Darwin Natural Selection Natural Selection The process by

Darwin “Natural Selection”

Natural Selection: • The process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species. • AKA: “Survival of the Fittest”

Darwin’s Theory • 1. Organisms have changed over time. • 2. There was a variation in a population • 3. Certain traits helped organisms survive and reproduce better than other organisms with out those traits. • 4. The environment had something to do with why organisms change.

• 5. Parents are able to pass on at least some of their traits to their offspring • 6. Parents are only able to pass on traits they were born with. • 7. Organisms are still changing.

Lamarck “Acquired Characteristics”

Acquired Characteristics: • Desired changes that occurred during a parents lifetime were passed onto offspring • Example: Parents that developed large muscles through exercise were thought to pass on large muscles to offspring.

Lamarck’s Theory: • 1. Organisms changed because they wanted to survive • 2. Organisms have change over time • 3. Organisms can never become extinct • 4. The environment had something to do with why organisms changed

• 5. Parents are able to pass on at least some of their traits to their offspring. • 6. Organisms could decide to change something about their body and pass on that change to their offspring. • 7. Organisms are still changing.