Evolution Unit Outline
What you should know after studying this unit.
Chapter 21 – Genomes and their Evolution
o What is a genome?
o How do genomes differ among organisms? (size, number of genes, functions)
o What is bioinformatics?
o How is BLAST a useful tool for studying genes and the evolution of organisms?
 Self-quiz #7 is a good review question
Chapter 22 – Descent with modifcication
o How do ideas about evolution change over time?
 Cuvier, Hutton, Lyell, Lamarck, Darwin
o What is meant by “descent with modification”?
o How does “adaptation” relate to “natural selection”?
o What is artificial selection?
o How does natural selection work?
o How does the fossil record provide evidence for evolution?
o What is different between homologous and analogous structures?
o How do homologous structures provide evidence for evolution?
o What is convergent evolution?
o How does biogeography provide evidence for evolution?
 Self-quiz questions 1-8 provide good review questions for this chapter
Chapter 23- Microevolution
o What is microevolution?
o How does genetic variation arise in a population?
o What is a “gene pool” and how do gene pools change over time?
o What conditions must be met for a population to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
 Be able to determine mathematically if a population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and
support your reasoning using a Chi square analysis.
o How do natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow alter allele frequencies in populations?
 Genetic drift = Founder effect, bottleneck effect
o What is “relative fitness”?
o What is the difference between directional selection, disruptive selection, and stabilizing selection?
o What is sexual selection?
o Why can’t natural selection create “perfect” organisms?
 Self-quiz questions 1-7 provide good review questions for this chapter
Chapter 24
o What is meant by the “biological species concept”?
o What is reproductive isolation?
o What are some examples of prezygotic and postzygotic barriers?
o What is meant by “speciation”?
o What is the difference between allopatric and sympatric speciation?
o What is a hybrid zone?
o What are some possible outcomes for hybrids in a hybrid zone (reinforcement, fusion, stability)?
o What is the difference between punctuated equilibrium and gradualism?
 Self-quiz questions 1-4, 6 provide good review questions for this chapter
Chapter 25 – The History of Life on Earth
o What are some possible ways that life could have originated?
 Miller-Urey experiments, Protobionts
o What is endosymbiosis? How does the “serial endosymbiosis” model provide support that
eukaryotes may have evolved using endosymbiosis?
 Self-quiz questions 1, 2, 4, and 9 are good review questions for this chapter
Chapter 26 – Phylogeny
o What is phylogeny?
o How can a phylogenetic tree be used to display the evolutionary history of a given group of
organisms?
 Be able to read a phylogenetic tree and explain which organisms are more or less related to
one another and why (pgs. 538-9).
o How is a cladogram constructed using shared derived characters? (pg. 543)
 Self-quiz question 4, 5, and 9 are good review questions for this chapter
**Remember that there are some helpful websites on the class webpage to help you review. The
answer key is posted to the Hardy-Weinberg practice problems. I posted another website with step-bystep answers as well. If you are still having trouble.. ask for help!
**Do not leave it until the last minute to review for this test. Spend some time studying each topic and
quiz yourself at the end of each section. Simply “reading over” notes and the chapters will not fully
prepare you. You have to find a way to quiz yourself on the material. Use the self-quiz questions and/or
help a friend by preparing questions for each other and quizzing each other, especially on the topics that
you have the most trouble understanding/remembering.
**Prepare a list of questions that still trouble you after reviewing and share the questions with me so
that I can help you with the concepts you are struggling with.
Happy studying! 