Module 3: Biological Diversity

● predict the effects of selection pressures on organisms in ecosystems, including:

– biotic factors

– abiotic factors

● investigate changes in a population of organisms due to selection pressures over time, for example:

– cane toads in Australia

– prickly pear distribution in Australia

● conduct practical investigations, individually or in teams, or use secondary sources to examine the adaptations of organisms that increase their ability to survive in their environment, including:

– structural adaptations

– physiological adaptations

– behavioural adaptations

● investigate, through secondary sources, the observations and collection of data that were obtained by Charles Darwin to support the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, for example:

– finches of the Galapagos Islands

– Australian flora and fauna

● explain biological diversity in terms of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection by examining the changes in and diversification of life since it first appeared on the Earth

● analyse how an accumulation of microevolutionary changes can drive evolutionary changes and speciation over time, for example:

– evolution of the horse

– evolution of the platypus

● explain, using examples, how Darwin and Wallace’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection accounts for:

– convergent evolution

– divergent evolution

● explain how punctuated equilibrium is different from the gradual process of natural selection

● investigate, using secondary sources, evidence in support of Darwin and Wallace’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, including but not limited to:

– biochemical evidence, comparative anatomy, comparative embryology and biogeography

– techniques used to date fossils and the evidence produced

● explain modern-day examples that demonstrate evolutionary change, for example:

– the cane toad

– antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria