Natural Selection Worksheet
Explore the principles of natural selection, including variation, inheritance, struggle for existence, and differential survival and reproduction.
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Natural Selection: Mechanisms of Evolution
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Read each question carefully and answer to the best of your ability. Use complete sentences for short answer questions.
1. Which of the following is NOT a principle of natural selection?
Variation within a population
Inheritance of acquired traits
Differential survival and reproduction
Struggle for existence
2. What is an adaptation?
A sudden change in an organism's DNA
A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment
The process by which new species arise
The movement of individuals into or out of a population
3. Natural selection is often summarized as 'survival of the ', meaning those individuals best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
4. The ultimate source of new genetic variation in a population is .
5. Explain the role of genetic variation in natural selection.
6. Observe the image of Darwin's finches below. How do the different beak shapes illustrate the concept of natural selection?
7. Individuals can evolve during their lifetime by acquiring traits that help them adapt to their environment.
True
False
8. Natural selection acts directly on an organism's genotype, not its phenotype.
True
False
Match the term with its definition.
9. Fitness
a. The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
10. Natural Selection
b. The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.
11. Mutation
c. A random change in the DNA sequence.