the word
"adaptation" different in everyday
usage than in biology?
Natural selection - Variation
There is variation in traits. For example, some beetles
are green and some are brown.

There is differential reproduction. Since the environment

can't support unlimited population growth, not all
individuals get to reproduce to their full potential. In this
example, green beetles tend to get eaten by birds and
survive to reproduce less often than brown beetles do.

There is heredity. The surviving brown beetles have

brown baby beetles because this trait has a genetic
basis.
End result: The more advantageous trait, brown
coloration, which allows the beetle to have more
offspring, becomes more common in the population. If
this process continues, eventually, all individuals in the
population will be brown.
Video
• HHMI Natural Selection and Adaptation
Lab: Environmental Changes and Evolution

Objectives:
• Model how a population of organisms can
change over time.
• Learn how extinction can occur of a species due
to environmental changes.
Lab: Environmental Changes and Evolution
SURVIVING!
• A niche is a combination of an organism’s needs and habitat.
Extinction could possibly occur if an animal does not adapt to a
change in its niche. Extinction occurs when the environment
changes, and a species is no longer adapted to the environment.

Extinction: the act or process of becoming extinct; a coming to an end

or dying out: the extinction of a species

How could an animal’s niche change?

• Change could occur in a niche by introducing or eliminating
predators or prey of the animal.
• Competition sometimes causes species to move into new or empty
niches. If two organisms occupy the same niche, there is generally
competition between the two for food, shelter, and water.
• An animal’s niche could change due to environmental factors.
Lab: Environmental Changes and Evolution
Question:
• Using beans/rice to represent populations of
different species, how might the environment
(size of a hole in the Styrofoam bowl) affect
the “survival rate” of the species (bean/rice)?
• Beans/rice that pass through the hole are
considered dead.

What is the …
• Independent variable?
• Dependent variable?
Natural Selection
MISCONCEPTION: Natural selection is all powerful.

• Natural selection does not produce perfection.

• If your genes are "good enough," you will get some
offspring into the next generation — you do not have
to be perfect.
• No population or organism is perfectly adapted: people
may have genes for genetic diseases, plants may not
have the genes to survive a drought, and a predator
may not be quite fast enough to catch her prey every
time she is hungry.
Natural Selection
MISCONCEPTION :
Natural selection involves organisms trying to adapt.

• The process does not involve effort, trying, or wanting

• Natural selection results from genetic variation in a
population and the fact that some of those variants may
be able to leave more offspring in the next generation
than other variants.
• That genetic variation is generated by random mutation —
a process that is unaffected by what organisms in the
population want or what they are "trying" to do.
• Either an individual has genes that are good enough to
survive and reproduce, or it does not; it can't get the
right genes by "trying."
Misconceptions about Natural Selection
Natural Selection
MISCONCEPTION : Natural selection gives organisms what they need.
• Natural selection has no
intentions/senses; it cannot sense
what a species/individual "needs."
• Natural selection acts on the
genetic variation in a population
• Generated by random mutation
— a process that is unaffected
by what organisms in the
population need

Misconceptions about Natural Selection

Microevolution - The Size of the Sparrow
• What gene frequency has changed?
• Why do you think the gene frequency has changed?
Natural Selection
Video
• HHMI The Evolution of Lactose Tolerance
Fitness
• Biologists use the word fitness to describe how good a
particular genotype is at leaving offspring in the next
generation relative to how good other genotypes are at it.
• If brown beetles consistently leave more offspring than
green beetles because of their color, you would say that
the brown beetles had a higher fitness.

The brown beetles have a greater fitness relative to the green beetles.
What about Fitness?
MISCONCEPTION: The fittest organisms in a population
are those that are strongest, healthiest, fastest, and/or
largest.
• An organism's evolutionary fitness does not indicate
its health, but rather its ability to get its genes into the
next generation.
• The more fertile offspring an organism leaves in the
next generation, the fitter it is. This doesn't always
correlate with strength, speed, or size.
• Example: A puny male bird with bright tail feathers
might leave behind more offspring than a stronger,
duller male
What about Fitness?
MISCONCEPTION: Natural selection is about survival
of the very fittest individuals in a population.
• Though "survival of the fittest" is the catchphrase of
natural selection, "survival of the fit enough" is more
accurate.
• In most populations, organisms with many different
genetic variations survive, reproduce, and leave
offspring carrying their genes in the next generation.
It is not simply the one or two "best" individuals in the
population that pass their genes on to the next
generation.
Fitness of a Bacterial Infection?
• A virulent bacteria does a lot of damage to its host, and produces a
lot of offspring.
• If the host's illness prevents the host from coming into contact that new
hosts that the bacteria could jump to, the bacteria actually has
relatively low evolutionary fitness.
• In contrast, bacteria that is less virulent could infect far more hosts
because the hosts are well enough to come in contact with many
other potential hosts.
Lab: Moth Coloration - Natural Selection

