Year 10 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 11

Diversity of Life and Evolutionary Thinking

Foundation Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Match key evolution and classification terms to accurate definitions.
Use the cloze passage to connect biodiversity, classification, Darwin and evolutionary theory.
Describe Australia's significance as a megadiverse country.

Warm Up

Fill the gap

Choose the correct word from the word bank to complete each sentence.

biodiversity taxonomy evolution endemism DNA common ancestor Linnaean species megadiverse

Australia is one of only 17 countries on Earth, holding roughly 10% of all known species. A high level of means many of these organisms are found nowhere else in the world. The variety of life at genetic, species and ecosystem levels is called . Scientists classify and name organisms using , a field of science that uses the hierarchy: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, . Evidence from sequences confirms that all known life shares a , supporting the theory of .

Your Turn

Match each term to its definition

Draw a line connecting each term on the left to its correct definition on the right. Or write the matching letter next to each term.

Term	Your answer	Definition
Evolution		A. A group of organisms that can interbreed in nature to produce fertile offspring.
Natural selection		B. The variety of life on Earth at all levels: genetic, species and ecosystem.
Adaptation		C. The process by which populations of living things change over many generations.
Biodiversity		D. A diagram showing evolutionary relationships between species based on shared ancestry.
Phylogeny		E. A trait that increases an organism's survival and reproductive success in its environment.
Species		F. A mechanism of evolution where individuals with advantageous traits survive and reproduce more.

Show What You Know

1. Humans and chimpanzees share approximately 98–99% of their DNA. Explain what this similarity tells us about their evolutionary relationship, and why sharing 99% DNA does not mean humans are "almost chimpanzees".

Recall 2 marks

2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have classified and managed Australian species for tens of thousands of years. Give one example of how Indigenous ecological knowledge complements the Western scientific approach to understanding biodiversity.

Recall 2 marks

Wrap Up

In one sentence, why is evolution called the "unifying theory" of biology?