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FloridaBiology

Reporting Category 2: Classification, Heredity, and Evolution

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How and why do scientists sort living things into domains and kingdoms, and why does the system change?

Discuss the distinguishing characteristics of the domains and kingdoms of living organisms, and explain how and why organisms are hierarchically classified by evolutionary relationships (NGSSS SC.912.L.15.6 and SC.912.L.15.4; Reporting Category 2, Classification, Heredity, and Evolution).
A benchmark-level answer on classification for the Florida Biology 1 EOC: the three domains and six kingdoms, the taxonomic hierarchy, binomial nomenclature, and why classification is based on evolutionary relationships and can change.
12 min answer →

What lines of evidence support the scientific theory of evolution?

Explain how the scientific theory of evolution is supported by the fossil record, comparative anatomy, comparative embryology, biogeography, molecular biology, and observed evolutionary change (NGSSS SC.912.L.15.1; Reporting Category 2, Classification, Heredity, and Evolution).
A benchmark-level answer on the evidence for evolution for the Florida Biology 1 EOC: the fossil record, comparative anatomy (homologous structures), comparative embryology, biogeography, molecular biology, and observed change.
13 min answer →

Besides natural selection, what other forces change the genetic makeup of a population?

Discuss mechanisms of evolutionary change other than natural selection, including genetic drift, gene flow, non-random mating, and mutation (NGSSS SC.912.L.15.14; Reporting Category 2, Classification, Heredity, and Evolution).
A benchmark-level answer on the other mechanisms of evolution for the Florida Biology 1 EOC: genetic drift (including the bottleneck and founder effects), gene flow, non-random mating, and mutation, and how each changes a population's gene pool.
12 min answer →

How do mutations and genetic recombination create the variation that evolution acts on?

Describe how mutation and genetic recombination increase genetic variation, and the possible effects of mutations (NGSSS SC.912.L.15.15; Reporting Category 2, Classification, Heredity, and Evolution).
A benchmark-level answer on mutation and variation for the Florida Biology 1 EOC: types of mutations, harmful, neutral, and beneficial effects, genetic recombination through meiosis and fertilization, and why variation matters for evolution.
12 min answer →

What conditions are required for natural selection, and how does it drive evolution?

Describe the conditions required for natural selection, including overproduction of offspring, inherited variation, and the struggle to survive, that result in differential reproductive success (NGSSS SC.912.L.15.13; Reporting Category 2, Classification, Heredity, and Evolution).
A benchmark-level answer on natural selection for the Florida Biology 1 EOC: overproduction, inherited variation, the struggle to survive, differential reproductive success, adaptation, and worked examples like antibiotic resistance.
13 min answer →