5. Natural Selection Study Guide (Year)
Instructions: Answer each question you may use notes, text book, etc. This will help to prepare
you for the unit test, but may not be used on the unit test.
1. A group of individuals of the same species which live together in the same area at the same
time is called a ________________________.
2. Define “population” and explain why all of the red oak trees living in one particular forest are
an example of a population?
3. Individuals in a population that have traits or abilities that give them a competitive advantage
over other population members are more likely to survive and reproduce. This principle is
called
4. Natural selection occurs because there is _____________________ in a species and some
individuals have traits which are more advantageous than others.
5. When the environment changes a population must adapt or else the population will
______________.
6. _______________________ is a key component of the process of natural selection because
without it an adaptation would not be passed down from generation to generation.
7. Individuals of the same species are similar but they still have some differences. What is this
called?
8. Populations with traits well suited to the environment will
9. What are some examples of environmental challenges which lead to natural selection?
10. The opposable thumb allows humans to grasp objects firmly. Because this feature helped
humans to survive over time, it is called a(n) ____________________________.
11. Structures and behaviors for finding food, protection, and for moving from place to place are
an organism's __________________________ to its environment.
12. Although dinosaurs lived for over 150 million years, they may have become extinct because a
catastrophic event changed the environment more rapidly than the dinosaurs could
________________________.
13. If a population has traits well suited to the environment, what will happen to that population?
14. The Stick Insects look like sticks on plants so that they can blend into their environment.
Why is this an adaptation?
(source: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~grange/Birds.html)
(source: http://www.vistainternetproducts.com/arcticha.htm)
15. The arctic hare lives in an area which has snow in the winter. For part of the year they are
white and part of the year they are brown. For which season would they be white?
16. Populations of organisms are continually evolving which means...
17. Giraffes have evolved long necks to reach food high in trees, describe how this happened?
18. Predict what will happen to a population in which a few individuals have a trait which helps
them to survive. (hint there are two possibilities!)
19. If global warming continues and the temperature of the Earth continues to rise, what most
likely will happen to the animals and plants which are adapted to living in the Arctic?
20. There is a population of salamanders which is so poisonous it could kill you hundreds of times
over. Its main predator is a snake which has evolved more and more of a tolerance for the
salamanders' poison over time. Predict what will happen to the snake if the salamander
evolves to be even more poisonous?
21. Natural selection is the process which explains
22. What are some environmental factors which can limit the survival of an organism?
23. If the Earth heats up and this changes the weather patterns on Earth, how will this affect
the survival of organisms?
24. A cactus, lives in the desert, stores water in its green stem and has leaves
which are spines. Why do cacti have this adaptation?
25. In the arctic it is freezing cold, windy, sunny only part of the year, and there is little water.
What are some examples of characteristics which you would find on plants which live in this
environment?
26. When a population moves to a new place where the habitat has slightly different
characteristics what might happen to the population?
27. When populations within the same species become separated and can no longer reproduce with
one another they can become new species, what is this called?
28. The diversity of living things is a result of what process?
29. How does the process of natural selection affect biodiversity?
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