Life Science (Grades 9–12) Subtest 2

Subarea II. Diversity and Biological Evolution

0014

Understand the development of adaptations in response to environmental stresses.

recognizing the relationship between conditions in an organism's environment and the development of adaptations
demonstrating knowledge of the range of physical, behavioral, and biochemical adaptations that can occur in response to environmental stresses
applying knowledge of biological principles to explain how a specific adaptation of a given species may have developed

0015

Understand the significance of genetic variation within a population and factors that influence the range of phenotypes in a population of a species.

recognizing sources of genetic variation within a population and ways of representing (e.g., diagrams, statistical relationships) the range of phenotypes in a population in a given environment
demonstrating knowledge of factors that can change the frequency of alleles and genotypes in a population (e.g., nonrandom mating, genetic drift, natural selection)
applying the principles of mutation, recombination, and natural selection to predict changes in the range of phenotypes in a species when a change occurs in the environment
demonstrating knowledge of how changes in the range of phenotypes within populations relate to evolution

0016

Understand evidence of evolutionary relationships between species.

demonstrating knowledge of significant features of the fossil record
applying knowledge of biological principles to explain why some species are found in the fossil record relatively unchanged, while some species have changed and others have gone extinct
applying knowledge of the evolutionary tree to explain and predict the morphological and genetic variations between two or more species
analyzing fossil, morphological, genetic, and biochemical evidence and their use in determining evolutionary relationships between species