The conditions for natural selection
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Two kinds of year for finches on Daphne Major (real pattern from Concepts of Biology and Biology 2e)
kind of year scarce seeds bill size with the higher survival average bill size afterward drought small, soft seeds, more than large, hard seeds large-billed larger very wet year large, hard seeds small-billed smaller Noah reads two real patterns for finches. Which claim fits both rows?
- The favored bill size depends on the scarce seeds, so selection can reverse
- Large bills are the better trait, since large-billed finches survived better in the drought
- The finch population changed its bills on purpose to match each year's seeds
- Selection ran in one direction, since the wet year had no effect on bill size
Two plants in one season (model data)
plant seeds made survived to breed P 40 6 Q 10 5 Bo compares fitness, the number of offspring that survive to breed, for two plants. Which plant has the higher fitness, and why?
- Plant P: 6 offspring survived to breed, more than Q's 5
- Plant P: it made the most seeds, which shows it is the strongest
- Plant Q: half of its seeds survived, a larger share than P's
- Neither: fitness cannot be compared without a height for each plant
Use this
Agar plate diagram, zones: Zone 1: Start: a sample on a plate with no antibiotic | bacteria cover the plate; Zone 2: Round 1: antibiotic on the plate | colonies from a small share of the bacteria; Zone 3: Round 2: bacteria from the Round 1 colonies, same antibiotic | colonies cover most of the plate.
Esme reads the plates and the chart together. Which claim fits both?
- The bacteria were identical at the start, so resistance arose in Round 2
- The few resistant bacteria present at the start multiplied, so resistant bacteria became common
- Each bacterium became more resistant with each round it faced
- Each round of antibiotic caused more bacteria to mutate into resistant ones
From generation 3 on, large, hard seeds were plentiful again. Ari sees the trend toward small bills stop. What explains the stop?
- Each finch's bill stopped changing once the large seeds returned to the island
- Small bills lost their survival advantage, so selection stopped pushing one way
- The small-billed trait stopped being inherited after generation 3, when large seeds returned
- The finches stopped changing because they had gotten the bills they needed to survive
Moths per 100 (trunks sooty from generation 1 to 5, cleaned after generation 5) (model data)
moth color generation 1 generation 5 generation 9 dark 10 70 15 light 90 30 85 Jun sees dark moths rise, then fall. How does natural selection explain both changes?
- Soot darkened the moths in life, and they passed the dark color on
- The moths changed color on purpose each time the trunks changed
- Each moth changed its color back as soon as the soot was gone from the trunks
- The color matching the trunks survived more, and the trunks changed
Finches before and after a drought on a model island (model data)
bill type before the drought survivors small-billed 80 8 large-billed 20 12 Large-billed finches fell from 20 to 12, yet the average bill size rose. Kira asks how that can be. Which explanation fits?
- The table must have an error, since a count that falls cannot raise the average
- Some small-billed finches grew larger bills, which raised the large-billed count
- The finches needed larger bills, so the survivors' bills grew deeper
- Small-billed finches fell faster, so large-billed finches became a bigger share
Notebook
Notes on a drought and finch bills (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: A drought left far fewer seeds, and small, soft seeds declined more than large, hard seeds. Line 2: Large-billed finches survived better than small-billed finches. Line 3: So each surviving finch's bill grew deeper to match the seeds that remained. Line 4: Bill size is inherited, so later generations had a larger average bill.
Luz reads a classmate's notebook about a drought and finch bills. Which line has the mistake?
- Line 2: small-billed finches should have survived better than large-billed ones
- Line 4: bill size is not inherited, so the average could not change
- Line 1: small, soft seeds should have declined less than large, hard seeds
- Line 3: a finch's bill does not grow to fit; survivors keep their bills
Moths per 100 in a sooty woodland (model data)
trait generation 1 generation 2 generation 3 dark moths 12 30 65 light moths 88 70 35 Ren reads the moth table. Which claim and reason fit it?
- The population evolved; the moths needed to be dark to match the sooty trees
- Each moth evolved; light moths gradually darkened over the generations of the study
- The population evolved; dark moths survived more and the color is inherited
- The dark moths evolved; they are stronger than light moths and so they are fitter
Finches per 100 before and after a drought (model data)
trait generation 1 generation 2 large-billed 20 60 small-billed 80 40 The drought favored large bills. Tala reads the table and asks where the large bills in generation 2 came from. Which claim and reason fit?
- Each small-billed finch grew a large bill during the drought
- Finches that strengthened their bills on hard seeds passed on the larger bill
- Large bills were already in generation 1; the drought changed their share
- The drought changed the finches' genes, since they needed large bills
Two flasks of bacteria tested on antibiotic plates (model data)
flask antibiotic exposure able to grow with the antibiotic (per 10,000) A none 4 B 3 rounds 9,000 Zee reads a model test of two flasks. Which claim and reason fit the table?
- The antibiotic selected resistance; Flask A, never exposed, already held some resistant bacteria
- Each bacterium in Flask B adjusted to the antibiotic during exposure
- The bacteria in Flask B mutated because they needed resistance to grow
- The antibiotic created resistance; Flask B gained it from 3 rounds of exposure