The Origin of Species

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/the-origin-of-species

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the publication date?November 24, 1859
2. What is the primary mechanism proposed?Natural selection acting on heritable variation
3. Why did Darwin travel around the world?He sailed on the HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836 to collect plants, animals, and fossils, especially in South America and the Galapagos Islands, to see how species differ on different places.
4. How does natural selection make species change?In a group, some animals have traits that help them survive or find mates better. Those animals are more likely to have babies, so over many generations the good traits become common, and the group slowly changes.

Evolution: The process by which populations of organisms change in heritable characteristics over successive generations.
Natural Selection: The differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype; a key mechanism of evolution.
Common Descent: The principle that all living organisms share a single common ancestor in the past.
Heritable Variation: Differences in traits among individuals that can be passed down from parents to offspring.