Mrs. DiMarcella's Science Site



Evolution WebQuest

Part A: The Basics of Evolution

1. What is evolution and what is it responsible for?

2. Click next. When does evolution take place?

3. Only inherited _____________________ differences that can be passed on are acted upon by evolution.

4. Compare the two examples of changes in beetle populations. Which of the two scenarios is an example of evolution? Defend your answer with an explanation.

5. Click next. Identify and describe the four basic mechanisms for evolutionary change.

|Mechanism |Description |

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6. Genetic drift and natural selection only take place if there is ___________________ __________________.

7. What are the three sources of genetic variation?

a. ______________________ b. _______________________ c. Sex aka ______________________

8. Click next several times to read about mutations. Now complete the paragraph below regarding gene flow.

Gene flow, also called ____________________, is any movement of __________________ from one _______________________ to another. Gene flow includes lots of different kinds of events, such as _____________________ being blown to a new destination or people moving to new cities or countries. If __________________ are carried to a population where those genes previously did not ____________________, ____________________ can be a very important source of genetic ___________________. In the graphic on the website, the gene for ____________________ coloration moves from one population to another.

9. Click next and read until you get to Genetic Drift. Summarize the idea behind genetic drift.

10. Click next. Natural selection is the most important mechanism behind evolution. This webpage gives you an example of natural selection involving beetles. Read the descriptions and look at the cartoons. Explain what has happened to this population of beetles, using the following terms: Adaptation, Survive, Reproduce, Gene, Natural Selection, Species, and Evolution.

11. How do the finches of the Galapagos Islands demonstrate evolution?

12. Click next. Fitness does not necessarily mean “strongest.” Defend this statement.

Part B: Game of Survival

1. Click to learn about Natural Selection. What does “survival of the fittest” mean?

2. Now play Darwin’s survival game. How would you describe your starting environment? What kinds of landforms are present? What kind of vegetation is there? Anything else that is noteworthy?

3. Draw your 3 starting variants of your species and describe why you chose the ones that you did in the table below. What advantages did you think they might have over some of the other options?

Trial #1:

|Picture of Variant |Reason For Choice |

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How long did your species survive? _________

4. Repeat the above, choosing a new starting population if necessary, until you make it to 1,000,000 years!! What adaptations helped your species to survive over one million years?

5. Once your species has survived 1,000,000 take the quiz and write the letter to the correct responses:

1. ________ 2. ________ 3. ________ 4. ________ 5. ________

6. ________ 7. ________ 8. ________ 9. ________ 10. _______

Part C: Patterns of Natural Selection

If you have headphones, you may plug them in. Otherwise, press “play” and read the text silently to yourself.

1. Describe the situation from the tutorial that led to directional selection.

2. In which scenario did you have selection against the mean (disruptive selection)?

3. How is the natural selection of lizards an example of stabilizing selection?

Part E: Speciation

1. What is speciation?

2. Genetic changes over many years have resulted in two separate fruit fly images. Draw and describe the scenario, which explains how this might have happened.

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| |Disaster strikes: |

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|The populations diverge: | |

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| |So we meet again: |

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3. This is a simplified model of speciation by ________________________ ______________________.

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