Subscribe to our newsletter. Email Facebook Twitter. Misconceptions about natural selection and adaptation. There are several relevant lines of evidence that must be examined: Is it heritable?
Are feathers heritable? Baby birds grow up to have feathers like those of their parents. Is it functional? If a trait has been shaped by natural selection for a particular task, it must actually perform that task.
Do feathers function to enable flight? In the case of bird flight, the answer is fairly obvious. Birds with feathers are able to fly and birds without feathers would not be able to. Does it increase fitness? Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society. National Geographic Society. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service.
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In the mids, Charles Darwin famously described variation in the anatomy of finches from the Galapagos Islands. Alfred Russel Wallace noted the similarities and differences between nearby species and those separated by natural boundaries in the Amazon and Indonesia. Independently they came to the same conclusion: over generations, natural selection of inherited traits could give rise to new species. Use the resources below to teach the theory of evolution in your classroom.
An adaptation is any heritable trait that helps an organism, such as a plant or animal, survive and reproduce in its environment. Meet the African lungfish, a prehistoric fish that travels through water and mud, and across land. Discover the unique adaptations that make survival possible for this fish. Students investigate adaptations—changes in body parts or behaviors—that helped prehistoric marine reptiles survive in the Cretaceous period.
Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. In these areas, sandy coloured mice stood out, allowing predators such as owls, snakes and coyotes to find and hunt them much easier.
Through genetic variation, some mice are born with darker fur. Sandy coloured mice were preyed on more than darker coloured mice who had a greater chance of survival and reproduction. This led to the population being now mostly brown, matching the volcanic dark earth.
Survey for plant adaptations in your school. Click here to access the 'Plant Adaptations in your School' activity sheet. Survey for bird adaptations in your school. Click here to access the 'Bird Adaptations in your School' activity sheet. An ethogram is a catalogue or table of all the different kinds of behaviour or activity observed in an animal.
Survey the behavioural adaptations of local birds using your own ethogram. Click here to access the ' Backyard Bird Behaviour ' activity sheet. Model the importance of mating calls as a behavioural adaptation by mimicking frog calls. Click here to access the 'Calling Out' activity sheet. Click here to download our ' Frog Calls ' cards. Model the development of adaptations in this Red Lolly Frogs practical activity.
Click here to access the 'Modelling Natural Selection' activity sheet. Research the evolution of specialised bird beaks and model the adaptive advantage of each beak in this practical activity. Click here to access the 'Battle of the Beaks' activity sheet. See 'Battle of the Beaks Teacher Resources' for extension activities suitable for Stage 5 and 6 students. Skip to content Search.
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