Download Evolution WebQuest

Name ____________________________________________ Date ___________________ Period ______
Evolution WebQuest
You will have today in class to complete this activity, anything not completed is homework, due on TEST DAY.
Part A: Have some fun and play “Darwin’s Evolution Game” @
http://science.discovery.com/interactives/literacy/darwin/darwin.html.
1. Click to learn about Natural Selection. What does “survival of the fittest” mean?
2. Now play Darwin’s survival game. How would you describe your starting environment? What kinds
of landforms are present? What kind of vegetation is there? Anything else that is noteworthy?
3. Draw your 3 starting variants of your species and describe why you chose the ones that you did in
the table below. What advantages did you think they might have over some of the other options?
Trial #1
Picture of variant
1.
Reason for choice
2.
3.
How long did your species survive? _________
4. Repeat the above, choosing a new starting population if necessary, until you make it to 1,000,000
years!! What adaptations helped your species to survive over one million years?
5. Once your species has succeeded, take the quiz on the site and write in the letter to the correct
responses below:
1. ________
2. ________
3. ________
4. ________
5. ________
6. ________
7. ________
8. ________
9. ________
10. ________
Part B: Learn about the history of life on Earth at
http://science.discovery.com/interactives/literacy/darwin/darwin.html.
1) How many different species of living things exist on Earth today?
2) There may be as many as ______________________ species of animals, plants, and other organisms on
Earth.
3) The total number of animal species currently known is about_________.
4) There are more than ______________known species of land plants.
5) How many species of fungi? ___________ protists? __________
6) What do the sizes of the picture represent?
7) Define evolution in three words: __________________
8) The ______________ we have today is the result of ___________.
9) The ______________ Period was 470 million years ago. Describe this environment and its
inhabitants:
10) The ______________ ______________ Period was 160 million years ago. Describe this
environment and its inhabitants:
11) This coral reef is in the __________ Islands provides a habitat for many different life forms. Name at
least four of the creatures shown in the photos.
12) The history of the earth can be traced back ______________________ years.
13) Fill in the timeline with the appropriate events.
4 BYA
3 BYA
2 BYA
14) What is our best source of evidence about the past?
15) Click on at least three of the fossils. Name and describe three of the fossils.
a.
b.
c.
1 BYA
16) ____________ ___________ help us put closely related organisms into groups.
17) All these animals share features inherited from a ___________ ___________
18) Cladrograms can be used to illustrate ___________ relationships and patterns of ___________.
19) Scientists can also use___________, _________________ and _____________ to determine the
evolutionary relationships among organsisms.
20)
Organisms may have ___________ that help them survive. If they survive, they will _________
and pass those__________on to their offspring. This can lead to the formation of a new
_____________.
21) Over time, _____________ ______________ causes change in features.
22)___________________ visited the Galapagos Islands in 1835. He was surprised by the number of
different finch species that existed in such a small area.
23)Looking at the graph, which statement is true?
24)In 1976 one of the Galapagos islands was struck by a drought, killing many of the plants. There was an
increase in plants with larger, harder seeds as these survived the drought better. What finch beak size
was favored as a result?
25) Anything that changes the ______________ make-up of a population can influence evolution. Name
two things that can influence evolution?
26)Of all the species that have ever existed _________% are now extinct.
27) Name and describe one of the species that are now extinct.
28)
Though all living things are related through a _________________, life continues to change,
resulting in the ___________________ we see today.
Part C: Natural Selection may occur in several ways. Learn about the patterns of Natural Selection through the
tutorial at http://wps.pearsoncustom.com/wps/media/objects/3014/3087289/Web_Tutorials/17_A02.swf .
1) If you have headphones, you may plug them in. Otherwise, press “play” and read the text silently to
yourself. Describe the situation from the tutorial that led to directional selection.
2) In which scenario did you have selection against the mean (disruptive selection)?
3) How is the natural selection of lizards an example of stabilizing selection?
Part D: Learn about speciation with the images at http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_42
1) What is speciation?
2) Genetic changes over many years have resulted in two separate fruit fly images. Draw and describe the
scenario which explains how this might have happened.
The scene:
Disaster strikes:
The populations diverge:
So we meet again:
3) This is a simplified model of speciation by ________________________ ______________________.