9th grade · Science · Unit 8 of 11
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.
California Content Standards learning standard: HS-LS4-2; HS-LS4-4 · natural selection and adaptation in populations
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which came first on Earth?
- single-celled organisms
- flowering plants
- mammals
single-celled organisms
Hint: Simple life appeared billions of years before complex animals.
Question 2
A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment is called an…
- adaptation
- accident
- mutation only
adaptation
Hint: Adaptations make an organism better suited to its environment.
Question 3
Fossils give evidence of evolution because they…
- are alive today
- are made in laboratories only
- show what organisms looked like long ago
show what organisms looked like long ago
Hint: Layers of rock show a record of changes over time.
Question 4
Camouflage in an animal is an adaptation that helps it…
- grow faster
- be louder
- avoid being seen
avoid being seen
Hint: Camouflage is helpful for predators and prey alike.
Question 5
If a climate becomes colder, the selective pressures on a population of animals will…
- stay exactly the same
- change
- disappear
change
Hint: Different traits may help in the new conditions.
Question 6
Scientists estimate the age of rocks using…
- counting grains of sand
- radiometric dating
- guessing from color
radiometric dating
Hint: Radioactive elements decay at steady, known rates.