Peppered Moths – Flashcards
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why are they called "peppered moths?"
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because their light wings are "peppered" with small dark spots
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what animals eat the peppered moths?
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flycatchers, nuthatches, and the European robin
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what is a lichen?
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small fungi that lives on trees
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what do the larvae of the moths eat?
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leaves of birch, willow, and oak trees
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how do peppered moths spend the winter?
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they change into pupae
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moths that have more dark spots than the average moth are called what?
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insularia
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where was the first black form of the moth found?
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near the center of Manchester
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what was the Industrial Revolution?
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the time period in history when factories were being built and ran by burning coal for fuel
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what was causing the different colors in the moths?
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a genetic mutation in the DNA that was passed down to the offspring
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what is natural selection?
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when one type of species has an advantage because of the environment
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who suggested that peppered moths were and example of natural selection?
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J.W. Tutt
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what is industrial melanism?
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process by which species darken over time in polluted forests
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what is an entomologist?
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a scientist that studies insects
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how do scientists test theories?
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by making predictions based on the theory and then testing the predictions to see if their observation matches the expectation
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what is one of Kettlewell's predictions?
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clean forests will have mostly light peppered moths
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dark moths were found in what part of the country?
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industrial cities producing pollution
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how did Kettlewell directly study the moths?
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he placed light and dark moths on tree trunks and recorded the times it took for the bird to find the moths
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why did dark moths have a survival advantage?
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then blended in with the dark tree trunks while the light moths stood out
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when Kettlewell recaptured the marked moths, what did he find?
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there were twice as many light moths in the clean forests than dark moths and twice as many dark moths in polluted forests than light moths
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where did Kettlewell publish his findings?
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Scientific American
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how did the color of the moths increase or decrease their chance of survival?
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in a light environment, the dark moth population decreases because they are easier to see and vice versa
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how is the concept of "natural selection" used in the moths?
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the light moths were eaten in the dark forests because they didn't blend in and vice versa
