Understanding Natural Selection

What did Charles Darwin observe about the finches on the Galapagos Islands?

• They were all the same species.

• They all had the same beak shape.

• They could not fly.

• They had different beak shapes suited to their environment.

What are environmental pressures?

• Factors that make life easier for organisms.

• Conditions that organisms must adapt to for survival.

• Resources that are abundant in nature.

• Mutations that occur in DNA.

How can mutations affect an organism's survival?

• They have no effect on survival.

• They can provide advantages that improve survival chances.

• They always harm the organism.

• They make organisms more visible to predators.

What is the significance of the 'survival of the fittest' concept?

• It explains why all species are identical.

• It describes how the strongest organisms always survive.

• It highlights how advantageous traits help organisms survive and reproduce.

• It suggests that only the largest species survive.

What does Darwin's evolutionary tree metaphor illustrate?

• The idea that all species are unrelated.

• The simplicity of life on Earth.

• The isolation of different species.

• The complexity and diversity of life, with some branches thriving and others becoming extinct.