Darwin theory

1. A group of animals has different inherited colors. Which ideas describe natural selection?

   • a) Each animal changes its body because it needs a new trait.
   • b) The environment gives animals the traits they want.
   • c) All animals in a group always have exactly the same traits.
   • d) Some inherited traits can help animals survive and have young. ✓ (correct answer)
   • e) Helpful inherited traits may become more common over many generations. ✓ (correct answer) Explanation: Natural selection can make helpful inherited traits more common in a group over many generations. Individual animals do not change their bodies just because they need to.

2. On dark ground, dark beetles are harder for birds to see than light beetles. What may happen over many generations?

   • a) More dark beetles may survive to have young. ✓ (correct answer)
   • b) Dark color may become more common in the group. ✓ (correct answer)
   • c) Every light beetle will turn dark during its life.
   • d) Birds will teach the beetles to change color.
   • e) The beetles will all become the same size. Explanation: If dark beetles are less likely to be eaten, they may have more young and pass on their inherited color. The change happens across generations, not when an individual beetle changes color.

3. Which examples show variation within a group of the same kind of animal?

   • a) Some birds have darker feathers than others. ✓ (correct answer)
   • b) A bird flies from one tree to another.
   • c) Every fish in a group has the exact same markings.
   • d) A single turtle grows larger as it gets older.
   • e) Some rabbits have longer ears than others. ✓ (correct answer) Explanation: Variation means individuals in a group have differences, such as ear length or feather color. Growing older or moving places does not show differences among individuals.

4. Some plants have inherited roots that grow deeper than others. During a dry time, which outcomes are possible?

   • a) Every plant will grow deep roots because it feels thirsty.
   • b) Plants with deeper roots may reach more water. ✓ (correct answer)
   • c) If they survive and make seeds, deep-root traits may become more common. ✓ (correct answer)
   • d) Deep roots will always help plants in every place.
   • e) The dry time makes each plant pass on a new root trait right away. Explanation: Deeper roots may help plants get water during a dry time, and plants that make seeds can pass on inherited traits. Whether a trait helps depends on the environment.

5. A group of birds has different beak shapes. Seeds with hard shells are common. Which ideas fit natural selection?

   • a) Every bird will have the same beak shape next year.
   • b) Birds with beaks that open the seeds may get more food. ✓ (correct answer)
   • c) The birds will choose to reshape their beaks.
   • d) Those birds may have more young that inherit similar beak shapes. ✓ (correct answer)
   • e) A bird's beak changes shape each time it eats a seed. Explanation: A beak shape that helps birds get food may help them survive and have young. Young birds may inherit similar beak shapes, so the trait can become more common over generations.

6. Which statements correctly describe how natural selection happens?

   • a) Some traits help more in one environment than others. ✓ (correct answer)
   • b) A whole group changes its traits in one day.
   • c) Animals pass on traits only when they try hard.
   • d) Individuals in a group can have different inherited traits. ✓ (correct answer)
   • e) Every individual must survive for the group to change. Explanation: Natural selection depends on differences among individuals and on how well traits work in an environment. Changes in a group build over many generations.

7. A place becomes cold for many years. Some mice have thicker inherited fur than others. What could happen?

   • a) All mice will grow thick fur as soon as the weather gets cold.
   • b) The cold weather tells the mice which fur to pass on.
   • c) Thick fur must help mice in every climate.
   • d) Mice with thicker fur may have more young that inherit the trait. ✓ (correct answer)
   • e) Thicker fur may help some mice stay warm. ✓ (correct answer) Explanation: Thicker fur may be helpful in a cold place, so mice with that inherited trait may leave more young. In a different climate, the same trait may not be as helpful.

8. Which statements explain why a helpful trait might become common in a group?

   • a) The trait is passed from parent to young. ✓ (correct answer)
   • b) The trait spreads because every individual wants it.
   • c) Individuals with the trait may have more young. ✓ (correct answer)
   • d) The trait becomes common before any young are born.
   • e) Individuals with the trait may survive more often. ✓ (correct answer) Explanation: A trait can become more common when individuals with it survive or have more young, and the trait is inherited. Wanting a trait does not make it pass from parent to young.

9. A stream changes course, and a group of insects now lives near a new kind of plant. Which statements are reasonable?

   • a) The insects will all change their bodies in the same way right away.
   • b) The new plant decides which insects will have young.
   • c) A trait that was helpful before may be less helpful now. ✓ (correct answer)
   • d) Natural selection always makes every insect stronger.
   • e) Traits that help insects use the new plant may become more common over generations. ✓ (correct answer) Explanation: When an environment changes, which traits are helpful can change too. Traits that help insects survive and have young may become more common over generations.

