Natural Selection Questions

The diagram above shows a population of guppies that lived in a river. Scientists had previously only seen guppies with medium or large spots in this river; they had never seen any guppies with any other spot sizes.

-Karina says the change in the guppy population was caused by a mutation.

-Miles says the change was caused by a change in the environment.

-Zora thinks both Karina and Miles are correct.

Who do you think is right? Explain what happened to the guppies over many generations.

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How did the color of the trees in the squirrels’ environment change? Explain what happened to the squirrels over many generations.

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Scientists measured the spot size of guppies (small fish) in two different populations. Which population has more guppies with large spots?

• They both have the same number of guppies with large spots.

• The population in Brazil has more guppies with large spots.

• The population in Venezuela has more guppies with large spots.

• These bar graphs do not show which population has more guppies with large spots.

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If their environment changes to have warm water, which of the following seal populations will most likely survive?

(HINT: Seals with thicker blubber are more likely to stay warm and survive in cold ocean waters. But, in warm ocean waters, thicker blubber can make the seals overheat and die.)

• Populations 1 and 2 will most likely survive.

• Populations 2 and 3 will most likely survive.

• Only Population 2 will survive because it is the only population with variation.

• All the populations will survive because the seals will change the thickness of their blubber if they need to.

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Scientists measured the spine size of a population of cactuses found in an area in 1970. They measured the spine size of the cactus population again in 2015. Which of the statements below best describes the difference in the cactuses at the two time points?

• The cactuses in 1970 had smaller spines than the cactuses in 2015.

• The cactuses in 1970 had larger spines than the cactuses in 2015.

• There were more cactuses in 1970 than there were in 2015.

• There was more variation in spine size in 1970 than there was in 2015.

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Scientists measured the height of giraffes in two populations—one in the wild and one in a nature preserve. Which statement best describes the difference between the two populations?

• There is more variation in height of the giraffes found in the wild.

• There is more variation in height of the giraffes found in the nature preserve.

• The giraffes in the wild are mostly shorter than the giraffes found in the nature preserve.

• The giraffes in the wild are mostly taller than the giraffes found in the nature preserve.

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Scientists measured the spot size of all the guppies (small fish) that lived in a river 40 years ago. They measured the spot size of the guppy population again last year. When was there more variation in the spot size of guppies in the river?

• These bar graphs do not show the amount of variation in the population

• There was the same amount of variation in spot size 40 years ago and last year.

• There was more variation 40 years ago.

• There was more variation last year.

How would you describe the histogram above?

• Most of the ostrilopes have no fur

• Most of the ostrilopes have medium length fur

• There is only one type of fur in this population

• Most of the ostrilopes have thick fur

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How would you describe the variation in this histogram?

• There is high variation

• There is no variation

• There is low variation

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How would you describe the population shown in the histogram?

• The ostrilopes have thick fur

• The ostrilopes don't have a lot of fur

• the population has a lot of variation

• the population has no variation

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