Evolution and Inheritance.

Evolution is the process of change to animal and plant species over long periods of time, or how plant species and animals have developed from
generation to generation. Plants and animals produce offspring of the same kind. These offspring are similar but not exactly the same as their parents.

Key facts
Key Vocabulary
• All living things have offspring of the same kind; features in the Adapted If something is adapted to a particular situation or purpose, it is especially
offspring are inherited from the parents. suitable for it.
• Plants and animals have characteristics that make them suited Ancestor Your ancestors are the people from whom you are descended.
(adapted) to their environments.
• If the environment changes rapidly, some variations of a species Characteristic The characteristics of a person or thing are the qualities or features that
may not suit the new environment and will die. belong to them and make them recognisable.
• If an environment changes slowly, animals and plants with Common If something is common to two or more people or groups, it is done,
variations that are best suited survive in greater numbers to possessed, or used by them all.
reproduce and pass their characteristics on to their young. Evolution Evolution is a process of gradual change that takes place over many
• Over a long period of time, these inherited characteristics become generations, during which species of animals, plants, or insects slowly
more dominant within the population. change some of their physical characteristics.
• Over a very long period of time, these characteristics may be so Extinction The extinction of a species of animal or plant is the death of all its remaining
living members.
different to how they were originally that a new species is created.
This is evolution. Fossils A fossil is the hard remains of a prehistoric animal or plant that are found
inside a rock.
• Fossils give us evidence of what lived on Earth millions of years ago
and provide evidence to support the theory of Evolution. Generation A generation is all the people in a group or country who are of a similar age,
especially when they are considered as having the same experiences or
attitudes.
Habitat The habitat of an animal or plant is the natural environment in which it
normally lives or grows.
Mutations If an animal or plant mutates, or something mutates it, it develops different
characteristics as the result of a change in its genes.
Natural selection Natural selection is a process by which species of animals and plants that
are best adapted to their environment survive and reproduce, while those
that are less well adapted die out.
Offspring You can refer to a person's children or to an animal's young as their
offspring.
Palaeontologist A palaeontologist is a scientist who studies fossils.

Population A population is the number of living things that live together in the same
place.
Variation A variation on something is the same thing presented in a slightly different
form.
 Evolution and Inheritance.
Prior Learning Following on:
Year 2 KS3
• notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow
into adults • heredity as the process by which genetic information is transmitted from
one generation to the next
• Year 3 Plants:
identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering • a simple model of chromosomes, genes and DNA in heredity, including
plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers the part played by Watson, Crick, Wilkins and Franklin in the
• explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, development of the DNA model differences between species
water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary • the variation between individuals within a species being continuous or
from plant to plant discontinuous, to include measurement and graphical representation of
• Year 3 Rocks: variation
describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that • the variation between species and between individuals of the same
have lived are trapped within rock species means some organisms compete more successfully, which can
• Year 4 Living things and their habitats: drive natural selection
recognise that environments can change and that this can • changes in the environment may leave individuals within a species, and
sometimes pose dangers to living things. some entire species, less well adapted to compete successfully and
• Year 4 Animals including humans reproduce, which in turn may lead to extinction
construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying • the importance of maintaining biodiversity and the use of gene banks to
producers, predators and prey preserve hereditary material.
• Year 5 Living things and their habitats:
describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and
animals
• Year 5 Animals including humans:
describe the changes as humans develop to old age
Working Scientifically
Pupils might work scientifically by: observing and raising questions about local animals and how they are adapted to their environment;
comparing how some living things are adapted to survive in extreme conditions, for example, cactuses, penguins and camels.
They might analyse the advantages and disadvantages of specific adaptations, such as being on two feet rather than four, having a long
or a short beak, having gills or lungs, tendrils on climbing plants, brightly coloured and scented flowers.