Evolution Test Study Guide

Students will have a Unit Test on Evolution on Tuesday.

Study Guide

Vocabulary Terms to Know:

• Adaptation - a behavioural or structural trait that allows an organism to succeed in its environment
• Carolus Linnaeus - Swedish botanist who gave all organisms a Latin name
• Charles Darwin - British Naturalist who studied finches in the Galapagos Islands and came up with the theory of evolution
• Evolution - the gradual change in a species over time
• Extinction - the disappearance of all members of a species from Earth
• Fossil - the preserved remains or imprints of an organism
• Mutation - a change in an organism's DNA
• Natural Selection - a process by which organisms that are better adapted to their environments are more likely to succeed
• Taxonomy - scientific classification
• Variation - any difference between organisms of the same species

Other Important Information to Know:

• Be able to explain some adaptations of animals in different environments. For example, an animal that lives in the snowy tundra might have thick fur and a coat of blubber to keep it warm.
• Know that the peppered moth changed from light to dark after the Industrial Revolution because the light-coloured moths were easier to see on the sooty trees and were eaten by birds.
• Understand that bird's beaks are adapted to the type of food they eat. For example, a hummingbird has a long, narrow beak so that it can reach nectar from inside a flower.
• Know that the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5700 years, and that it can be used to date organisms about 50 000 years old, but not much older, as the Carbon-14 sample will become too small to be useful.
• Understand that DNA carries genes and determines inherited traits from parent to offspring.
• Remember that reptiles and dinosaurs were the dominant organism during the Mesozoic Era.
• Understand that fossils are more likely to form in sedimentary rock and from organisms that contain hard parts (teeth, bones, etc.).
• Understand that organisms in the Precambrian Era were mostly soft-bodied, which is why they didn't leave behind many fossils.
• Understand that "Survival of the Fittest" means that organisms that are more fit (meaning they are better adapted to their environments) are more likely to live and reproduce, passing their "fit" traits to their offspring.
• Be able to define and give examples of the three types of camouflage. For example, concelaing colouration is when an organism uses its colour to blend into its environment, like tree frogs. Disruptive colouration is when an organism has stripes, spots, or other markings that confuse prey and predators, like zebras. Mimicry is when organisms look like something else, like stick bugs.