Unit 7 Natural Selection

Learning Objectives

1. Describe the causes of natural selection.

2. Explain how natural selection affects populations.

3. Explain how humans can affect diversity within a population.

4. Describe the importance of phenotypic variation in a population.

5. Describe the types of data that provide evidence for evolution.

6. Explain how morphological, biochemical, and geological data provide evidence that organisms have changed over time.

7. Describe the fundamental molecular and cellular features shared across all domains of life, which provide evidence of common ancestry.

8. Describe structural and functional evidence on cellular and molecular levels that provides evidence for the common ancestry of all eukaryotes.

9. Explain how random occurrences affects the genetic makeup of a population.

10. Describe the role of random processes in the evolution of specific populations.

11. Describe the change in the genetic makeup of a population over time.

12. Describe the conditions under which allele and genotype frequencies will change in populations.

13. Explain the impacts on the population if any of the conditions of Hardy- Weinberg are not met.

14. Explain how evolution is an ongoing process in all living organisms.

15. Describe the types of evidence that can be used to infer an evolutionary relationship.

16. Explain how a phylogenetic tree and/or cladogram can be used to infer evolutionary relatedness.

17. Describe the conditions under which new species may arise.

18. Describe the rate of evolution and speciation under different ecological conditions.

19. Explain the processes and mechanisms that drive speciation.

20. Describe factors that lead to the extinction of a population.

21. Explain how the risk of extinction is affected by changes in the environment.

22. Explain species diversity in an ecosystem as a function of speciation and extinction rates.

23. Explain how extinction can make new environments available for adaptive radiation.

24. Explain how the genetic diversity of a species or population affects its ability to withstand environmental pressures.

25. Describe the scientific evidence that provides support for models of the origin of life on Earth.

Science Practices

1. Explain biological concepts and/or processes.

2. Explain biological concepts, processes, and/or models in applied contexts.

3. Describe the characteristics of a biological concept, process, or model represented visually.

4. Explain relationships between different characteristics of biological concepts, processes, or models represented visually in theoretical contexts.

5. Represent relationships within biological models, including flowcharts.

6. State the null and alternative hypotheses, or predict the results of an experiment.

7. Propose a new/next investigation based on an evaluation of the evidence from an experiment.

8. Describe data from a table or graph, including identifying specific data points.

9. Describe data from a table or graph, including describing relationships between variables.

10. Perform mathematical calculations, including mathematical equations in the curriculum.

11. Provide reasoning to justify a claim by connecting evidence to biological theories.

12. Predict the causes or effects of a change in, or disruption to, one or more components in a biological system based on biological concepts or processes.

13. Predict the causes or effects of a change in, or disruption to, one or more components in a biological system based on a visual representation of a biological concept, process, or model.