Ap Biology Review Of Evolution Standards

Front 1

1.A.1: Natural selection is a major mechanism of evolution.

According to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, competition for limited resources results in differential survival. Individuals with more favorable phenotypes are more likely to survive and produce more offspring, thus passing traits to subsequent generations.

Back 1

Provide a specific example

Front 2

Evolutionary fitness is measured by reproductive success.

Back 2

How is reproductive success defined?

Front 3

Genetic variation and mutation play roles in natural selection. A diverse gene pool is important for the survival of a species in a changing environment.

Back 3

Provide a specific example and one Non-example

Front 4

Environments can be more or less stable or fluctuating, and this affects evolutionary rate and direction; different genetic variations can be selected in each generation.

Back 4

Provide an example of disruptive, stabilizing and directional selection

Front 5

An adaptation is a genetic variation that is favored by selection and is manifested as a trait that provides an advantage to an organism in a particular environment.

Back 5

Provide an example of 2 adapations and explain how each will favor selection

Front 6

In addition to natural selection, chance and random events can influence the evolutionary process, especially for small populations.

Back 6

How does this relate to genetic drift or the bottle neck effect?

Front 7

Conditions for a population or an allele to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are: (1) a large population size, (2) absence of migration, (3) no net mutations, (4) random mating and (5) absence of selection. These conditions are seldom met.

Back 7

Identify a natural population and decribe how it does not meet HW criteria

Front 8

Mathematical approaches are used to calculate changes in allele frequency, providing evidence for the occurrence of evolution in a population.

Back 8

Use the HW equation to prove your natural population is evolvinging (you may make up your data or research it)

Front 9

1.A.2: Natural selection acts on phenotypic variations in populations.

Environments change and act as selective mechanism on populations.

Back 9

How does this relate to flowering time in relation to global climate change

Front 10

Environments change and act as selective mechanism on populations.

Back 10

How does this relate to the Peppered moth

Front 11

Phenotypic variations are not directed by the environment but occur through random changes in the DNA and through new gene combinations.

Back 11

Provide an example from random changes in DNA


Provide an example from new gene combinations

Front 12

Some phenotypic variations significantly increase or decrease fitness of the organism and the population.

Back 12

Describe how this relates to:
Sickle cell anemia; peppered moth;
DDT resistance in insects

Front 13

Humans impact variation in other species.

Back 13

Provide an example for Artificial selection;

Front 14

Humans impact variation in other species.

Back 14

Provide an example for Loss of genetic diversity within a crop species;

Front 15

Humans impact variation in other species.

Back 15

Provide an example for Overuse of antibiotics

Front 16

1.A.3: Evolutionary change is also driven by random processes.

Genetic drift is a nonselective process occurring in small populations.

Back 16

Desribe a population that meets this criteria

Front 17

Reduction of genetic variation within a given population can increase the differences between populations of the same species.

Back 17

Provide an example

Front 18

1.A.4: Biological evolution is supported by scientific evidence from many disciplines, including mathematics.

Scientific evidence of biological evolution uses information from geographical, geological, physical, chemical and mathematical applications.

Back 18

Provide an example for each from your readings

Front 19

Fossils can be dated by a variety of methods that provide evidence for evolution. These include the age of the rocks where a fossil is found, the rate of decay of isotopes including carbon-14

Back 19

Compare the advantages and disadvantages between relative and radio-isotopic dating

Front 20

Molecular, morphological and genetic information of existing and extinct organisms add to our understanding of evolution.

Back 20

Briefly describe the relationships within phylogenetic trees,

Front 21

Morphological homologies represent features shared by common ancestry. Vestigial structures are remnants of functional structures, which can be compared to fossils and provide evidence for evolution.

Back 21

Give 2 examples

Front 22

Vestigial structures are remnants of functional structures, which can be compared to fossils and provide evidence for evolution.

Back 22

Give 2 examples

Front 23

Biochemical and genetic similarities, in particular DNA nucleotide and protein sequences, provide evidence for evolution and ancestry.

Back 23

Briefly describe how.

Front 24

1.B.1: Organisms share many conserved core processes and features that evolved and are widely distributed among organisms today.

Structural and functional evidence supports the relatedness of all domains.

Back 24

Explain how this relates to DNA and RNA are carriers of genetic information through transcription, translation and replication.

Front 25

Major features of the genetic code are shared by all modern living systems.

Back 25

Briefly describe which are universal

Front 26

Metabolic pathways are conserved across all currently recognized domains.

Back 26

In general, describe which ones are universal

Front 27

Structural evidence supports the relatedness of all eukaryotes.

