--- title: "Evolution vocabulary" description: "Use technical vocabulary for evolution and natural selection — adaptation, evolution, natural selection, extinct, extinction, fossil record, species, common ancestor, mutation, variation — and explain" canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/evolution-vocabulary-mt_lWqmKn5Jvr source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/evolution-vocabulary-mt_lWqmKn5Jvr.md retrieved: 2026-10-19 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # Evolution vocabulary Use technical vocabulary for evolution and natural selection — adaptation, evolution, natural selection, extinct, extinction, fossil record, species, common ancestor, mutation, variation — and explain the mechanism of natural selection using these terms in the correct sequence Subject: Science · Area: Organisms & Life Processes · Ages 10 to 11 Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/evolution-vocabulary-mt_lWqmKn5Jvr ## Ready when they can - Use 'adaptation' correctly to describe a feature that helps an organism survive in its environment - Explain natural selection using 'variation', 'selection pressure', and 'reproduction' correctly in sequence - Use 'extinct' and 'extinction' correctly and distinguish them from 'endangered' ## Lesson: Evolution vocabulary Every living thing belongs to a species: a group that can breed together, like all giraffes or all housecats. Within a species, individuals are not identical. This is called variation. A giraffe with a slightly longer neck than others in its group is an example of variation. Variation can come from a mutation, a random change in genes passed from parents to young. When a feature helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment, we call it an adaptation. A polar bear's thick white fur is an adaptation: it keeps the bear warm and hides it in the snow. Adaptations build up over many generations. If every member of a species dies out, the species is extinct. An endangered species still has a few members left. **Example.** Giraffe ancestors had necks of different lengths, and that was variation. When food near the ground grew scarce, that shortage acted as a selection pressure. Giraffes with longer necks could reach higher leaves, so they were more likely to survive and reproduce. Their calves inherited the longer-neck trait. Repeated over many generations, this process is natural selection, and it is one way evolution happens. Fossils in rock show how life changed, and shared bones point to a common ancestor. **Tip.** If every member of a species dies out, the species is extinct, and that event is called extinction. Don't confuse this with endangered: an endangered species has very few members left, but it has not disappeared yet. **Tip.** Scientists study the fossil record: traces and remains of past life preserved in rock. It helps them trace species back to a common ancestor, an earlier species that two or more living species evolved from. Evolution is the word for how species change across generations. **Recap.** Variation creates differences, selection pressure decides who survives and reproduces, and repeated over generations that is evolution, while species that cannot keep up may become extinct. ## Practice 8 questions on this page, each with its working shown. ## Needs first - [Variation & Survival Advantage](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/variation-and-survival-advantage-mt_UR5LvBeyF1) ## Opens up - [Fossils as Evidence](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/fossils-as-evidence-mt_6Z42wJaKYG) - [Life Changed Over Time](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/life-changed-over-time-mt_gTDqxYkLs9)