1.A.1:Naturalselectionisamajormechanismofevolution.

a.AccordingtoDarwinstheoryofnaturalselection,competitionforlimitedresourcesresultsin
differentialsurvival.Individualswithmorefavorablephenotypesaremorelikelytosurviveand
producemoreoffspring,thuspassingtraitstosubsequentgenerations.

b.Evolutionaryfitnessismeasuredbyreproductivesuccess.

c.Geneticvariationandmutationplayrolesinnaturalselection.Adiversegenepoolis
importantforthesurvivalofaspeciesinachangingenvironment.

d.Environmentscanbemoreorlessstableorfluctuating,andthisaffectsevolutionaryrateand
directiondifferentgeneticvariationscanbeselectedineachgeneration.

e.Anadaptationisageneticvariationthatisfavoredbyselectionandismanifestedasatrait
thatprovidesanadvantagetoanorganisminaparticularenvironment.

f.Inadditiontonaturalselection,chanceandrandomeventscaninfluencetheevolutionary
process,especiallyforsmallpopulations.

g.ConditionsforapopulationoranalleletobeinHardyWeinbergequilibriumare:1.alarge
populationsize,2.absenceofmigration,3.nonetmutations,4.randommating,and5.absence
ofselection.Theseconditionsareseldommet.

h.Mathematicalapproachesareusedtocalculatechangesinallelefrequency,providing
evidencefortheoccurrenceofevolutioninapopulation.

1.A.2:Naturalselectionactsonphenotypicvariationsinpopulations.

a.Environmentschangeandactasselectivemechanismonpopulations.

b.Phenotypicvariationsarenotdirectedbytheenvironmentbutoccurthroughrandomchanges
intheDNAandthroughnewgenecombinations.

c.Somephenotypicvariationssignificantlyincreaseordecreasefitnessoftheorganismandthe
population.

d.Humansimpactvariationinotherspecies.

1.A.3:Evolutionarychangeisalsodrivenbyrandomprocess.


a.Geneticdriftisanonselectiveprocessoccurringinsmallpopulations.

b.Reductionofgeneticvariationwithinagivenpopulationcanincreasethedifferencesbetween
populationsofthesamespecies.

1.A.4:Biologicalevolutionissupportedbyscientificevidencefrommanydisciplines,including
mathematics.

a.Scientificevidenceofbiologicalevolutionusesinformationfromgeographical,geological,
physical,chemicalandmathematicalapplications.

b.Molecular,morphologicalandgeneticinformationofexistingandextinctorganismsaddtoour
understandingofevolution.

1.B.2:Phylogenetictreesandcladogramsaregraphicalrepresentations(models)of
evolutionaryhistorythatcanbetested.

a.Phylogenetictreesandcladogramscanrepresenttraitsthatareeitherderivedorlostdueto
evolution.

b.Phylogenetictreesandcladogramsillustratespeciationthathasoccurred,inthatrelatedness
ofanytwogroupsonthetreeisshownbyhowrecentlytwogroupshadacommonancestor.

c.Phylogenetictreesandcladogramscanbeconstructedfrommorphologicalsimilaritiesof
livingorfossilspecies,andfromDNAandproteinsequencesimilarities,byemployingcomputer
programsthathavesophisticatedwaysofmeasuringandrepresentingrelatednessamong
organisms.

d.Phylogenetictreesandcladogramsaredynamic(i.e.,phylogenetictreesandcladogramsare
constantlybeingrevised),basedonthebiologicaldataused,newmathematicaland
computationalideas,andcurrentandemergingknowledge.

1.C.1:SpeciationandextinctionhaveoccurredthroughouttheEarthshistory.

a.Speciationratescanvary,especiallywhenadaptiveradiationoccurswhennewhabitats
becomeavailable.

b.Speciesextinctionratesarerapidattimesofecologicalstress.

1.C.2:Speciationmayoccurwhentwopopulationsbecomereproductivelyisolatedfromeach
other.

a.Speciationresultsindiversityoflifeforms.Speciescanbephysicallyseparatedbya
geographicbarriersuchasanoceanoramountainrange,orvariouspreandpostzygotic
mechanismscanmaintainreproductiveisolationandpreventgeneflow.

b.Newspeciesarisefromreproductiveisolationovertime,whichcaninvolvescalesof
hundredsofthousandsorevenmillionsofyears,orspeciationcanoccurrapidlythrough
mechanismssuchaspolyploidyinplants.

1.C.3:Populationsoforganismscontinuetoevolve.

a.Scientificevidencesupportstheideathatevolutionhasoccurredinallspecies.

b.Scientificevidencesupportstheideathatevolutioncontinuestooccur.

