Natural selection, if left unchecked, would tend to drive a species into a highly specific form or ideal, but ___ and ____ prevent that ideal from evolving.
a. random mutation and small gene pools
b. environmental pressures and a lot of breeding
c. small gene pools and environmental pressures
d. random mutation and environmental changes
2. As we discussed in class, the cheetah is great danger of going extinct due to decreased genetic diversity. If wildlife biologists tried to cross the cheetah line with another genetic line in the puma (in other words – mix the gene pools of the cheetah and another of the big cat species), would this save the cheetah from extinction? Why or why not?
3. Meet Kenny
He is a white tiger born in captivity that has been diagnosed with what is essentially a feline version of down syndrome. Based on what we have discussed in class, explain what type of genetic and evolutionary implications Kenny’s condition represents for the white tiger population that Kenny was born into.
4. Why would having greater genetic diversity likely help a species evolve over time?
5. By using the scientific method, we are able to concretely understand all there is to observe in both the natural and super-natural worlds.
Select one:
True
False
6. What was the most interesting fact you learned in this section and why?
7. When a scientist makes a statement or prediction about what he/she sees in the natural world, this statement is called a ___.
Select one:
a. query
b. hypothesis
c. conclusion
d. observation
8. Using the following diagrahm(s), drag and drop the two boxed terms over the branches that best represent them.
ancestral cell
represents genetic relationship
9. Which of the following is the most critical evidence for the common ancestry to all life on the planet?
Select one:
a. production of offspring
b. the type of energy consumed
c. DNA/RNA in the cell
d. the presence of a cell membrane
10. Which of the following explains the unity of living organisms?
Select one:
a. evolution
b. genetics
c. production of cells
d. interaction
11. The largest factor that leads to the diversity of living organisms today is
Select one:
a. the interaction of one species with another species
b. random mutation in the gene pool
c. static environments
d. natural selection alone
12. Evolution can only happen or occur at the ___________ level.
Select one:
a. DNA or RNA
b. species
c. organismal
d. population
13. In order for scientists to accept an observation as a fact it must be proven by more than one experiment.
Select one:
True
False
14. How does natural selection and random mutation effect the evolution of organisms on earth?
15. Biologists find it most meaningful if the field of _______________ uses names that indicate natural or evolutionary relationships between species.
Select one:
a. Genetics
b. Oncology
c. Taxonomy
d. cell biology
