Mississippi Science FB.5.4
The Standard
- FB.5
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of Earth’s fossil record and its indication of the diversity of life over time.
Investigate how biological adaptations and genetic variations of traits in a population enhance the probability of survival in an environment (natural selection).
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Biological Evolution
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare inherited traits in a population before and after an environmental change. They explain how a trait can help its carriers survive and leave more offspring, making that trait more common over generations.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given beetle counts before and after bird predation, a student identifies which inherited color became more common and explains why. They know the color does not guarantee survival, and its advantage depends on the habitat.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may say beetles change color because they need to hide, or that individual beetles evolve during their lives. They may assume a helpful trait guarantees survival or helps in every habitat.
How to Assess It
- On dark soil, a beetle population starts with 20 green and 20 brown beetles. After several generations of bird predation, it has 8 green and 32 brown; explain why and whether all brown beetles survived.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Scatter 20 white and 20 brown beans on dark paper; remove ten visible beans, double the survivors, and compare color counts.
Ask, 'If a forest floor turns snowy, will brown fur still help mice avoid owls? Explain using survival and offspring.'
Give pairs light and dark habitat cards plus beetle color cards; switch habitats each round and predict which color leaves more offspring.
Show a chart of resistant and susceptible bacteria before and after antibiotic treatment; ask why resistant bacteria became more common.
Free download
Printable FB.5.4 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to FB.5.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- BIO.4.4
Design models and/or use simulations to investigate the interaction between changing environments and genetic variation in natural selection leading to adaptati...
- L.8.4B.2
Construct written and verbal explanations to describe how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some organisms' probability of surviving and rep...
- L.8.4A
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the process of natural selection, in which variations in a population increase some individuals' likelihood of sur...
- ZOO.1.5
Design models to illustrate the interaction between changing environments and genetic variation in natural selection leading to adaptations in populations and d...
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson