• Question: How does evolution work

    Asked by bets532tarn35 on 11 Mar 2026.
    • Photo: Samuel Bloomfield

      Samuel Bloomfield answered on 11 Mar 2026:

      If we have a population of organisms living in an environment, then those that contain genetics that allow them to do better in the environment will reproduce more, changing the genetic make up of the population. For example if we have a field of rabbits and some of those rabbits have genes that allow them to build safer burrows then overtime rabbits with the safer burrows genes will have more rabbits increasing the percentage of rabbits with the safer burrows genes.

    • Photo: Charlotte Gale

      Charlotte Gale answered on 11 Mar 2026:

      The key idea is that only organisms best suited to an environment will survive, and that they will reproduce. For example, if some wolves lived in an area that suddenly got very cold, the ones with thicker fur would be more likely to survive, and they would have pups with thick fur that would also be likely to survive. The wolves without thick fur would be more likely to die, so wouldn’t have pups, and eventually there would only be wolves with thick fur

Comments

  • Photo: Charlie T

    Charlie T commented on :

    Evolution is a way to explain how living things change over a very, very long time.
    Think of it like a huge story that’s been going on for millions of years, with plants, animals (including humans), fungi, and bacteria all changing little by little. All living things have inbuilt variation (they look different, act different, sound different) within the species – e.g. a spaniel can have different fur colours to it’s brothers and sisters, or a bird can have a different song to it’s parents. These differences can also help them survive better in changing environments (e.g., climate change is making some areas hotter so the organisms need to adapt to these new conditions). Those that survive pass these differences (known as “traits”) to their babies, and this continues through generations! Eventually, the species as a whole is different and better adapted to the new environment…until it changes again! This is a continuous process, not chosen deliberately by the living things but chosen by nature (known as “natural selection”).
    In conclusion, evolution is the way living things change over time because some traits help them survive better than others.