Evolution


Chapter Objectives

At the end of this unit students will be able to
1. compare the Primordial Soup and Bubble Models for the origin of biochemicals.
2. describe how cellular organization might have begun.
3. recognize the importance of hereditary mechanisms for the development of life.
4. distinguish between two major groups of prokaryotes, the Archaebacteria and the Eubacteria.
5. describe the evolution of eukaryotes.
6. relate the development of ozone to the adaptation of life on land.
7. describe how multicellular organisms came to live on land.
8. summarize the main points of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
9. describe the process of species formation.
10. compare and contrast gradualism and punctuated equilibrium models of evolution.

Chapter Terms

Origin of Life Evolution
radiometric dating
radioisotope
half-life
microsphere
fossil
Cyanobacteria
Eubacteria
Archaebacteria
endosymbiosis
Protista
extinction
mass extinction
mycorrhizae
mutualism
arthropod
vertebrate
continental drift
population
natural selection
adaptation
reproductive isolation
gradualism
punctuated equilibrium
paleontologist
vestigial structure
homologous structure
analogous structure
divergence
convergence
speciation

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