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Understanding Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who made observations on a five-year voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle. He noticed that members of the same species varied in traits and that species produced more offspring than could survive. Darwin proposed that evolution occurs through natural selection, where individuals with traits better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their genes. Over generations, helpful variations accumulate in a species through this process of natural selection.

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58 views3 pages

Understanding Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who made observations on a five-year voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle. He noticed that members of the same species varied in traits and that species produced more offspring than could survive. Darwin proposed that evolution occurs through natural selection, where individuals with traits better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their genes. Over generations, helpful variations accumulate in a species through this process of natural selection.

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Name

Date

Darwins Theory
Understanding Main Ideas
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Who was Charles Darwin, and what did he do on the Beagles


five-year voyage around the world?
2. What is evolution?
3. When members of a species compete, what do they compete for?
4. What happens when species overproduce offspring?
5. How do helpful variations accumulate in a species over time?

Building Vocabulary
Fill in the blank to complete each statement.

6. A(n)
is a group of similar organisms that can
mate with each other and produce fertile offspring.
7. A(n)
and reproduce.

is a trait that helps an organism survive

8. A scientific
is a well-tested concept that
explains a wide range of observations.
9. The process by which individuals that are better adapted to their
environment are more likely to survive and reproduce is called
.
10. That some newly hatched turtles can swim faster than others of the
same species is evidence of
within a species.

175E

Class

Name

Date

Class

Darwins Theory
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line at the left.
1.

Members of a species can mate with


each other and produce
A gene pools
B fertile offspring
C variations
D adaptations

2.

The different shapes of bird beaks are


examples of
A variation
B adaptation
C evolution
D naturalism

3.

Only the organisms with a desired


characteristic are bred in
A artificial selection
B natural selection
C England
D South America

4.

The preserved remains of an organism


that lived long ago is a(n)
A adaptation
B Galpagos
C fossil
D Beagle

If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word
or words to make the statement true.
5.

Today scientists know that organisms are much less diverse


than Darwin imagined.

6.

In Darwins book The Population of Species, he proposed that


evolution occurs by means of natural selection.

7.

Without variation, all the members of a species would have the


same traits.

8.

To understand how evolution might occur, Darwin studied the


offspring of wild animals that were produced by artificial selection.

9.

In 1858, Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin proposed an


explanation for how evolution occurs.

10.

Darwin made a number of important observations on the


Hawaiian Islands.

175

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