October 16, 2013 Day 2

ScienceStarters Sheet

1. Please have theseItems on your desk.

ARBook

2- Science Starter: Mr. Parr music video on Evolution.

Write 5 new words that you do not know the meaning of, from the music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Y_ILQB-Kg

Agenda

Science fair forms

Guess what day it is ???????

Updating Your Notebook (ToC)•Page 51 10/16 Environmental Science

(title page)•Page 52 10/16 Adaptation “I can” goals•Page 53 10/16 Adaptation Learning goals & scales.

•Page 54 10/16 Bill Nye video notes-Evolution•Page 55 10/16 Evolution &Natural Selection

Notes

Evolution and Natural Selection

•What are traits?•What is DNA and how does is it affect

species traits?

What is Evolution?

• Evolution is the concept that plants and animals (species) existing today came from preexisting species and that species change physically through time.

Founders of Evolution• Two founders of

evolution were Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace▫ Charles Darwin is

credited for this theory of evolution because he provided massive evidence for it in a book he published. (Scott Freeman, 2003, pg.495) Darwin Wallace

Darwin’s Theory

•Darwin published the theory in 1859 in a book called On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

•He gathered evidence for his theory in the Galapagos Islands on a voyage in the HMS Beagle.

•Darwin collected mockingbirds from different islands were distinct species, based on differences in coloration, beak size and shape.

Similar mockingbird species on different Galapagos islands

What does this all mean?• Each finch were adapted

to particular ways of eating. ▫ Islands had different

things to eat.▫ Birds with the more

adapt beak were able to survive.

• Originally there was only one type of finch, but finches adapted to their environment.

Evidence for Change through Time

• Fossils help support the theory because rocks and fossils from rocks underneath other rocks are older than the fossils found above them.

• Fossils show species that are extinct.▫ Darwin theorized that

extinct forms and living forms were related.

▫ Transition forms are species that are in between those of older and younger species

Evidence for Evolution Continued…• Development of

species• Many Species have

gone extinct.• Fossil species

frequently resemble living species found in the same area

• Earth’s environment is always changing

• Genetic similarities in DNA

What is Natural Selection?

•Organisms vary in traits (variations).•Traits are passed on from parents to

offspring.▫Example tall parents will have tall parents.

•Only some offspring will reproduce. Those that don’t reproduce their genetic traits will not be passed on

•The population that reproduces will most likely have offspring that will resemble them.

Mutation, Harmful or Beneficial? • Mutations can be harmful

and some can leave no effect.

• Mutations that harm an organism will most likely lead to it dying so it can’t reproduce.

• Mutations can also give an organism an advantage over organisms of its same species.

• Organisms that have a beneficial mutation will more likely survive and be able to reproduce.

Darwinian Fitness

•Ability of an individual to produce offspring compared to other individuals in the same population.▫Those that are able to adapt to an

environment will be able to reproduce▫Those that are dead will not be able to

create their own offspring.▫Courtship rituals and status amongst

populations

Examples of Darwinian Fitness

• Male stickleback fish swim in a stereotypical manner as they court potential mates.

• Male bowerbirds build elaborate towers of vegetation to entice females.

• Female moths release pheromones that attract males from up to a mile away.

• Male African elephants use low-frequency sounds to find females who are sexually receptive.

Misconceptions on Evolution

•Individuals do not change during the process of evolution; the population changes

•Evolution does not favor any individuals, it simply favors individuals that happen to be better adapted to their environment.

•Not all traits are adaptive

References

•Scott Freeman, S. (2003). Biological science. (2 ed., pp. 494-512). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.