1.D.1:ThereareseveralhypothesesaboutthenaturaloriginoflifeonEarth,eachwith
supportingscientificevidence.
a.Scientificevidencesupportsthevariousmodels.
1.PrimitiveEarthprovidedinorganicprecursorsfromwhichorganicmoleculescouldhave
beensynthesizedduetothepresenceofavailablefreeenergyandtheabsenceofasignificant
quantityofoxygen.
2.Inturn,thesemoleculesservedasmonomersorbuildingblocksfortheformationofmore
complexmolecules,includingaminoacidsandnucleotides.
3.Thejoiningofthesemonomersproducedpolymerswiththeabilitytoreplicate,storeand
transferinformation.
4.Thesecomplexreactionsetscouldhaveoccurredinsolution(organicsoupmodel)oras
reactionsonsolidreactivesurfaces.
5.TheRNAWorldhypothesisproposesthatRNAcouldhavebeentheearliestgenetic
material.

1.D.2:Scientificevidencefrommanydifferentdisciplinessupportsmodelsoftheoriginoflife.

a.GeologicalevidenceprovidessupportformodelsoftheoriginoflifeonEarth.
Evidenceofstudentlearningisademonstratedunderstandingofeachofthefollowing:

1.TheEarthformedapproximately4.6billionyearsago(bya),andtheenvironmentwastoo
hostileforlifeuntil3.9bya,whiletheearliestfossilevidenceforlifedatesto3.5bya.Taken
together,thisevidenceprovidesaplausiblerangeofdateswhentheoriginoflifecouldhave
occurred.

2.Chemicalexperimentshaveshownthatitispossibletoformcomplexorganicmolecules
frominorganicmoleculesintheabsenceoflife.

b.Molecularandgeneticevidencefromextantandextinctorganismsindicatesthatall
organismsonEarthshareacommonancestraloriginoflife.

1.Scientificevidenceincludesmolecularbuildingblocksthatarecommontoalllifeforms.

2.Scientificevidenceincludesacommongeneticcode.

2.A.2:Organismscaptureandstorefreeenergyforuseinbiologicalprocesses.

a.Autotrophscapturefreeenergyfromphysicalsourcesintheenvironment.
Evidenceofstudentlearningisademonstratedunderstandingofeachofthefollowing:

1.Photosyntheticorganismscapturefreeenergypresentinsunlight.

2.Chemosyntheticorganismscapturefreeenergyfromsmallinorganicmoleculespresentin
theirenvironment,andthisprocesscanoccurintheabsenceofoxygen.

b.Heterotrophscapturefreeenergypresentincarboncompoundsproducedbyother
organisms.

2.B.3:Eukaryoticcellsmaintaininternalmembranesthatpartitionthecellintospecialized
regions.

c.ArchaeaandBacteriagenerallylackinternalmembranesandorganellesandhaveacellwall.

2.D.2:Homeostaticmechanismsreflectbothcommonancestryanddivergencedueto
adaptationindifferentenvironments.

a.Continuityofhomeostaticmechanismsreflectscommonancestry,whilechangesmayoccur
inresponsetodifferentenvironmentalconditions.

C.Homeostaticcontrolsystemsinspeciesofmicrobes,plantsandanimalssupportcommon
ancestry.

4.C.1:Variationinmolecularunitsprovidescellswithawiderrangeoffunctions.

b.Multiplecopiesofallelesorgenes(geneduplication)mayprovide
newphenotypes.

1.Aheterozygotemaybeamoreadvantageousgenotypethan
ahomozygoteunderparticularconditions,sincewithtwodifferentalleles,theorganismhastwo
formsofproteinsthatmayprovidefunctionalresilienceinresponsetoenvironmentalstresses.

4.C.2:Environmentalfactorsinfluencetheexpressionofthegenotypeinanorganism.

B.Anorganismsadaptationtothelocalenvironmentreflectsaflexibleresponseofitsgenome.

4.C.3:Thelevelofvariationinapopulationaffectspopulationdynamics.

b.Geneticdiversityallowsindividualsinapopulationtoresponddifferentlytothesamechanges
inenvironmentalconditions.
Tofosterstudentunderstandingofthisconcept,instructorscanchooseanillustrativeexample
suchas:
Notallanimalsinapopulationstampede.
Notallindividualsinapopulationinadiseaseoutbreakareequallyaffectedsomemaynot
showsymptoms,somemayhavemildsymptoms,orsomemaybenaturallyimmuneand
resistanttothedisease.
c.AllelicvariationwithinapopulationcanbemodeledbytheHardyWeinbergequation(s).