Taxonomy and Evolution

Question 1

What is classification?

Answer 1

The process by which scientists group organisms into related groups

Question 2

What is a taxon?

Answer 2

a category of organisms determined by similar characteristics

Question 3

List the taxons using this acronym: Dumb King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti

Answer 3

Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus species

Question 4

What is the missing requirement for an organism to be considered alive: made of cells, grows and changes, ____________, able to reproduce, obtains and uses energy, evolves and adapts

Answer 4

responds to stimuli

Question 5

Digestion, gas exchange, and locomotion are examples of what?

Answer 5

Life functions

Question 6

How many life functions are there?

Answer 6

8

Question 7

What are the four general types of characteristics that scientists look at when determining an organism’s taxon?

Answer 7

external structures, internal structures, embryology, and genetics

Question 8

What is binomial nomenclature?

Answer 8

It’s the two-part official name of an organism. It’s made of the genus and species (ex. Homo sapiens = humans; homo= genus, sapiens=species)

Question 9

Which is bigger: a kingdom or a class?

Answer 9

kingdom

Question 10

Which is smaller: a family or an order?

Answer 10

family

Question 11

What are the three domains?

Answer 11

archaea, bacteria, eukarya

Question 12

What are the six kingdoms?

Answer 12

Animalia, Fungi, Plantae, Protista, Archaebacteria, Eubacteria

Question 13

Which phylum contains the vertebrates (animals with a spine)?

Answer 13

Chordata

Question 14

Are the organisms in the kingdoms Animalia, Fungi, and Plantae, and Protista prokaryotic or eukaryotic?

Answer 14

eukaryotic, which means their cells have nuclei containing DNA

Question 15

What class do we (humans) belong to?

Answer 15

Mammalia

Question 16

What are some of the characteristics of Mammalia?

Answer 16

live birth to offspring, hair/fur, and produce milk to feed offspring from mammary glands

Question 17

Are there ever exceptions to the taxonomic system?

Answer 17

Yes; the purpose of the system to create some order out of millions of species, not to try to fit each and every species exactly where it needs to go

Question 18

What is evolution?

Answer 18

Evolution is the change in a species over time

Question 19

What causes evolution?

Answer 19

mutation, natural selection, and changes in environment

Question 20

Does a single organism ever evolve?

Answer 20

No; a single organism adapts. Species evolve when useful adaptations get passed down to the following generations.

Question 21

What is the term for how many individuals in a species have or do not have a particular characteristic?

Answer 21

the frequency of traits

Question 22

Charles Darwin is known for studying what particular feature of evolution?

Answer 22

natural selection

Question 23

What is natural selection?

Answer 23

It is “nature’s choice”; the way an organism’s environment determines what traits will help it survive and allows for those traits to be passed on to the next generation

Question 24

What does “survival of the fittest” mean?

Answer 24

It means that the organism with the traits that give it the best advantage in its environment is more likely to survive and pass on its traits

Question 25

What is competition in terms of evolution?

Answer 25

It is the “fight” between organisms to see who gets most of the limited resources in an ecosystem; it’s a big part of natural selection

Question 26

What is a mutation?

Answer 26

a slight change or shift in the DNA code of an organism

Question 27

What is the result of most mutations?

Answer 27

Nothing. No change takes place

Question 28

What happens if an organism DOES experience change in its traits from mutation?

Answer 28

Natural selection determines if the new trait is useful/helps the organism compete.

Question 29

The peppered moths of Industrial Age London changed their color as soot from factories made their habitat darker. Is this an example of adaptation or evolution?

Answer 29

Evolution; over time, the species changed.

Question 30

Your body gets bigger, faster, and stronger if you train for a particular sport. Is this an example of adaptation or evolution?

Answer 30

Adaptation; you’re changing, but the species isn’t, because your changes won’t be passed down to your offspring.