Understanding Evolution

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Understanding Evolution

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Evolution 101

Grade Level(s):

  • 9-12
  • 13-16
  • General

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Tutorial

Time: multiple days

Overview

This in-depth, multi-part course takes you through evolutionary theory and mechanisms, from definitions to details, natural selection to genetic drift, mutations to punctuated equilibrium.

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A three "step" illustration. The first "step" (left) shows a population of three green and three brown beetles. The second "step" (middle) shows a bird eating one of the green beetles in the population. The third "step" (right) shows a population of one green and five brown beetles.
  • [History of life: Grades 9-12] Present-day species evolved from earlier species; the relatedness of organisms is the result of common ancestry. (LS4.A)
  • [History of life: Grades 13-16] Present-day species evolved from earlier species; the relatedness of organisms is the result of common ancestry.
  • [History of life: Grades 9-12] Biological evolution accounts for diversity over long periods of time. (LS4.A, LS4.D)
  • [History of life: Grades 9-12] During the course of evolution, only a small percentage of species have survived until today.
  • [History of life: Grades 9-12] Rates of evolution vary.
  • [History of life: Grades 9-12] Biological evolution has been and can be influenced by interactions with the rest of the Solar System.
  • [History of life: Grades 13-16] Biological evolution accounts for diversity over long periods of time.
  • [History of life: Grades 13-16] During the course of evolution, only a small percentage of species have survived until today.
  • [History of life: Grades 13-16] Rates of evolution vary.
  • [History of life: Grades 13-16] Biological evolution has been and can be influenced by interactions with the rest of the Solar System.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Evolution occurs through multiple mechanisms.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] There is variation within a population. (LS3.B)
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] New heritable traits can result from recombinations of existing genes or from genetic mutations in reproductive cells. (LS3.B)
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Inherited characteristics affect the likelihood of an organism's survival and reproduction. (LS4.B, LS4.C)
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Fitness is reproductive success — the number of viable offspring produced by an individual in comparison to other individuals in a population/species.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Random factors can affect the survival of individuals and of populations.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Speciation is the splitting of one ancestral lineage into two or more descendant lineages.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Evolution does not consist of progress in any particular direction.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Evolution is often defined as a change in allele frequencies within a population.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Evolution occurs through multiple mechanisms.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Natural selection and genetic drift act on the variation that exists in a population.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] New heritable traits can result from mutations.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Inherited characteristics affect the likelihood of an organism's survival and reproduction.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Natural selection can act on the variation in a population in different ways.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Sexual selection occurs when selection acts on characteristics that affect the ability of individuals to obtain mates.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] An individual's fitness (or relative fitness) is the contribution that individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation relative to other individuals in the population.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Natural selection is capable of acting at multiple hierarchical levels: on genes, on cells, on individuals, on populations, on species, and on larger clades.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Random factors can affect the survival of individuals and of populations.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] A species is often defined as a group of individuals that actually or potentially interbreed in nature.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Speciation is the splitting of one ancestral lineage into two or more descendant lineages.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Occasionally offspring, known as hybrids, result from matings between distinct species or between distinct parental forms.
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS3.A : Inheritance of Traits
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS3.B: Variation of Traits
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.B: Natural Selection
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.C: Adaptation
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS3
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