10. Which examples are inherited traits that could be passed from parents to young?

• a) A nest a bird built this morning
• b) A scar from a small scrape
• c) A bird's beak shape ✓ (correct answer)
• d) A rabbit's fur color ✓ (correct answer)
• e) A rock an animal carried to a new place Explanation: Fur color and beak shape can be inherited traits. A scar, a nest, or a carried rock is not an inherited body trait.

11. Which ideas are supported by the pattern of fossils found in rock layers?

• a) Fossils can help show that life has changed over a very long time. ✓ (correct answer)
• b) Fossils show that individual animals changed their bodies during life to meet needs.
• c) All living things appeared at the same time.
• d) Fossils can show that living things from the past differed from living things today. ✓ (correct answer)
• e) Every fossil is certainly the direct ancestor of an animal alive today. Explanation: Fossils provide evidence about organisms that lived in the past and help show patterns of change over long periods. A fossil does not always represent a direct ancestor.

12. A group of animals has a trait that helps them find food. Which details matter for that trait to become more common?

• a) Animals with the trait have more chances to survive or have young. ✓ (correct answer)
• b) The animals must know that their group is changing.
• c) The trait can be inherited by young animals. ✓ (correct answer)
• d) The food-finding trait helps in the animals' environment. ✓ (correct answer)
• e) Every animal must have the trait before it can help any of them. Explanation: For a trait to become more common through natural selection, it must be inherited and help its carriers survive or have young in that environment. The animals do not need to know that the group is changing.

13. A group of fish has different colors. At first, pale fish blend into the water plants. Later, the plants become dark. Which outcomes are possible over many generations?

• a) The fish can decide which color their young will have.
• b) Dark fish may be harder for predators to see in the changed habitat. ✓ (correct answer)
• c) If dark color is inherited, it may become more common in the group. ✓ (correct answer)
• d) Pale color must help fish in every kind of water.
• e) Every pale fish will turn dark as soon as the plants change. Explanation: If dark fish are harder to see and color is inherited, dark color may become more common over generations. Individual pale fish do not change color just because the habitat changes.

Game Board

Differences in a Group	Traits from Parents	Natural Selection	Traits and Environments	Change Over Time
---	---	---	---	---
100	100	100	100	100
200	200	200	200	200
300	300	300	300	300
400	400	400	400	400
500	500	500	500	500

Differences in a Group

1. 100 — What do we call differences among living things in the same group? — Variation
2. 200 — Some rabbits have long ears, and some have short ears. What is different about them? — Their ear length
3. 300 — Two birds have different feather colors. What does this show about birds in a group? — They can have different traits
4. 400 — Do all members of one animal group always look exactly alike? — No
5. 500 — Why can differences among animals matter when their environment changes? — Some traits may help animals survive better

Traits from Parents

1. 100 — What is a trait? — A feature of a living thing
2. 200 — What do we call a trait passed from parents to their young? — An inherited trait
3. 300 — A young bird has a beak shape like its parent’s. Where did this trait come from? — Its parent
4. 400 — Is a nest a bird builds an inherited trait? — No
5. 500 — Which can be passed from parent to young: a beak shape or a scratch? — A beak shape

Natural Selection

1. 100 — What can happen to animals with a helpful inherited trait? — They may survive and have young
2. 200 — Do animals grow a new trait just because they need it? — No
3. 300 — If a helpful trait is passed to young, what may happen to that trait over many generations? — It may become more common
4. 400 — Some beetles are harder for birds to see and get eaten less often. Which beetles may have more young? — The beetles that are harder to see
5. 500 — What two things can help a trait become more common: being inherited and helping living things have young, or simply wanting the trait? — Being inherited and helping living things have young

Traits and Environments

1. 100 — What do we call the place where a living thing lives? — Its environment
2. 200 — In a cold place, what might thick fur help an animal do? — Stay warm
3. 300 — On dark ground, which beetle may be harder for a bird to see: a dark one or a light one? — A dark one
4. 400 — Can the same trait help an animal in one place but not another? — Yes
5. 500 — If a new kind of plant grows where insects live, what may happen to traits that help insects eat that plant? — They may become more common over generations

Change Over Time

1. 100 — Does natural selection change a whole group in one day? — No
2. 200 — What are many young living things in one family group called? — Generations
3. 300 — When can a helpful inherited trait spread through a group? — Over many generations
4. 400 — What changes over generations: one animal’s body because it needs a trait, or the traits common in a group? — The traits common in a group
5. 500 — What is one name for changes in groups of living things over many generations? — Evolution

Game Rules

• Split into teams and take turns choosing a category and point value.
• Read the question aloud. Teams may discuss quietly before answering.
• Give one answer for each question. Add the points for a correct answer.
• Take turns, listen respectfully, and do not call out over another team.