EVOLUTION:
Part 2
Miss Andrea Cornejo
What’s the name of this
character?
charles darwin and his
theory
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was born in
1809 in England and was
always interested in nature.
He went to a medical school
but blood made him sick, so
he quit.
He decided in 1831 to go on
a five-year voyage around
the world on a ship called
the HMS Beagle , working as
a naturalist.
DARWIN’S JOURNEY
On the trip, Darwin observed plants and animals from
many parts of the world: One place Darwin found
interesting was the Galápagos Islands.
The Galapagos
Islands
Observe
the beaks
of these
Finches.
Can you
see the
differences
?
Why do you
think they
are
different?
DARWIN’S IDEAS
1. Darwin’s Finches in Galápagos
Islands
Darwin
observe
that th d
e anima
and plan ls
ts on th
Galápag e
os Islan
were s ds
imilar t
those in o
Ecuador
However .
, they
were no
t identica
l.
For example, Darwin
closely observed
birds called finches.
The finches on the
Galápagos Islands
were slightly
different from the
finches in Ecuador.
In addition, the
finches on each island
in the Galápagos
differed from the
finches on the other
islands.
Darwin hypothesized that the island finches were
descendants of South American finches (Ecuador) . He
thought the first finches on the islands were blown there from
South America by a storm.
Then, over many
generations, the
finches developed
adaptations that
helped them survive
in the different island
environments.
For example, the
beaks of
different finches
are adapted to
the kind of food
they eat.
2. Ideas about Selective Breeding
The practice in which humans select plants or animals for
breeding based on desired traits is called selective
breeding .
In
D
farme arwin’s
rs an t
had d bre ime,
produ eders
kinds ce
of far d many
and m ani
plants mals
learne
d th . They
bred a
plants t if they
that or an
had i
trait, a de mals
some sirable
offspr
ing m of the
the tr ay h
ait. ave
What did Darwin learn
from selective
breeding?
Humans breed plants
and animals for
particular desired
characteristics that are
beneficial. This was an
“artificial selection”.
Darwin thought
that there could
be a similar
process that
happens
naturally to
produce new
species through a
“natural
selection”.
3. Ideas about Populations - Thomas
Malthus
During Darwin’s time, a scientist named Thomas Malthus
(economist) was studying human populations . He observed that
there were more babies being born than there were people dying.
He thought that the human population could grow more rapidly
than food supplies could grow. This would result in a food
shortage.
Malthus also said that the size of human populations is limited by
problems , such as starvation and disease.
What did Darwin learn from Thomas Malthus?
Darwin realized that Malthus’s ideas can apply to all species ,
not only humans: Any species can produce many offspring and
be limited by factors. Only some individuals with the best traits
will survive and pass these traits to their offspring .
4. Ideas about Earth’s history - Charles Lyell
Charles Lyell’s book,
Principles of Geology,
gave evidence that
Earth is much older
than anyone once After reading Charles
thought. Darwin
Lyell’s book, Darwin
believed that evolution
happens slowly. thought that: “If
Earth was very old,
there would be
enough time for
organisms to change
slowly ”...
A mutation is a change in the
DNA. Mutations are a random
and constant process. As
mutations occur, natural
selection decides which
mutations stay or disappear
in a population . If the mutation
is harmful (bad), the mutated
organism has less chance of
surviving and reproducing. If
the mutation is beneficial , the
organism survives to
reproduce, and the mutation is
passed to the offspring.
What is Natural Selection?
Darwin explained that The process by which
evolution occurs by individuals that are better
Natural Selection : adapted to their environment
survive and reproduce
successfully than less
adapted individuals .
THE STEPS OF NATURAL SELECTION
1. OVERPRODUCTION:
STEPS OF A species produces more offspring than can
survive.
NATURAL
SELECTION 2. VARIATION:
All individuals in a population have different
traits (genetic variation).
3. SELECTION:
Some individuals survive longer than others
and reproduce.
4. ADAPTATION:
The traits of the survivors become more
common in the population.
How does Natural Selection
make new species?
● By a process called Speciation that has 3 steps:
1. SEPARATION
3. DIVISION
2. ADAPTATION
1. SEPARATION 2. ADAPTATION 3. DIVISION
● A part of a ● Each group is ● The 2
population affected by populations
becomes different become very
separated from environmental different from
the rest: a factors. each other.
canyon, ● Natural ● With time, they
mountain selection don’t mate with
range, river, occurs and each other
lake, islands. organisms anymore = they
adapt over became different
generations. species.