• Objective: Model how coloration (genetic variation)

of a species affects survival/death.

• Question: How does moth color variation (white to

black) affect fitness (death count)?

• Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to

discover how the color of a moth affects its survival.
This investigation is important in order to
understand natural selection as a mechanism of
evolution.
Peppered Moths in England

Video Link: Peppered Moths in England

Title:______________
Very Very
Color Barely Light Darker Dark
Trial White gray
light Gray dark Black
gradient gray gray gray
gray gray
1
2
Death
Count 3
4
5
6

Group
Total
Total
Class
Count
Artificial Selection
• Farmers/breeders have been using the idea of selection to cause major
changes in the features of their plants and animals over the course of
decades.
• Plants and animals with desirable characteristics were allowed to reproduce,
causing the evolution of farm stock.
• This process is called artificial selection because people (instead of nature)
select which organisms get to reproduce.

These common vegetables were cultivated from forms of wild mustard.

Artificial Selection
People selectively breed domesticated plants and animals
to produce offspring with preferred characteristics.
Artificial Selection
This population of fish exhibits
variation in body size. Some
have genes for large size and
some have genes for small size.
This represents genetic
variation in the population.

When the population is

fished, many of the largest
fish are removed, so more of
the small-bodied fish (and
their small-bodied genes)
remain.
Artificial Selection
The population reproduces. Each
individual passes their genes on
to their offspring — however,
since there are more small-
bodied parents, there are also
more small-bodied offspring.

In the next generation, the

population has evolved: average
body size in the population is
smaller than it used to be and
small-bodied genes are more
common than they used to be.
Artificial Selection
This downward trend in body size will continue so
long as the largest fish are harvested and there is
genetic variation in the population.
Video
• Artificial vs. Natural Selection
Resources
• PBS Short videos
• VIDEO: How Does Evolution Really Work?
• What is Science?
• Evolution in the News
• Video: Natural Selection (Mr. Bozeman)
• Video: Examples of Natural Selection (Mr. Bozeman)
 Next Generation Science Standards
• MS-LS4-4: Construct an explanation based on evidence that
describes how genetic variations of traits in a population
increase some individual’s probability of surviving and
reproducing in a specific environment.
• MS-LS4-6: Use mathematical representations to support
explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases
and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
 A Framework for K-12 Science Education
LS4.B: Natural Selection
• Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a
population and the suppression of others. (MS-LS4-4)

LS4.C: Adaptation
• Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one
important process by which species change over time in response to
changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful
survival and reproduction in the new environment become more
common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the
distribution of traits in a population changes. (MS-LS4-6)
American Association for the Advancement of Science
When inherited traits are favorable to individual organisms, the proportion of individuals in a population that have those traits
will tend to increase over successive generations.

Students are expected to know that:

• There is variation in the inherited traits of organisms of the same species, including
traits that affect their ability to find food, avoid predators, and attract mates.
• Some inherited traits (e.g. bacterial resistance to antibiotics, skin pigmentation in
some organisms) may give individuals of a species an advantage in surviving and
reproducing in their environment compared to other individuals of the same species
(e.g. increased ability to find food or nesting sites, avoid predators, attract mates,
resist diseases). Conversely, the individuals that do not have advantageous trait(s) are
more likely to be unable to survive and reproduce.
• An organism’s survival influences its reproductive success. Usually, the longer an
organism lives (during its reproductive years), the more chances it has to reproduce;
therefore traits that improve chances of survival (such as finding food or avoiding
predators) also increase chances of success in reproduction.
• Changes in environmental conditions (such as the appearance of a new predator, a
slight change in temperature, or changes due to the eruption of a volcano) can change
which traits are more advantageous (or less detrimental) in the new environment.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
When inherited traits are favorable to individual organisms, the proportion of individuals in a population that have those traits
will tend to increase over successive generations.

