I read this background article the other day: New species develop naturally through the process of natural selection . Due to natural selection, organisms with traits that better enable them to adapt to their environment will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers. Natural selection causes beneficial heritable traits to become more common in a population and unfavorable heritable traits to become less common. For example, a giraffe's neck is beneficial because it allows the giraffe to reach leaves high in trees. Natural selection caused this beneficial trait to become more common than short necks. I am facing a new situation today: Dan studied two islands. Loon island had a very stable environment, and there weren't many diverse species of plants and animals. Wolf island displayed lots of evidence for natural selection, and had a large variety of species inhabiting it. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which island had animals that were better adapted to their environment?
Ans: Wolf

I read this background article the other day: In addition to insects, weeds have also been a menace to farmers - just ask anyone with a garden how much they hate weeds. They can quickly compete for water and nutrients needed by other plants. Sure, farmers can use herbicides to kill weeds, but do these chemicals also harm the crops? Can biotechnology help with this issue? Some crops have also been genetically engineered to acquire tolerance to the herbicides - allowing the crops to grow, but killing the weeds. But the lack of cost effective herbicides with a broad range of activity - that do not harm crops - is a problem in weed management. Multiple applications of numerous herbicides are routinely needed to control the wide range of weeds that are harmful to crops. And at times these herbicides are being used as a preventive measure that is, spraying to prevent weeds from developing rather than spraying after weeds form. So these chemicals are being added to crops. This practice is followed by mechanical and/or hand weeding to control weeds that are not controlled by the chemicals. Crops that are tolerant of herbicides would obviously be a tremendous benefit to farmers ( Figure above ). The introduction of herbicide tolerant crops has the potential to reduce the number of chemicals needed during a growing season, thereby increasing crop yield due to improved weed management and decreased harm to the crops. I am facing a new situation today: Because of the weed and insect menace villagers from North village decided to use herbicide tolerant crops. South village decided to postpone a decision and kept using regular seeds. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which village didn't reduce the number of chemicals needed during a growing season?
Ans: South

I read this background article the other day: A large log placed in a fire will burn relatively slowly. If the same mass of wood were added to the fire in the form of small twigs, they would burn much more quickly. This is because the twigs provide a greater surface area than the log does. An increase in the surface area of a reactant increases the rate of a reaction. Surface area is larger when a given amount of a solid is present as smaller particles. A powdered reactant has a greater surface area than the same reactant as a solid chunk. In order to increase the surface area of a substance, it may be ground into smaller particles or dissolved into a liquid. In solution, the dissolved particles are separated from each other and will react more quickly with other reactants. I am facing a new situation today: Two friends went camping and made a fire each. Bill used a few large logs while Tim used kindlings, wood chips and sawdust. they both brought the same volume of wood. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which friend made a fire that burned slower?
Ans: Bill

I read this background article the other day: Something that is elastic can return to its original shape after being stretched or compressed. This property is called elasticity . As you stretch or compress an elastic material like a bungee cord, it resists the change in shape. It exerts a counter force in the opposite direction. This force is called elastic force . The farther the material is stretched or compressed, the greater the elastic force becomes. As soon as the stretching or compressing force is released, elastic force causes the material to spring back to its original shape. You can watch a demonstration of elastic force at this URL: I am facing a new situation today: Michael is planning on playing a prank on his older brother. He is going to take a bungee cord and stretch it and then release it so that it hits his older brother as he is sleeping. He is deciding whether to stretch the cord only partially or completely before releasing it. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Will stretching the bungee cord partially or completely result in less force when it's released?
Ans: partially