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Questions for Discussion: Evolving Ideas: How Does Evolution Really Work?

  • Discuss why it is vitally important to understand that populations, rather than individuals, evolve.
  • Discuss how Dr. Schneider's observations with hummingbirds demonstrate the operation, in hummingbird populations, of each of the four components of natural selection listed in the video.
  • In this video, Dr. Schneider points out that some of the hummingbird species in his study are 2-3 million years old ... which he notes makes them very young species. Discuss the relationship between the concept of deep time and the mechanisms of natural selection and speciation presented in this video.