What is evolution?
The process though which organisms have changed and adapted from the past to the present.
What is a gene?
The basic unit of heredity in living things. Genes consist of segments of DNA that make up code to produce various substances. Genes are passed from parents to offspring which result in various traits in the offspring.
What is an allele?
One of two (or more) forms of a gene that are located on the same location on a chromosome.
What is a chromatid?
The two strands of DNA that divide during mitosis.
What is a chromosome?
The carrier of genetic information in the form of genes. A structure of nucleic acid and protein found in the nucleus of most cells.
What is a dominant allele?
The allele that expresses the phenotype of a trait even in the presence of a recessive allele.
What is a recessive allele?
The allele that does not express the phenotype of a trait unless two recessive alleles are present.
What is a genotype?
The genetic makeup of an organism.
What is a phenotype?
The outward appearance of a trait.
What is the Law of Independent Assortment?
A law that states different alleles and genes are independently inherited during meiosis.
What is Crossing Over?
The exchange of genes between a pair of homologous chromosomes.
What is the Hardy-Weinberg Law?
The law that states that the genetic frequencies of various traits in a population remain constant over the long term from generation to generation.
What is an adaptation?
A change or process that enables an organism to become better suited to the environment.
What is selection pressure?
External factors that affect organisms’ ability to survive in their environment.
What is divergent evolution?
The process in which groups from the same species evolve different traits.
What is convergent evolution?
When groups of organisms develop similar traits independently from each other.
Evolution is one of the foundations on which the life sciences were built. How are new species created? Why do organisms change? What does it mean to adapt? These and many other important life questions are addressed and answered by studying the processes of evolution. Your challenge is to examine these processes and answer the main questions involving living things.
