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Changing Nature of
Life
Vocabulary
Study the vocabulary words and definitions below.
adaptation ....................................... a trait that a species develops over
generations which helps it to survive
bias ................................................... a preference that can hinder impartial
judgement
Charles Darwin ............................. the biologist who developed and
offered evidence of the theory of natural
selectionhe showed how living things
had changed over long periods of time
evolution ......................................... changes in living things over time
extinct .............................................. describes a species that no longer has
any living representatives
fittest ............................................... best suited to survive in its
environment
fossil ................................................ remains of organisms that lived in the
past
gene ................................................. unit of DNA that determines a specific
trait in the organism; genes come in
pairs
mutation ......................................... a change in genes that causes a change
in a particular trait
natural selection ............................ the survival of organisms best fit for the
environment
Unit 6: The Changing Nature of Life
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Introduction
Some people may look at a forest and see a peaceful, green landscape
where the birds twitter and the rabbits hop. However, the forest is, in fact,
an ever-changing setting where animals and plants must struggle every
day to survive. That is what this unit is about: how living things must
either meet the demands of their environment or die. As Earth has
changed over billions of years, living things have also had to change.
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Oldfield mice differ in how light or dark their fur is. That is, oldfield mice
show differences in the color of their fur. Biologists suggest that on sand
dunes mice with lighter fur have a higher rate of survival. Why? Mice
with light-colored fur are better able to blend in with the sugar-white sand
and sneak past the foxes and hawks that hunt them. Mice with dark fur
would be seen, caught, and eaten. Over time, more individuals with
lighter fur have survived and have had more offspring, thereby passing
on genes for lighter and lighter fur. Its even possible that some mice have
had genetic mutationschanges in their chromosomesthat allowed
them to have whiter fur.
Natural Selection
oldfield mouse
oldfield mouse
white color
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Florida Fossils
Florida is full of fossils. Since much of Florida was once underwater, you
can often find fossils of ancient sea life, such as sharks teeth and petrified
sea urchins, simply by looking carefully as you walk down sandy roads.
Fossils of creatures that lived on
land are also plentiful in
Florida. Many have been
found in phosphate pits in
central Florida, but theyre
also common in springs and
spring-fed rivers in other parts of
the state. During an Ice Age, millions of years ago, Florida was sort of a
warm-weather resort for mammals. These were not the sort of mammals
we know today. Many were huge, bizarre creatures. The saber-toothed
tiger lived in Florida at this time. So did the giant sloth, which was 20 feet
long, weighed 12,000 pounds, and could uproot the trees it fed on.
Glyptodontsgiant, armadillo-like animals with spikes on their tails
could grow to as much as 12 feet in length. And there were many, many
other types of animals here: horses, camels, rhinoceroses, and mammoths.
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Charles Darwin
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puzzled over how some specimens were very similar but had developed
differences in small traits, he realized that living things change over time.
These changes may take hundreds or thousands or millions of years. He
called this process evolution. He wrote a book about it, The Origin of
Species, in 1859. There he offered hundreds of pages of evidence from the
fossil record and the living world to support his theory of the way
evolution proceeds through natural selection.
These are the basic points Darwin made.
1. Organisms produce more offspring than the environment can
support.
2. The offspring are different from each otherthere is variation.
3. The offspring struggle to survive: they struggle against each other,
against other creatures, and against elements of nature such as
weather.
4. Natural selection occurs, and only the offspring who are most fit
best suited to their environmentsurvive.
Woolymammoth
Mammoth
wooly
Changes often result in the organisms death. In some cases, the change
doesnt seem to matter. Occasionally, the changethe mutationmakes
the organism more fit.
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Very likely, the cotton-ball theory would not last. At some point,
someone might wonder who came up with the cotton ball theory.
Imagine if you learned this:
The cotton-ball theory was created by a group of scientists
that work for a cotton ball company.
