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Ch. 1 - Biology: The Study of Life

Chapter 1, Problem 9

A friend tells you that the theory of evolution is just an educated guess by biologists about how things work. Evaluate this statement.

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Hi everyone. Let's look at our next question. Why is the theory of evolution not classified as a hypothesis. Let's recall that a hypothesis is an explanation that we pause it for some aspect of the natural world that we then plan to test run experiments to see if that's correct and then we'd expect other scientists to run the same test challenge our view and then hopefully corroborated. However a theory is an explanation of some aspect of the natural world that has been repeatedly tested and corroborated. So I have pot Asus an explanation that needs to be tested that is being tested needs to be tested by other experimenters. A theory is an explanation that has been repeatedly and extensively tested and corroborated. So why is the theory of evolution not classified as a hypothesis. Let's look at our answer choices choice A. Says because it accounts for the past history which was observed by our ancestors. Well this is not the answer. We're not just looking at um observations from the past historical stories, historical observations. Um We have current data, current geographic data, current genetic information and current examples such as antibiotic resistance of species evolving. So it does not just depend on past history observed. It also accounts for current phenomenon choice B says because it is assumed to be part of every species development. Um That's not a correct answer. These aren't just assumptions. Again have observations such as fossil records such as genetic information showing share or conserved gene sequences from ancestral species choice. He says because it is discovered by a scientist. Well no that's not our answer. Scientists can make mistakes. They can come up with crazy or wrong ideas. Um When you have a theory, you have multiple different scientists, many different researchers um presenting evidence examining challenging experimenting. So not just anything discovered by scientists as a theory of scientists can form a hypothesis, but that scientist needs to test the hypothesis and other scientists need to be able to show that they can duplicate those results. So finally we're down to choice D because it is supported by a variety of substantial and well supported data. And yes, this is our correct answer. We have many many substantial well supported data supporting the theory of evolution. We have fossil records showing change over time. We have genetic information um genome sequences from modern and uh fossil species. We have bio geographical evidence and we have similarities in anatomy and development across species. When you look at embryonic development showing a high conservation of the early stages of development. So many many different things that support this theory and from many different researchers and many different fields. So again, why is the theory of evolution not classified as a hypothesis? Joyce. D. Because it is supported by a variety of substantial and well supported data. Thanks for watching. Hope to see you in the next video
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Textbook Question

What did Linnaeus' system of naming organisms ensure? a. Two different organisms never end up with the same genus and species name. b. Two different organisms have the same genus and species name if they are closely related. c. The genus name is different for closely related species. d. The species name is the same for each organism in a genus.

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What is 'selected' during natural selection? Explain your answer.

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PROCESS OF SCIENCE Explain why researchers formulate a null hypothesis in addition to a hypothesis when designing an experimental study.

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Some humans have genes that make them resistant to infection by HIV. Would human populations likely evolve differently in areas of the world where HIV infection rates are high? Explain your logic.

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Galpayage and co-workers disinfected the wooden balls after each experiment. If they had not included this step, how might this have impacted their interpretation of the data?

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