Week 6 Reflection

This week in science we learned about Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution.  Charles Darwin was an English scientist who studied the natural world on the HMS Beagle. His 5 year voyage brought him to South America, the South Pacific, and most importantly the Galapagos Islands. Darwin made many observations on the diversity of the flora and fauna on these islands, and noticed that although the species were unique to the environment, they were similar to species in other parts of the world. Darwin noticed that so many plants and animals were well suited to the environment they inhabited. Artificial selection are breeding experiments allowing us to select specific traits, and Darwin wondered if there was a force in nature similar to artificial selection. He then came up with the hypothesis of natural selection and "survival of the fittest." Natural selection stated the changes in population occurs when organisms with favorable adaptations reproduce and pass on the traits. An adaptation is any trait that aids in the chance of survival and reproduction of an organism. Evidence that Darwin's theory of evolution exists are fossil records, anatomical records, molecular records, and artificial selection. Along with learning about Darwin, this week we learned about the evolution leading up to modern man. We have learned about the various stages such as the Australopithecus, Homo habilis, and the Homo ergaster.

http://www.biology-online.org/images/darwin_finches.jpg                   

Week 6 Reflection: Evolution

This week I learned about Evolution. Evolution is the change in a kind of organism over time. Charles Darwin was an English scientist and was the founder of the modern evolutionary theory.  He studied the natural world on a voyage of the HMS Beagle. The voyage was to South America and South Pacific. There, he studied plants and animals, recording observations in the Galapagos Islands. He found many species of plants and animal life unique to the island, but similar species in other parts of the world. He specifically studied turtles and birds. Charles Darwin came up with Natural Selection, which is the change in populations that occur when organisms with favorable variations for an environment survive, reproduce, and pass these variations on. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution can be applied to explain the evolution of adaptations in organisms. I also learned about gene pools. A gene pool is the combined genetic information of all the members of a particular population. I also learned that the two main sources of genetic variation are mutations and the genetic shuffling that results from sexual reproduction. Genetic drift is the random change in allele frequency.

Week 6 Reflection

For the week of 2/10 - 2/14 I learned about evolution. Evolution explains how modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms. Charles Darwin was an English scientist who founded the modern evolutionary theory. He studied plants and animals on a five year voyage on the HMS Beagle. His observations were on the Galápagos Islands. He found many species of plants and animals unique to the island but also seen throughout the world. Darwin's explanation for evolution was natural selection. Natural selection is the change in populations that occurs when organisms with favorable variations for an environment survive, reproduce, and pass these variations on(adaptations). Adaptations are any trait that aids the chances of survival and reproduction of an organism. Darwin's theory of evolution can be applied to explain the evolution of adaptations in organisms.