Studied by 20 peopleWho was Charles Darwin?
He was an English naturalist who developed the theory of natural selection.
What was Darwin's ship called?
It was the H.M.S beagle.
What did Darwin find on his voyage around the world?
On his voyage around the world, he found and collected thousands of plant and animal specimens to propose a hypothesis about how organisms change over time.
Define species.
A group of organisms that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring.
Define adaptation.
A characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.
What 3 patterns of biological diversity did Darwin notice while on his voyage?
The 3 patterns of biological diversity he noticed were that species varied globally, locally, and over time.
Environments that are similar will produce?
They will produce species with similar adaptations.
What are fossils?
They are traces of ancient organisms or footprints.
Define fossil record.
It is the timeline of life, organizing fossils by their estimated ages and physical similarities.
What were Darwin's observations of fossils?
His observations of fossils were that extinct animals were similar to living species, suggesting that species change by a natural process.
As populations and their environments change over time, what forms?
New species form.
Define evolution.
The process in which populations gradually change over time.
How did Lyell and Hutton's ideas about Earth's age help shape Darwin's theory about how organisms adapt to change on Earth?
Their ideas suggested that Earth is old enough for evolution to occur, thus helping shape Darwin's theory about how organisms adapt to change on Earth.
Who were Lyell and Hutton?
They were geologists that discovered that Earth was much older than previously thought, and had changed over the course of many years in an ongoing pattern.
Who was Lamarck?
He was the first naturalist to study adaptations.
What 2 theories did Lamarck suggest?
The 2 theories that he suggested were acquired characteristics and inheritance of acquired characteristics.
What was Lamarck's theory of acquired characteristics?
This theory states that organisms acquire traits during their lifetime to adapt to their environment, driven by an innate tendency toward perfection. This pertains to both use and disuse of traits.
What was Lamarck's theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics?
This theory states that traits during an organism's lifetime can be passed on to their offspring's lifetime.
Were Lamarck's ideas correct?
No, they were incorrect; phenotypic changes do not result in genotypic changes.
Even though Lamarck's ideas were wrong, what was crucial about them?
Even though they were wrong, they were crucial because Lamarck was the first to link the body changes of an organism to its environment.
True or false: Darwin built his theory based on Lamarck's ideas.
True: Darwin built his theory based on Lamarck's ideas.
Who was Thomas Malthus?
He was an English economist who warned that if the rate of people being born stayed higher than the rate of people dying, there wouldn't be enough food or living space.
Why did Malthus' theory about overpopulation and its consequences help Darwin?
Malthus' theory about overpopulation and its consequences helped Darwin because Darwin began relating to this idea to other organisms, wondering why overcrowding does not exist in nature.
Define artificial selection.
It is a synonym of selective breeding; it can produce variation among species.
What did Darwin realize was the key for evolution to occur?
He realized that variation in nature was key for evolution to occur.
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