1. Darwin’s Voyage 5.1

2. Charles Darwin Darwin was the ship’s naturalist on the HMS Beagle in the early 1800’s.

3. A species is a group of similar organisms that can mate with one another and produce fertile offspring.

4. In the Galapagos Islands, Darwin observed the beaks of finches were adapted to match the foods they ate.

6. From his observations of organisms in South America and the Galapagos Islands, Darwin inferred that a small number of different plant and animal species had come to the Galapagos Islands from the mainland.

8. A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce is called an adaptation.

9. Adaptation can also be described as the way a plant or animal species adjusts to the environment.

11. The gradual change in a species over time is called evolution.

12. Natural selection is the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.

13. The theory of evolution is based upon the general principle that the most fit organisms survive to reproduce.