Which statement best describes the correlation between beak depths of Geospiza fortis on the Galápagos island Daphne major and the dryness of the environment?
A. Birds with large beaks are favored during wet years.
B. Birds with small beaks are favored in dry years.
C. Birds with large beaks are favored during dry years.
D. Birds with either size beak (large or small) are favored equally.
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content
What do you already know about natural selection? What other information is related to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
C. Birds with large beaks are favored during dry years.
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
· The question stem is asking you to assess how beak depth changes during the wet years and dry years.
What type of thinking is required?
· This is an analyze question because you have to break beak depth and changes in precipitation into their component pieces to understand how they function in relation to one another.
Gather Content
What do you already know about natural selection? What other information is related to the question?
· Changes in the amount of precipitation influence the food available for consumption by the birds. Beak depth limits the birds to only certain food types.
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
· Natural selection can only be applied to the variation found within the population. If the environment fluctuates between wet and dry years, then what kind of beak depth would be best adapted to the environment?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
· Answering this question correctly depended not only on distinguishing between precipitation and beak depth, but on your ability to break down, or analyze, how natural selection is influenced by the environment¼ If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that components of natural selection include adaptations selected from the available variations within the population, or that environment would likely affect beak depth by changing which beak depth is best adapted to the changing environment? Did you have trouble breaking down how natural selection works to determine the correct answer?
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