Science Assessment ~ Items ~ EN033002

Some of the individual members of a species of organism were moved to a new location that had different environmental conditions than their original location. According to the theory of natural selection, what could happen after many generations to the descendants of the organisms that had been relocated?

The descendants would look the same as the original individuals because species do not change.
The descendants would look different from the original individuals in some ways, and they would look the same in some ways.
The descendants would become a completely different species that would have no similarities to the original individuals.
The descendants would look the same as the original individuals because the environment does not affect how species look.

Details
Performance
NGSS

Topic: Evolution and Natural Selection
Correct Answer: B
Misconceptions

Distribution of Responses

Chart showing distrubtion of responses for Item EN033002

Students Responding Correctly

Group	Correct	Total	Percent
Overall	2927	4660	63%
Grades
6–8	1748	2914	60%
9–12	1179	1746	68%
Gender
Male	1360	2216	61%
Female	1512	2336	65%
Primary Language
English	2661	4163	64%
Other	200	370	54%

View data table

Disciplinary Core Ideas: LS4.C Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes.

Science Assessment

Item EN033002: If members of a species were moved to a new environment, many generations later their offspring would have both differences and similarities compared to the original population, because different traits are favorable in different environments.