Unit 8 Reflection

Unit 8

This unit we really touched on how life evolved and split into all of the species on earth today. We have seen proof of this happening now and in the remnants of the past. For example we know that variation is what drives evolution and is in 4 forms:
  • Crossing
  • Meiosis
  • Mutation
  • Sex 
Image result for artificial selectionThese determine what traits we have or if we will get a new trait. It can also make species able to adapt and survive in new environments. As humans we us this knowledge to breed animals that best fit our need like for:
  • fighting
  • produce
  • bigger size
This is called artificial selection and is what we used to make certain breeds of dogs or make chickens lay 1 egg a day. This method ha been used for thousands of years and can lead to many variants of many kinds of animals.

We also learned how all populations are always evolving, including our own. Some of Darwin's Laws on evolution are that: Evolution is caused by natural selection. Many similar species can live together if they have different niches (eating habits). All sexually reproducing species has genetic variation. Traits are inherited from parent to off spring. And all species have the capacity to grow exponentially. We all know of survival of the fittest and that is proven in Darwin's Laws of evolution. It is further proven by natural selection which is the weeding off of the "weak traits" and rewarding the stronger ones. For more see Hunger Games Lab


We also learned that there are gene pools and that they are the total of many genes that vary in a population. A gene pool can shift in one way or another if a certain gene expressed gives higher survivability. sometimes genes are hidden and can help if sudden conditions change or the other gene somehow becomes unfavorable.

Further evidence shows that all life is connected because if we all look at the  beginning process of embryos every animal basically looks the same. We just evolved with a common ancestor and learned how looking at fossils we can see how and when new species formed and what they came from. we can also tell how our ancestors were like from our Vestigial Structure or left over traits we no longer use.
We also learned that the gene pool is constantly changing and evolving to adapt to the environment or  for sexual election. We learned that directional selection, stabilizing selection, and Disruptive selection can improve or divide species. Some can cause speciation and isolate them by behaviors or physical characteristics.

 This all comes back to the origin of life and how all species we have today come from one survivor. This unit was great on how I can understand how we got here and give a big thumbs up to the future of human evolution.



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