Natural Selection Worksheet
Explore the principles of natural selection, including variation, inheritance, overproduction, and differential survival.
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Natural Selection Worksheet
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Read each question carefully and provide your best answer based on your understanding of natural selection.
1. Which of the following is NOT a core principle of natural selection?
Variation within a population
Inheritance of acquired traits
Overproduction of offspring
Differential survival and reproduction
2. What is the primary mechanism by which populations evolve over time?
Genetic drift
Mutation
Natural selection
Gene flow
3. The struggle for existence among individuals in a population is often referred to as .
4. Individuals with traits better suited to their environment are more likely to and .
5. A change in the genetic characteristics of a population over time is known as .
6. Natural selection acts directly on an organism's genotype, not its phenotype.
True
False
7. All mutations are beneficial to an organism.
True
False
8. Describe the role of variation in a population for natural selection to occur.
9. Explain how the beak sizes of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands provide evidence for natural selection.
Match each term on the left with its definition on the right.
10. Adaptation
a. The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
11. Fitness
b. A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.
12. Natural Selection
c. An organism's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.