Describe one religous reason why Darwin's theory of natural selection was controversial.
It went against common religious beliefs about how life on Earth developed - it was the first plausible explanation for our own existenece without the need for a 'Creator' (God).
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Describe another reason why Darwin's theory was controversial.
Darwin couldn't give a good explanation for why these new, useful characteristics appeared or exactly how individual organisms passed on their beneficial characteristics to their offspring. But he didn't know anything about genes or mutations.
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Describe another reason why Darwin's theory was controversial.
There wasn't enough evidence to convince many scientists, because not many other studies had been into how organisms change over time.
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What was Lamarck's hypothesis about evolution?
If a characteristic was used a lot by an organism, then it would become more developed during its lifetime. E.g. if a rabbit used its legs to run a lot, then its legs would get longer.
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What did Lamarck believe would happen to these characteristics that contributed to the idea of evolution?
Lamarck believed that these acquired characteristics would be passed on to the next generation, e.g. the rabbit's offspring would have longer legs.
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Why might scientists develop different hypotheses to explain similar observations?
They may have different beliefs (e.g. religious) or they have been influenced by different people (e.g. other scientists), or they just think differently.
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How can you find out whose hypothesis is right?
Find evidence to support or disprove each one.
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Why was Lamarck's hypothesis eventually rejected?
Experiments didn't support his hypothesis, i.e. the environmentally-altered characteristic isn't passed on to the offspring.
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Why was Darwin's hypothesis eventually accepted (i.e. became a theory)?
The discovery of genetics supported Darwin's idea because it provided an explanation of how organisms born with beneficial characteristics can pass them on (i.e. via their genes). There's so much evidence to support the hypothesis.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Describe another reason why Darwin's theory was controversial.
Back
Darwin couldn't give a good explanation for why these new, useful characteristics appeared or exactly how individual organisms passed on their beneficial characteristics to their offspring. But he didn't know anything about genes or mutations.
Card 3
Front
Describe another reason why Darwin's theory was controversial.
Back
Card 4
Front
What was Lamarck's hypothesis about evolution?
Back
Card 5
Front
What did Lamarck believe would happen to these characteristics that contributed to the idea of evolution?
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