It is populations that adapt as genetic traits that result in high fitness in individuals become more common. It can not magically look into the future and plan for the future. All life that exists on Earth apparently evolved from a single ancestral species, so all species that are now alive have been evolving for the same amount of time. All species have some traits that are recently evolved and some that go back very far in evolutionary history. All species show adaptations to their particular environments.
Natural selection occurs based on the variation that is present in a species at any time.
At this point, you should be able to answer the questions in section V of your lab manual. Work on these questions to make sure you understand and can apply the different points discussed in this lecture, and are avoiding potential misconceptions about evolution.