Vosough Quiz - Natural Selection

Question 1

Define predator

Answer 1

An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food

Question 2

What are two main things that color can do for an organism in nature?

Answer 2

Camouflage, warn predators to stay away

Question 3

What is the definition of a prey?

Answer 3

An animal that is hunted or killed by another animal for food

Question 4

What is the definition of a population?

Answer 4

A group of the same type of organism living in the same area

Question 5

Define trait

Answer 5

A specific characteristic of an individual organism

Question 6

What’s a generation?

Answer 6

A group of individuals born and living at about the same time

Question 7

Define variation

Answer 7

Any difference in traits between individual organisms

Question 8

On a histogram, what would variation look like? Describe it.

Answer 8

Variation would be the number of bars there are

Question 9

What is the definition of distribution?

Answer 9

The number of individuals with each trait in a population

Question 10

On a histogram, what would distribution look like? Describe it.

Answer 10

How high the bars on the graph are

Question 11

What is a non-adaptive trait? Also, give an example

Answer 11

A non-adaptive trait is a trait that does not make it more likely that an individual will survive in an environment. An example would be a blue color in an orange environment with prey, because the prey will be able to see you coming and get away before being eaten.

Question 12

What is an adaptive trait? Also, give an example

Answer 12

An adaptive trait is a trait that makes it more likely that an organism will survive in a specific environment. An example would be a high amount of fur in a cold environment because the fur would make the animal survive the low temperatures.

Question 13

Define species

Answer 13

A group of organisms of the same kind (in 1+ populations) that do not reproduce with organisms from any other group

Question 14

Define environment

Answer 14

Everything (biotic and abiotic) that surrounds an organism

Question 15

How are traits formed?

Answer 15

Genes code the proteins on how to physically make up the traits

Question 16

Define protein molecule

Answer 16

A type of large molecule that performs important functions inside organisms made up of amino acids

Question 17

Define gene

Answer 17

An instruction for making a protein molecule

Question 18

What’s the difference between a gene and a chromosome?

Answer 18

A gene is an instruction for making a protein molecule, while a chromosome is a long piece of DNA that contains many genes. A chromosome holds genes, while the genes make the instructions themselves.

Question 19

Why do chromosomes come in pairs?

Answer 19

Because organisms have 2 copies of their genes; each copy comes on each chromosome in a pair.

Question 20

Why do we have 2 copies of each gene?

Answer 20

We have 2 copies of each gene because chromosomes come in pairs; there is one gene on every chromosome in a pair

Question 21

Define allele

Answer 21

Different versions of any particular gene

Question 22

How can we tell if a mutated gene will get passed down from a parent to their offspring?

Answer 22

we can’t; it’s completely random

Question 23

What’s the definition of offspring?

Answer 23

An organism produced as a result of reproduction

Question 24

In relation to natural selection, why is it important to survive?

Answer 24

It is important to survive to pass down your genes. If you have an mutated adaptive gene, you must survive long enough to reproduce and pass it down.

Question 25

Define Natural Selection

Answer 25

The processes by which the distribution of traits in a population naturally changes over many generations

Question 26

Define cause

Answer 26

An event or process that leads to a result or change

Question 27

Define effect

Answer 27

A result or change that happens because of an event or process

Question 28

Create a sentence that uses both cause and effect which shows that you understand their meaning.

Answer 28

John was in love with someone. Therefore, he confessed his feelings. This led to his heart breaking.
The cause of John confessing was his love for the person. The effect of John confessing was his heart breaking.

Question 29

What are the names of the two scientists mainly credited with discovering natural selection?

Answer 29

Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin are the two scientists mainly credited with discovering natural selection.

Question 30

What is the title of the first published book about natural selection?

Answer 30

“On the Origin of Species”

Question 31

What is the purpose of the Wallace line?

Answer 31

Divides the place of where Asian animal species live from where animals of South Pacific and Australia live

Question 32

What does having less genetic variation in a population mean for their survival?

Answer 32

Higher chance of going extinct; the more variation in a population there is, the more spread out the traits would be. This means that if all the distribution was in one trait (lower variation) and the environment changed, there would be no way for that species to stay alive.

Question 33

Most mutations have a __________ effect on traits.

Answer 33

Positive

Question 34

Define mutation

Answer 34

A random change to a gene that sometimes results in a new trait

Question 35

Through natural selection, non-adaptive mutated traits become ______ common over time.

Answer 35

less

Question 36

How can mutations possibly help us in a changing environment?

Answer 36

They produce new traits that increase the chance of an organism ruviving in changing environments.

Question 37

Can a non-adaptive trait turn into an adaptive trait? Or vice versa? Explain

Answer 37

A non-adaptive trait can turn into an adaptive trait or vice versa through change of environment. An example of an adaptive trait becoming a non-adaptive trait are elephant tusks. Back then, tusks HELPED elephants by giving them a much easier time with fighting other animals. Now, tusks HURT elephants by having them killled due to humans simply for their tusks.

Question 38

What’s the difference between a trait and a feature?

Answer 38

A trait is a characteristic found in individuals (ex. Red eyes) while a feature is a characteristic found in 99.9% of the population (ex. arms).

Question 39

What are histograms specifically used to show? And why are they useful?

Answer 39

Histograms are specifically used to show data in how a population changes over time. They are useful because they help us analyze how variation, distribution, whether a mutation has occurred, and how a population has grown or shrunk over time.

Question 40

How can a mutation which only affects one individual organism end up being the most common trait in a population?

Answer 40

This mutation would first need to lead to an adaptive trait. That adaptive trait would then allow the individual organism to live long enough to reproduce and pass down its gene, or adaptive trait. Now, that individual organism’s offspring will have that gene, and because it’s adaptive, it would pass it down to the next generation, and so on.

Question 41

What does having more genetic variation in a population mean for that populations’ survival?

Answer 41

Having more genetic variation in a population means that a population’s chance of survival would most likely increase, and lower the probability of the population going extinct. This is because if the population had distribution in many traits, and the environment had changed, there is a chance that one of these traits in the population would be adaptive. This would allow the animals to survive and therefore reproduce to pass down their genes, and to carry on the population.

Question 42

What is artificial selection? Give an example

Answer 42

Artificial selection is an evolutionary process in which humans consciously select for/against certain traits in a population (example: breeding tamed wolves over and over until you get a dog)

Question 43

Define genetic engineering

Answer 43

Genetic engineering is the intentional modification of traits by altering genes (Example: re-coding a gene to give a baby red eyes)