GENES WITHIN POPULATIONS, CH. 21, pages 433-435, 438-452

Genes vary in natural populations. Why do allele frequencies change in populations? Selection can act on traits affected by many genes.

1. Know the simple definition of evolution, “descent with modification” or change through time.

2. Explain Darwin’s theory of evolution called natural selection. What is the difference between natural selection and evolution? (Natural selection is a process or mechanism that can lead to evolution.)

3. Differentiate between the three forms of selection: stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection. Provide or recognize examples of selective pressures that may cause each. (See fig.21.14)

THE EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION, CH. 22, pages 453-470

Fossil evidence indicates that evolution has occurred. Natural selection can produce evolutionary change. Evidence for evolution can be found in other fields of biology. The theory of evolution has proven controversial.

4. Explain the ways different fossils form and the different methods used to determine the age of fossils. Consider index fossils and radioisotopes.

5. Why did the average beak size of the medium ground finch increase after a particularly dry year?

6. Why did the frequency of light-colored moths decrease and that of dark-colored moths increase with the advent of industrialism? What is industrial melanism?

7. Provide examples of the types of evidence that convinced Darwin that species change over time. Consider the following: artificial selection, the fossil record, comparative anatomy, developmental biology, molecular biology, and biogeography.

8. Describe homologous and homoplastic features.

9. What is the significance of vestigial structures?

10. Compare today’s synthetic theory of evolution with Darwin's original theory of evolution.

11. Use a matrix chart to list the most important contributors to the history of thought concerning theories about changes in species and briefly summarize their ideas. Consider: Aristotle, Linnaeus, Hutton, Lyell, Malthus, LaMarck, Wallace, and Darwin.

12. Using Lucky Charms Cereal and tuberculosis as examples, explain how natural selection results in change.

THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, CH. 23, pages 471-490

Species are the basic units of evolution. Species maintain their genetic distinctiveness through barriers to reproduction. We have learned a great deal about how species form. Clusters of species reflect rapid evolution. Adaptive radiation, convergence, extinction

13. Define species and explain the limitations of the biological species concept.

14. List and describe categories of reproductive isolation. Indicate whether they are prezygotic or postzygotic isolating mechanisms.

15. Distinguish between allopatric and sympatric speciation. Describe how each works. List or recognize examples of each type.

16. What is adaptive radiation? What types of habitats encourage it? Why?

17. What is the difference between background extinction and mass extinction?

18. Be prepared to take either side in a debate on the pace of evolution by representing one of the opposing views of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. (p486)

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF LIFE, CH.4, pages 61-78

All living things share key characteristics. There are many ideas about the origin of life. The first cells had little internal structure. The first eukaryotic cells were larger and more complex than bacteria.

19. In groups of 4 review p.68 and discuss “Theories about the Origin of Life.” What theories will this course focus on and why?

20. Describe the conditions that are thought to have existed on early Earth.

21. Explain Oparin's Heterotroph Hypothesis and the Miller-Urey experiment that tested it. Sketch the apparatus used in the experiment.

22. Trace the steps by which life may have originated on earth from the formation of organic monomers through the rise of eukaryotic organisms.

23. State the significance of evolution of first autotrophs for the evolution of early life.

24. Describe the endosymbiont theory and summarize the evidence supporting it.

25. Mapping Past Time Lab 4)