The process in which humans choose individuals with desirable traits and mate them in order to make offspring with these desirable traits.

Plants grown on a large scale for food or profit.

An animal that has been tamed and is kept as a pet or on a farm.

Animals that are kept on farms for food or work.

A measure of the quantity and quality of food available to support households or whole communities.

Selective breeding and human food security

Biology

Pupils will learn about random genetic mutation as a source of heritable variation, and that evolution occurs through the natural selection of genetic variants linked to advantageous phenotypes that are best suited to the environment.

Pupils learned that (phenotypic) variation between individuals of the same species means some individuals are better adapted to compete, which can lead to natural selection and cause the heritable characteristics of a species to change (evolve) over generations.

This unit explores evidence for evolution, including fossils and antibiotic resistance. It covers selective breeding, Darwin and Wallace’s contributions to natural selection, and evolution as changes in inherited traits over time. It also examines how scientific theories evolve over time.

Fossil evidence, selective breeding and explaining evolution

Depiction or discussion of sex or sexual body parts, including sex education.

Depiction or discussion of sexual content

True or false? Selective breeding is when humans choose which individuals to breed based on their characteristics.

Select two individuals with the desired characteristic.

From the offspring produced, choose individuals with the desired characteristic.

Put the steps in the correct order to describe the process of selective breeding.

The human population is continuously increasing.

There are thousands of edible plants and animals.

In the UK there is an increase in obesity.

Food security is a measure of the quality and quantity of food available to humans. Why is this increasingly important globally?

Although there are thousands of edible plants worldwide, farmers and plant breeders have selectively bred only a few of these. Most of our energy comes from just three plants: corn, wheat and {{}}.

Dwarf thin stemmed with tall small grained.

Dwarf thin stemmed with tall big grained.

Dwarf thick stemmed with tall small grained.

Dwarf thick stemmed with tall big grained.

During the green revolution, Norman Borlaug produced modern wheat crop plants by breeding which two varieties of wheat?

There are many desirable characteristics that selective breeders have looked for to produce better crop plants for food. Which is **not** one of these desirable characteristics?

No animals or plants have died in the right conditions for fossilisation.

The process of fossilisation takes thousands of years.

Why are there no fossils younger than 10 000 years?

A species which has no living individuals remaining anywhere.

Changes in the characteristics of a species over many generations.

An ancestor species shared by several other species.

A species with characteristics between an ancestor and a later species

Which layer of sedimentary rock will contain the youngest fossils?

Not all fossils have yet been discovered.

Scientists don’t know what the fossils look like.

Scientists think *Archeopteryx* and modern birds share a common ancestor, but there is a gap in the fossil record. Why are there gaps in the fossil record?

Whales and the hippopotamus are not related.

Whales and the hippopotamus share a common ancestor.

The diagram shows a suggestion for the evolution of the hippopotamus and some modern whales. Which statement is correct?

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of sexual content

Adult supervision required

Introduction

What will you need for this lesson?

Are you ready to learn?

Equipment

Content guidance

Supervision

Worksheet