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9th grade · Science · Unit 11 of 14

Evolution & Selection

Variation, adaptation and how populations change over time.

What your child practices

Practices variation, adaptation, natural and artificial selection, mutations, the evidence for evolution from fossils and rock layers, and how new species can form.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: BIO.14; BIO.15 · natural selection, adaptation, speciation and extinction

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Variation and mutations give individuals different traits. Adaptations help them survive where they live.
  2. Natural selection lets well-suited individuals reproduce more; in artificial selection, people choose.
  3. Fossils and rock layers show life changed over time, starting with single-celled organisms.

Example: A cactus stores water in its thick stem. This is an adaptation to what? Storing water helps when rain is rare. Answer: dry climates

Evolution & Selection in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 11 of 14 in 9th grade Science, after Evidence & Mechanisms of Evolution and before Alabama's Biodiversity.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which is an example of artificial selection?

    • fish living in a cave
    • a bird growing a longer beak by exercise
    • farmers breeding cows that give more milk

  2. Question 2

    Thick fur in an arctic fox is an adaptation for…

    • staying warm in cold climates
    • swimming in the ocean
    • climbing trees

  3. Question 3

    Natural selection is when…

    • the strongest always win
    • nature chooses on purpose
    • individuals with helpful traits survive and reproduce more

  4. Question 4

    Camouflage in an animal is an adaptation that helps it…

    • grow faster
    • avoid being seen
    • be louder

  5. Question 5

    Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics when…

    • all bacteria change on purpose
    • the drug creates new bacteria
    • some bacteria survive the drug and multiply

  6. Question 6

    Sexual selection is when…

    • animals avoid all mates
    • traits that help attract mates become more common
    • traits that help with digestion are lost

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