1. Darwin and the History to his Theory of Natural Selection
AP Biology
Darwin and the History to his Theory of Natural Selection

2. What are traits?
The expression of nucleotide sequences
What do nucleotide sequences compose?
Genes

3. How does an organism get genes?
They are inherited
From where do organisms get genes?
From the previous generation (the parents)

4. What are the components of the Cell Theory?
The cell is the basic unit of life
All living things are made of cells
All cells come from pre-existing cells
Pre-existing
Cell

5. What influences an ecosystem?
Biotic and abiotic factors

6. What brought Charles Darwin into the forefront of science?
The publishing of his book in 1859 – On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection
What was the book mainly
about?
The biodiversity on the earth

7. What were the three main themes of Darwin’s book?
Species similarities and differences
Adaptations for survival
Geographic distribution
They look
almost like
humans
They look
almost like
apes

8. What is the Theory of Natural Selection?
Natural selection and competition are the driving forces of evolution
How well organisms are able to respond to competition will determine their survival
Organisms with traits favorable to the environment will survive and reproduce
Organisms with traits unfavorable to the environment will struggle, die out, adapt, or move to another place

9. What did Carolus Linnaeus contribute to the field of biology?
He developed the modern classification system that we use today for studying organisms
What title is Linnaeus give?
The Father of Taxonomy
What is taxonomy?
The science of species classification

10. Before Linnaeus how were organisms classified?
Into 2 kingdoms – Plants & Animals
Aristotle devised this classification system

11. How did Linnaeus name organisms?
He used a two-name naming system
What is this system called?
Binomial nomenclature
How does the system work?
The genus name is written first and is capitalized
The species name is written second and is not capitalized

12. Why is a scientific name always written in italics?
Because the Latin language is used for these names
Why is it written in Latin?
Because Latin is a dead language (not used as a conversational language by any group of people); therefore, it will not change over time
Scientists anywhere in the world can use it, and everyone will be using the same words

13. What are the levels of classification used today? Domain Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
What is each level composed of?
Similar kingdoms
Similar phyla or divisions
Similar classes
Similar orders
Similar families
Similar genuses (genera)
Similar species
Organisms that can interbreed and
produce fertile offspring

14. What is a taxon?
The term used for any level in the classification system
Which taxon is the most inclusive and the least specific?
Domain

15. Which taxon is the least inclusive and the most specific?
Species
What is a breed?
A sub category of species
Different breeds of dogs, cats, horses, etc.

16. What is an easy way to remember the classification taxons in the correct order?
Use a mnemonic
This is a silly sentence or phrase in which the 1st letter or each word is the 1st letter of the word you wish to remember
Example: Dominating King Phillip Came Over For Green Salad

17. How was Cuvier important to the study of taxonomy?
He was a paleontologist
What is a paleontologist?
Someone who studies fossils
What does this term mean?
Old bones

18. What was Cuvier’s contribution to taxonomy?
He proposed the Theory of Catastrophism
Some organisms seemed to suddenly disappear from the earth (such as dinosaurs) due to some catastrophic event (like a meteor hitting the earth)

19. How do fossils form?
Plants or animals get buried under layers of sediment in a body of water
Over time the weight of the layers preserve the organism in a fossilized form
What kind of rock are most fossils found in?
Sedimentary
What does the term strata mean?
Layers

20. How can we tell the age of fossils?
By the layer of rock in which they are found
Older layers are on bottom
Younger layers are on top

21. What did James Hutton contribute to the classification of organisms?
He was a geologist
He studied rocks and the processes that formed them
He proposed the Theory of Gradualism
He proposed that the earth had to be millions of years old, because it would take that long to form mountains, canyons, etc.

22. What did Charles Lyell contribute to the classification of organisms?
He wrote the book Principles of Geology, which proposed the Theory of Uniformitarianism.
“The present is the key to the past”
Everything we see occurring today also occurred in the past
It took millions of years for the geologic formations we see today to be created

23. What did Lamarck contribute to the classification of organisms?
He proposed the theory of evolution the year Darwin was born
His theory was called Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics by Means of Use versus Disuse
If a body part is not used, it will disappear in future generations
If a body part is used, it will be inherited in future generations

24. What was the fallacy of Lamarck’s theory?
Traits are the expression of genes
Genes are inherited
Unless the gene changes, the trait will not change

25. What did Thomas Malthus contribute to the classification of organisms?
He was an economist (studied business and money)
He wrote the essay “Principles of Population”, which stated that more organisms are produced than are able to survive in nature
Life becomes a struggle for existence
A psychologist actually came up with the term “survival of the fittest”----not Darwin

26. What is social Darwinism?
The idea that “survival of the fittest” be used as an excuse to practice eugenics
What is eugenics?
The killing off of genetically inferior individuals
The criteria for this decision might be race, color, religious beliefs, nationality, or genetic problems, such as mental or physical deformities

29. Darwin’s Book

30. Carolus Linnaeus Father of Taxonomy

31. Binomial Nomenclature
Example: Humans
Homo sapiens
Homo is the Genus part.
sapiens is the Species part.

32. Taxonomy of Life

33. Georges Cuvier Theory of Catastrophism

34. Examples of fossils

35. Fossil Formation using water, sediment, and long periods of time

36. James Hutton Theory of Gradualism

37. Charles Lyell Theory of Uniformitarianism

38. Jean Baptiste Lamarck Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics

39. Thomas Malthus Principles of Population

40. Malthus’s Hypothesis Life is a struggle to exist