Year 9 - Science
A model of natural selection
Adaptations, competition, natural selection and evolution
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores variation within and between species, competition, and natural selection. It focuses on asking questions, making predictions, planning scientific enquiries, and testing hypotheses. It also covers analysing results, explaining findings, and identifying new questions that arise.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use a model of natural selection to make predictions about how a population will change over time.
Key Notes
- A simple model can be used to demonstrate natural selection, e.g. picking up green and white cocktail sticks from grass.
- The model can be used to make predictions about how a population will change over time due to natural selection.
- The prediction may change if the environmental conditions change (e.g. if the grass becomes frosty/snowy).
Vocabulary To Learn
- natural selection: Organisms that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass on their genes to their offspring.
- model: Scientists use models as simpler representations of complex things and ideas.
- hypothesis: An idea based on observations about how something works.
- prediction: A scientific prediction is a testable statement about a possible outcome of an experiment.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Thinking that populations of organisms stay the same forever.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
A simple model can be used to demonstrate natural selection, e.g. picking up green and white cocktail sticks from grass. The model can be used to make predictions about how a population will change over time due to natural selection.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'natural selection'
Organisms that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass on their genes to their offspring. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Thinking that populations of organisms stay the same forever. Correction: This model clearly demonstrates that populations change over time due to natural selection, with advantageous traits (e.g. camouflage) becoming more common in the population.
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