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LS4: Biological Change (Unity and Diversity)

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

What is biodiversity, and why does it matter for ecosystems and humans?

Communicate information about biodiversity, how it arises through evolution, and how it supports ecosystem stability and benefits humans (Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, Biology I, BIO1.LS4).
A standard-level answer on biodiversity for the Tennessee Biology I EOC: the levels of biodiversity, how it arises through evolution and speciation, why genetic variation supports a population's survival, and how biodiversity supports ecosystem stability and benefits humans.
12 min answer →

How do scientists classify organisms, and how do trees show evolutionary relationships?

Use classification systems (domains, kingdoms, and the taxonomic hierarchy) and phylogenetic trees to organize organisms by evolutionary relationship (Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, Biology I, BIO1.LS4).
A standard-level answer on classification for the Tennessee Biology I EOC: the three domains and the taxonomic hierarchy, binomial nomenclature, how modern classification uses molecular and structural evidence, and how to read a phylogenetic tree (cladogram).
12 min answer →

What lines of evidence show that living things share common ancestors?

Analyze and interpret evidence from fossils, anatomy, embryology, and molecular biology that supports common ancestry (Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, Biology I, BIO1.LS4).
A standard-level answer on the evidence for evolution for the Tennessee Biology I EOC: the fossil record, homologous and vestigial structures, embryological similarities, and molecular evidence from DNA and proteins, and what each shows about common ancestry.
13 min answer →

How does natural selection lead to adaptation and change in populations?

Construct an explanation of how natural selection acts on heritable variation to produce adaptation and change a population over time (Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, Biology I, BIO1.LS4).
A standard-level answer on natural selection for the Tennessee Biology I EOC: variation, overproduction, the struggle to survive, differential survival and reproduction, and how natural selection produces adaptation and changes allele frequencies, with antibiotic resistance as an example.
13 min answer →

How do populations change over time, and how do new species form?

Use a model to explain how changes in environmental conditions and reproductive isolation can cause populations to change and new species to form (Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, Biology I, BIO1.LS4).
A standard-level answer on speciation for the Tennessee Biology I EOC: how environmental change shifts allele frequencies, how reproductive isolation (often geographic) leads to speciation, and the difference between gradual change and rapid extinction.
12 min answer →