Would this explain why they came up with the theory? A preference that
hinders or prevents impartial judgement is known as bias. To avoid
problems like the one we described, scientists are supposed to seek out
their own biases. Once they know what the biases are, they can design
their research to avoid faulty conclusions. Apparently, the cotton-ball
scientists did not do this.
Many people believe that Darwin and other scientists working on
evolution have reached faulty conclusions. The conclusions of science,
however, are based on observation. They are based on testing, review by
other scientists, and reexamination. So far, evolution appears far more
sturdy than any cotton-ball theory. Does this mean the controversy will
go away? Probably it will not. In science, however, criticism leads to
stronger theories, better understanding, and more knowledge.
Summary
The living world is an ever-changing place where only the fittest survive.
Here, fittest describes the species that are best suited to their environment.
Mutations can lead to changes in genetic material. The changes are the
result of the rearrangement of chemicals within DNA. These changes
affect an organisms fitness and ability to survive. Those organisms who
are well suited to their environment increase through natural selection. In
a sense, nature selects them for survival because they have useful traits.
The fossil record gives many examples of animal and plant species that
have become extinct because they did not develop useful adaptations
quickly enough.
Charles Darwin studied the fossil record and the living world to develop
the theory of evolution in the 1850s. The changes that come about in living
things over time are known as evolution. Evolution, like other theories,
receives much criticism. In all research, bias must be examined to insure
reliable conclusions.
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Careers in Biology
x4
160
x0
4
Museum Curator
Museum curators take care of museum collections.
They decide on a system by which to organize the
collection, catalog each item, store it according to the
category to which it belongs, and then make sure that
each item remains well preserved. Natural history
museum collections, such as those at the Smithsonian
Institution, may contain thousands of animals and
plants. Curators of natural history collections either
have graduate degrees or extensive experience in
identifying and gathering collections.
Practice
Use the list below to complete the following statements.
adapt
adaptations
criticism
Darwin
evolution
extinct
fittest
fossil
giant sloth
glyptodont
1. The term
mutation
natural selection
saber-tooth tiger
survival
variation
record.
studied evolution in
the 1800s.
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8. The
in the color of
their fur.
13. The survival of the light-colored oldfield mice on Floridas Gulf
Coast is an example of the process called
.
14. Evolution is a controversial theory that has survived much
.
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Practice
Explain each term using complete sentences.
1.
2. Adaptation: _________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
3. Evolution: __________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
4. Bias: _______________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
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Facts:
Through evolution, some organisms have developed changes in
color that allow them to blend in with their natural background.
Those animals that blend in with their natural background are
less obvious to predators.
Investigate:
Using different-colored toothpicks as prey, you will act as predator
and see how color plays a part in whether or not prey survive.
Materials:
100 green toothpicks
100 red toothpicks
a grassy area about 10 meters square
1. Scatter 100 red and 100 green toothpicks in a grassy area about 10
meters square. The toothpicks represent insects.
2. Pretend you are a bird. Put one hand behind your back and use
your other hand as a beak to gather food.
3. Pick up as many toothpicks as you can in 30 seconds.
4. Count the toothpicks to see how many green ones and how many
red ones you have collected. Record your findings on the following
chart.
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Red Toothpicks
Collected
Green Toothpicks
Collected
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10. If these were real insects, what do you think would happen to the
red insects after a long period of time?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
11. What do you think would happen if you tried the same
investigation in a dirt area rather than a grassy area?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
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Practice
Use the list below to write the correct term for each definition on the line provided.
adaptation
Darwin
evolution
extinct
fittest
fossils
gene
mutation
natural selection
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
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Practice
Answer the following using complete sentences.
1. How does genetic variation create new species over time?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
2. How does changing the proteins produced in a cell alter what an
organism does?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
3. In terms of evolution, why do animals that are preyed upon (eaten)
likely to have a high number of offspring?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
4. Why is it vital that scientists recognize their own biases and that
they be open to criticism?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
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