Biology Eleven:    Evolution Exam Review

An almost complete vocabulary list ( check text for extra terms)

Topic One: Adaptation

• What are some theories or ideas related to the origins of life?
• What is the fundamental unit of life and what are the activities of this unit?
• What is an adaptation?
• How does an adaptation become favourable?
• What are examples of different types of adaptations
• How could observed adaptations be associated with a theory?
• What happens if a species fails to adapt?

Topic two: The Process of Evolution

• What is the difference between a process and a mechanism?
• Why can the term “evolution” be interpreted several ways?
• How can one observe that a change has occurred?
• What patterns can be hypothesized with changes in:
• fossils: what sort of changes can fossils have and how can observations be misleading?
• embryology: how are embryos associated with family trees?
• anatomy: What is the significance of homologous and analogous structures and how could they be linked to ideas about convergence and divergence?
• physiology How are tissue structures and functions related to evolution?
• biochemistry How are proteins and amino acid sequences associate with DNA and how species are related?

• What are some possible sources of error with fossil proof?
• How is the earth’s geography associated with how species change?
• If species can be proven to change with time, what factors effect that change?
• What is the principle of convergence and divergence?

Topic Three: Mechanisms of Evolution

• Why do species change or do they remain the same?
• How could the process of reproduction be associated with the mechanisms of evolution?
• Adaptation allows an organism to evolve so what causes an adaptation?
• Are adaptation inherited through use and disuse?
• Are adaptations controlled by some form of natural selection?
• How is speciation related to a mechanism of change?
• How is the rate of change associated with how an organism adapts?

Lamarck

• From a scientific point of view, what are some of the weakness of Lamarck’s argument
• What did Lamarck contribute to evolutionary ideas?

Darwin

• What are the five specific points of Darwin’s mechanism of evolution?
• What is the importance of individual variation within a population?
• In order for an adaptation to be selected what must occur?
• What is the importance and or contribution of sexual reproduction in evolution?

Comparisons

• How could today’s ideas (i.e. genetic influence, symbiotic relationships etc.) be consistent or against Darwin and Lamarck’s ideas?
• What biological discoveries have contributed to changing the interpretation of evolution?