Science.6.13.C

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The student is expected to describe how variations within a population can be an advantage or disadvantage to the survival of a population as environments change.
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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms have an organizational structure and variations can influence survival of populations.

The further explanation is designed to be a resource for educators that helps them better understand the topic their students are learning. Further explanations may be written at a more complex level than would be expected for students at the grade level.

Variation within a population is never a disadvantage to the population, though sometimes a variation may be both advantageous to the population and disadvantageous to an individual. For example, in humans, the gene for sickle cell anemia confers resistance to malaria in people who have one copy, but people with two copies of the gene have sickle cell disease. For this reason, variations that are disadvantageous to an individual may remain in the population; the disadvantageous variation confers an advantage to hybrid organisms.

Glossary terms and definitions are consistent across kindergarten through high school in the TEKS Guide. The definitions are intended to give educators a common understanding of the terms regardless of what grade level they teach. Glossary definitions are not intended for use with students.

the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround an organism including abiotic (climate and soil) and biotic (living organisms) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival

a group of interbreeding organisms of the same species within an environment

Research

Loiselle, Bette A., and John G. Blake. “Population Variation in a Tropical Bird Community.” BioScience 42, no. 11(1992): 838–845.https://doi.org/10.2307/1312083.

Summary: This scientific article explains the population variations in a tropical bird community. The flexibility of birds to move within a habitat allow for many species to thrive; however, habitat conservation is important to maintain a healthy balance.