Study Questions: Part I – In The Beginning
1. How did the Galapagos Islands come into existence?
Galapagos were a chain of islands, some of which no longer broke the surface of the water. Somewhere in the sea nearby in the Galapagos Rift there were hydrothermal vents belching sulphurous gases which are believed to be the first sites of life.
2. Were plate tectonics involved?
No
3. How old are the Galapagos Islands?
About 400 years old.
4. What kinds of animals and plants are endemic to the islands?
Sea lions, masked boobies, tortoise, black iguana, sting rays, white tipped shark, Galapagos penguin.
5. How do species become endemic?
If they are unique to one defined geographic location.
6. Where did the original colonists come from and how did they get to the Galapagos?
Ships.
7. What kind of special adaptations do the animals and plants have? How do adaptations evolve?
The finches had beaks with amazing adaptations to eat different types of food even they were mostly seed-eaters.
8. How did these islands figure into Darwin’s ideas on evolution?
His theory was based on the Galapagos Islands.
Study Questions: Part II – Darwin’s Finches
1. What is DNA fingerprinting and how is it done?
It is used to identify an individual and it is done by getting tissue samples.
2. How can we measure evolution?
By observing the seeds of plants.
3. What is the difference between natural selection and evolution?
Natural selection is the process in which the organism that is best adapted to there environment tends to live. Evolution is a change in a adaptation occurring over time.
4. What is genetic drift and how could it be involved in evolution?
Random changes in the gene frequencies of a population from generation to generation
5. What is resource partitioning and character displacement?
Resource partitioning occurs when biological species require different parts of the same resource. Character displacement is when a species overlaps distribution
6. What is sexual selection?
Sexual selection is the process when one species out-reproduces another species since they are more fit for mating.
7. How might one test if beak size is due to genetic or environmental factors?
You can put it in an different environment and measure the beak to see if the beak size is due to environmental factors.
8. If hybridization occurs during good times, what does this suggest about the degree of genetic differences between species?
They're more useful then.
9. What are reproductive isolating mechanisms and how do they evolve?
Characteristics that prevent reproduction and evolves through the conditions of the environment.
10. Must populations of finches be separated in order to evolve into different species?
No
11. What causes an El Niño?
The wind blows strongly from east to west along the equator in the Pacific and piles up water. The winds pushing that water around get weaker so some of the warm water piled up in the west slumps back down to the east, and not as much cold water gets pulled up from below
Study Questions: Part III – The Tortoise and the Sea Cucumber
1. Should Kate have chosen to work on a different species than the tortoises that are being threatened? Her thesis work might be destroyed by the politics of the islands.
No she should have not chosen to work on a different species.
2. Should Kate get involved in the politics of saving the islands, the way Dian Fossey did in trying to save the Mountain Gorilla?
Yes she should get involved in the politics of saving the islands.
3. Should fishing, tourism, or inhabitants be allowed in the islands?
IT's harmful, it should be banned.
4. How should the Ecuadorian government deal with the conflicts over the islands?
5. Extinction is a natural phenomenon. Why should we worry about whether a few species on some remote islands in the Pacific survive or not?
We should worry because these few species are rare and are what the place unique.
1. How did the Galapagos Islands come into existence?
Galapagos were a chain of islands, some of which no longer broke the surface of the water. Somewhere in the sea nearby in the Galapagos Rift there were hydrothermal vents belching sulphurous gases which are believed to be the first sites of life.
2. Were plate tectonics involved?
No
3. How old are the Galapagos Islands?
About 400 years old.
4. What kinds of animals and plants are endemic to the islands?
Sea lions, masked boobies, tortoise, black iguana, sting rays, white tipped shark, Galapagos penguin.
5. How do species become endemic?
If they are unique to one defined geographic location.
6. Where did the original colonists come from and how did they get to the Galapagos?
Ships.
7. What kind of special adaptations do the animals and plants have? How do adaptations evolve?
The finches had beaks with amazing adaptations to eat different types of food even they were mostly seed-eaters.
8. How did these islands figure into Darwin’s ideas on evolution?
His theory was based on the Galapagos Islands.
Study Questions: Part II – Darwin’s Finches
1. What is DNA fingerprinting and how is it done?
It is used to identify an individual and it is done by getting tissue samples.
2. How can we measure evolution?
By observing the seeds of plants.
3. What is the difference between natural selection and evolution?
Natural selection is the process in which the organism that is best adapted to there environment tends to live. Evolution is a change in a adaptation occurring over time.
4. What is genetic drift and how could it be involved in evolution?
Random changes in the gene frequencies of a population from generation to generation
5. What is resource partitioning and character displacement?
Resource partitioning occurs when biological species require different parts of the same resource. Character displacement is when a species overlaps distribution
6. What is sexual selection?
Sexual selection is the process when one species out-reproduces another species since they are more fit for mating.
7. How might one test if beak size is due to genetic or environmental factors?
You can put it in an different environment and measure the beak to see if the beak size is due to environmental factors.
8. If hybridization occurs during good times, what does this suggest about the degree of genetic differences between species?
They're more useful then.
9. What are reproductive isolating mechanisms and how do they evolve?
Characteristics that prevent reproduction and evolves through the conditions of the environment.
10. Must populations of finches be separated in order to evolve into different species?
No
11. What causes an El Niño?
The wind blows strongly from east to west along the equator in the Pacific and piles up water. The winds pushing that water around get weaker so some of the warm water piled up in the west slumps back down to the east, and not as much cold water gets pulled up from below
Study Questions: Part III – The Tortoise and the Sea Cucumber
1. Should Kate have chosen to work on a different species than the tortoises that are being threatened? Her thesis work might be destroyed by the politics of the islands.
No she should have not chosen to work on a different species.
2. Should Kate get involved in the politics of saving the islands, the way Dian Fossey did in trying to save the Mountain Gorilla?
Yes she should get involved in the politics of saving the islands.
3. Should fishing, tourism, or inhabitants be allowed in the islands?
IT's harmful, it should be banned.
4. How should the Ecuadorian government deal with the conflicts over the islands?
5. Extinction is a natural phenomenon. Why should we worry about whether a few species on some remote islands in the Pacific survive or not?
We should worry because these few species are rare and are what the place unique.