Name:___________________________________
SBI3U: Evolution
Introduction to Evolution Assignment
Date: ___________
Read the package provided from your teacher and Biology 12 (Nelson) and answer the following
questions. You will be handing your answers in. You will also be using this information as NOTES. Do a
good job!
Read the Introduction to Evolution Note:
1. Complete the table (on back) on the scholars and their theories. /10
Complete the following questions /10
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Would most people use the term ‘immutable’ to describe the Earth and organisms today?
Hold old would the world be now according to Archbishop James Ussher’s theory?
Had anyone proposed the idea of evolution of species before Darwin? What were they missing?
What did the work of Lyell, Hutton and Cuvier give to the theory of evolution?
Consider the evolution of a giraffe’s long neck and legs using Lamarck’s theory and then using
Darwin’s theory. Do acquired traits get passed on? (Can you train yourself to be a super fast
sprinter and expect that your offspring will do the same?) Explain which theory is more plausible
(possible and believable).
7. Even though Lamarck did not quite get evolution correct, what did his findings contribute to the
field of study?
8. Define evolution. List the three main processes that determine the rate of evolution.
Read 11.6 The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection and complete the following questions: /10
9. What is “Natural Selection” ?
10. What are the 4 observations and 3 inferences that Darwin made in his theory?
11. In Darwin’s time, what were some of the unanswered questions left by the theory of evolution?
How have these been answered?
12. Though some accepted the idea of evolution, they still struggled with the idea that variation was the
driving force behind it. Even Darwin admitted it was the greatest weakness in his theory. Why was
it so hard to believe?
13. What important science almost immediately followed the publishing of On the Origin of Species ?
[1] What did it give people a better understanding of?
14. What is the greatest source of new inheritable variations?
Name:___________________________________
Table 1: Evolutionary Scholars
Pre-Darwinian Times
Scholar(s)
Theory / Main
idea
Scala Natura
Brief description
Origins of the
Earth
The Early Church
A system for naming organisms.
Early
evolutionists
Darwinian Times
Georges Cuvier
James Hutton
Charles Lyell
Evolution
theory of
Acquired
Characteristics
Charles Darwin