NAME: Period: Date:

Introduction to Evolution Webquest

STEP 1: Introduction to the Theory of Evolution

Watch the following YouTube, "What is
Evolution?", and answer items 1-3.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhHOjC4oxh8


1) What is the definition given for evolution?___________________________________________

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2) Describe a DNA mutation and expl ain how evolution is driven by mutations. ________________

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3) How do humans affect the evolution of other species? Support your answer with evidence from
the video.

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STEP 2: Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution

Explore these three sites to help you answer the followint questions:

1. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_25
2. http://www.famousscientists.org/charles-darwin/
3. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/evolution/what-is-evolution/how-does-evol-
work/index.html


1. Charles Darwin's ideas concerning the causes of evolution were probably formulated in his mind:

a. while he was still a student at Cambridge University
b. before he began his voyage of exploration around the world on H.M.S. Beagle
c. during his voyage on H.M.S. Beagle, especially after he reached the Galpagos Islands
d. during the late 1900's

2. Natural selection states that:

a. a change in a species occurs over time.
b. nature selects the variations within a species that are most useful for survival.
c. fitness is an organisms ability to survive and produce fertile offspring.
d. all of the above

3. Through careful observation, Charles Darwin came to understand that:

a. populations of plants and animals in nature most often consist of individuals that are clones
of each other
b. those individuals whose variation gives them an advantage in staying alive long enough to
reproduce are more likely to pass their traits on to the next generation
c. populations of a species that become isolated from others by adapting to different
environmental niches quickly become extinct
d. all of the above

4. Which of the following statements is true about Charles Darwin?
a. He believed that evolution was due to the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
b. He supported Lamarck's explanation of how evolution occurred.
c. He understood that the variation that exists in natural populations of plants or animals is the
result of repeated mutations
d. none of the above

5.How do natural selection and evolution differ: __________________________________________
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STEP 3: The Evolution Experience

Take a look at the image to the right.

Then play the Evolution Experience game:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-
online/evolution/what-is-evolution/natural-
selection-game/the-evolution-experience.html

Before the industrial revolution, most peppered moths in England were light-colored; but after tree
trunks around cities were darkened by pollution, a dark-colored variety became much more common.

When you looked at the image which moth did you see first. When you played the evolution game
which color of bug did you pick out first. _______________________________________________

How does natural selection connect to these two scenarios? ________________________________

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