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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What would increase the likelihood of variations occurring in a given population?

2. What types of species forms are NOT found in nature?

3. What results as a climate becomes more hostile?

4. On what ship did Darwin ride while writing The Origin of Species?

5. What is the fate of traits that are neither helpful nor unhelpful for survival?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is a flying mammal such as a bat difficult to explain through natural selection?

2. How do variations occur in the wild?

3. How do Naturalists define a species and a variety?

4. What is the ultimate result of the constant struggle to live?

5. What is the difference between domesticated and wild animals, according to Darwin?

6. Why would natural selection be considered counter-intuitive?

7. How does natural selection explain why organisms pair with other organisms?

8. What was Darwin's specific interest in the living species?

9. How can the geology of mountains and valleys be related to natural selection?

10. Why is it sometimes impossible to tell if climate is the cause for variations in the same species located in different geographical locations?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Darwin discusses the struggle for existence in terms of pray and predators. How does this theory play into species with no predators? Are there truly any species with no predators? Explain your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Darwin discusses different types of selection. What is affected by sexual selection, and why is this type of selection so important to maintaining a species?

Essay Topic 3

Natural selection cannot explain all variations and occurrences of nature. Explore the notion that variations in nature may be caused by both change and natural selection. Do you think this is truly a possibility? Explain your answer.

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