Back 27

Explain how this relates to the following:
Cytoskeleton (a network of structural proteins that facilitate cell movement, morphological integrity and organelle transport);
Membrane-bound organelles (mitochondria and/or chloroplasts);
Linear chromosomes; Endomembrane systems, including the nuclear envelope

Front 28

Phylogenetic trees and cladograms can represent traits that are either derived or lost due to evolution.

Back 28

Find or create a phylogenetic tree or cladogram that demonstrates:
Number of heart chambers in animals;
Opposable thumbs; Absence of legs in some sea mammals

Front 29

Phylogenetic trees and cladograms illustrate speciation that has occurred, in that relatedness of any two groups on the tree is shown by how recently two groups had a common ancestor.

Back 29

Create or find a tree or cladogram that illustrates speciation and a common ancestor

Front 30

Phylogenetic trees and cladograms can be constructed from morphological similarities of living or fossil species, and from DNA and protein sequence similarities, by employing computer programs that have sophisticated ways of measuring and representing relatedness among organisms.

Back 30

Find a phylogenetic tree and cladogram that represents this

Front 31

1.C.1: Speciation and extinction have occurred throughout the Earth’s history.
Speciation rates can vary, especially when adaptive radiation occurs when new habitats become available.

Back 31

Find and describe an example which illustrates this

Front 32

Species extinction rates are rapid at times of ecological stress

Back 32

What has caused the 5 major extinctions? (names and dates are not important)

Front 33

Species extinction rates are rapid at times of ecological stress

Back 33

How are humans impacting ecosystems and species extinction rates?

Front 34

1.C.2: Speciation may occur when two populations become reproductively isolated from each other.

Speciation results in diversity of life forms. Species can be physically separated by a geographic barrier such as an ocean or a mountain range, or various pre-and post-zygotic mechanisms can maintain reproductive isolation and prevent gene flow.

Back 34

Give an example:

Front 35

Speciation can result from various pre-and post-zygotic mechanisms which can maintain reproductive isolation and prevent gene flow.

Back 35

Give an example of a pre and a post zygotic mechanism

Front 36

New species arise from reproductive isolation over time, which can involve scales of hundreds of thousands or even millions of years, or speciation can occur rapidly through mechanisms such as polyploidy in plants.

Back 36

Provide an example for each type.

Front 37

1.C.3: Populations of organisms continue to evolve.

Scientific evidence supports the idea that evolution continues to occur.

Back 37

Briefly describe how each relates:

Chemical resistance (mutations for resistance to antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides or chemotherapy drugs occur in the absence of the chemical);

Front 38

Scientific evidence supports the idea that evolution continues to occur.

Back 38

Find 2 examples of emergent diseases and describe how they relate to this concept.

Front 39

Scientific evidence supports the idea that evolution continues to occur.

Back 39

How does Observed directional phenotypic change in a population (Grants’ observations of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos) relate to this?

Front 40

Scientific evidence supports the idea that evolution continues to occur.

Back 40

Identify a eukaryotic example that describes evolution of a structure or process such as heart chambers, limbs, the brain and the immune system

Front 41

1.D.1: There are several hypotheses about the natural origin of life on Earth, each with supporting scientific evidence.

Scientific evidence supports the various models.

Back 41

Place the following events in the correct order:

1. The joining of these monomers produced polymers with the ability to replicate, store and transfer information.


2. These complex reaction sets could have occurred in solution (organic soup model) or as reactions on solid reactive surfaces.

3. Primitive Earth provided inorganic precursors from which organic molecules could have been synthesized due to the presence of available free energy and the absence of a significant quantity of oxygen.

4. In turn, these molecules served as monomers or building blocks for the formation of more complex molecules, including amino acids and nucleotides.

Front 42

There are several hypotheses about the natural origin of life on Earth, each with supporting scientific evidence.

Back 42

What is the RNA World Hypothesis?

Front 43

1.D.2: Scientific evidence from many different disciplines supports models of the origin of life.

The Earth formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago (bya), and the environment was too hostile for life until 3.9 bya, while the earliest fossil evidence for life dates to 3.5 bya. Taken together, this evidence provides a plausible range of dates when the origin of life could have occurred.

Back 43

What type of evidence is this?

Biological, Historical, Geographical or Biochemical

Front 44

Chemical experiments have shown that it is possible to form complex organic molecules from inorganic molecules in the absence of life.

Back 44

Briefly descibe the experiments including the names of the scientists involved

Front 45

Molecular and genetic evidence from extant and extinct organisms indicates that all organisms on Earth share a common ancestral origin of life.

Back 45

Scientific evidence includes molecular building blocks that are common to all life forms. What are they?

Front 46

Molecular and genetic evidence from extant and extinct organisms indicates that all organisms on Earth share a common ancestral origin of life.

Back 46

Scientific evidence includes a common genetic code. Briefly describe this code.