Students are expected to know that:

• Because more of the individuals with favorable inherited traits survive and reproduce
than those that do not have them, and because the favorable traits are passed on to
the offspring, the proportion of individuals with the favorable inherited traits
increases in each subsequent generation. This process is called natural selection.
• There is no guarantee that any members of a population will be able to survive and
reproduce in a changed environment. Sometimes changes in environmental
conditions may cause an entire population of organisms to die, or even an entire
species to become extinct.
• The process of natural selection does not lead to changes in the characteristics of
individual organisms. It only changes the characteristics of populations (i.e. the
proportion of individuals in the population having certain inherited traits) over time.
• After natural selection has operated on many successive generations of a population,
the descendants can be very different from their original ancestors.
• Even though organisms can be very different in both appearance and behavior from
their ancestors of many generations ago, they retain some of the inherited traits of
those early ancestors.
 Standard: 2. Life Science
Prepared Graduates:
 Explain how biological evolution accounts for the unity and diversity of living organisms

Grade Level Expectation: Seventh Grade

Concepts and skills students master:
1. Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely than others to survive
and have offspring in a specific environment
Evidence Outcomes
Students can:
a. Develop, communicate, and justify an evidence-based
explanation for why a given organism with specific traits
will or will not survive to have offspring in a given
environment (DOK 1-3)
b. Analyze and interpret data about specific adaptations to
provide evidence and develop claims about differential
survival and reproductive success (DOK 1-3)
c. Use information and communication technology tools to
gather information from credible sources, analyze
findings, and draw conclusions to create and justify an
evidence-based scientific explanation (DOK 1-2)
d. Use computer simulations to model differential survival
and reproductive success associated with specific traits
in a given environment (DOK 1-2)
21st Century Skills and Readiness
Competencies
Inquiry Questions:
1. What is the relationship between an organism’s traits
and its potential for survival and reproduction?
2. How is the use of the word “adaptation” different in
everyday usage than in biology?
Relevance and Application:
1. Bacteria have evolved to survive in the presence of the
environmental pressure of antibiotics – giving rise to
antibiotic resistance.
2. Species that can live with humans –such as rats and
pigeons – are more common around towns and cities.
Nature of Science:
1. Create and use sound experimental designs to collect
data around survival and genetic traits. (DOK 2-3)
2. Describe several ways in which scientists would study
genetics, and suggest ways that this has contributed to
our understanding of survival and populations. (DOK 1-2)
STANDARD: 2. LIFE SCIENCE
Prepared Graduates:
 Explain and illustrate with examples how living systems interact with the biotic and abiotic
environment
Grade Level Expectation: Sixth Grade
Concepts and skills students master:
1. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms,
populations, and entire species
Evidence Outcomes
Students can:
a. Interpret and analyze data about changes in
environmental conditions – such as climate change – and
populations that support a claim describing why a
specific population might be increasing or decreasing
b. Develop, communicate, and justify an evidence-based
explanation about how ecosystems interact with and
impact the global environment (DOK 1-3)
c. Model equilibrium in an ecosystem, including basic
inputs and outputs, to predict how a change to that
ecosystem such as climate change might impact the
organisms, populations, and species within it such as the
removal of a top predator or introduction of a new
species
d. Examine, evaluate, question, and ethically use
information from a variety of sources and media to
investigate how environmental conditions affect the
survival of individual organisms (DOK 1-2)
21st Century Skills and Readiness Competencies
Inquiry Questions:
1. How do ecosystem changes affect biodiversity?
2. How does biodiversity contribute to an ecosystem’s
equilibrium?
Relevance and Application:
1. The development and application of technologies
intended to aid some populations and ecosystems.
Nature of Science:
1. Ask testable questions and make a falsifiable hypothesis
about how environmental conditions affect organisms,
populations, or entire species and design a method to
find the answer. (DOK 2-4)
2. Recognize and describe the ethical traditions of science:
value peer review; truthful reporting of methods and
outcomes; making work public; and sharing a lens of
professional skepticism when reviewing the work of
others.
3. Use models and technology tools to show what might
happen to individuals, populations, and species as
environmental conditions change. (DOK 1-2)