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Standard Area - TECH: Learning Standards for Technology
(see MST standards under Previous Standard Versions)-
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Introduction - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.Introduction:
Evolution is the change of species over time. This theory is the central unifying theme of biology. This change over time is well documented by extensive evidence from a wide variety of sources. Students need to know that in sexually reproducing organisms, only changes in the genes of sex cells can become the basis for evolutionary change and that these evolutionary changes may occur in structure, function, and behavior over time. Students need to be able to distinguish between evolutionary change and the changes that occur during the lifetime of an individual organism.
According to many scientists, biological evolution occurs through natural selection. Natural selection is the result of overproduction of offspring, variations among offspring, the struggle for survival, the adaptive value of certain variations, and the subsequent survival and increased reproduction of those best adapted to a particular environment. Selection for individuals with a certain trait can result in changing the proportions of that trait in a population.
The diversity of life on Earth today is the result of natural selection occurring over a vast amount of geologic time for most organisms, but over a short amount of time for organisms with short reproductive cycles such as pathogens in an antibiotic environment and insects in a pesticide environment.
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Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1a:
The basic theory of biological evolution states that the Earth's present-day species developed from earlier, distinctly different species. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1b:
New inheritable characteristics can result from new combinations of existing genes or from mutations of genes in reproductive cells. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1c:
Mutation and the sorting and recombining of genes during meiosis and fertilization result in a great variety of possible gene combinations. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1d:
Mutations occur as random chance events. Gene mutations can also be caused by such agents as radiation and chemicals. When they occur in sex cells, the mutations can be passed on to offspring; if they occur in other cells, they can be passed on to other body cells only. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1e:
Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide a scientific explanation for the fossil record of ancient life-forms, as well as for the molecular and structural similarities observed among the diverse species of living organisms. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1f:
Species evolve over time. Evolution is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuing selection by the environment of those offspring better able to survive and leave offspring. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1g:
Some characteristics give individuals an advantage over others in surviving and reproducing, and the advantaged offspring, in turn, are more likely than others to survive and reproduce. The proportion of individuals that have advantageous characteristics will increase. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1h:
The variation of organisms within a species increases the likelihood that at least some members of the species will survive under changed environmental conditions. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1i:
Behaviors have evolved through natural selection. The broad patterns of behavior exhibited by organisms are those that have resulted in greater reproductive success. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1j:
Billions of years ago, life on Earth is thought by many scientists to have begun as simple, single-celled organisms. About a billion years ago, increasingly complex multicellular organisms began to evolve. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1k:
Evolution does not necessitate long-term progress in some set direction. Evolutionary changes appear to be like the growth of a bush: Some branches survive from the beginning with little or no change, many die out altogether, and others branch repeatedly, sometimes giving rise to more complex organisms. -
Major Understandings - MST4.C.LE.LE.3.1l:
Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival. Fossils indicate that many organisms that lived long ago are extinct. Extinction of species is common; most of the species that have lived on Earth no longer exist.
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