Introduction to Evolution

Silently to yourselves: Write down anything you know about evolution. Write down anything you WANT to know about evolution.

Observe the picture below. What do you notice?

Simply put: Evolution is all of the changes that have transformed life over an immense time.

Pretend you are living in the 1600s Pretend you are living in the 1600s. Think about the technology that is available. How much do you know/understand about the world around you? Theories moving through your village: -Species are fixed and permanent. They do not change. -Earth is less than 10,000 years old and hasn’t changed much. What do you think life was like? Where was the world in terms of science? Why do you think that these were common theories?

How was he wrong?? Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829): -One of the first to say that he believed life evolves or changes, and that species aren’t permanent, they adapt. -Believed characteristics are gained, lost, or modified to suit the environment. Need drives the change. -Believed traits gained in a lifetime were passed on to children. How was he wrong??

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882): -believed traits appear by chance, but if the traits are beneficial, they will be passed on.

Natural selection: - in an environment, some individuals with inherited characteristics are better suited to the environment and leave more offspring = “most fit” Fitness: the ability to survive to reproductive age, find a mate, and produce offspring.

How did Darwin come up with this idea?? 5 year voyage 1831- 1836 Finches of the Galapagos

Diversity of beak form and function

Adaptive radiation: The process in which one species gives rise to multiple species that have different adaptations that allow them to survive in different environments.

All 14 species of finch came from the same ancestor, but where they live on the Galapagos islands determined their beak shape. The ecological niches put pressure that pushes the populations in different directions.