Question

read the following and then answer the questions that follow: two friends were talking about adaptations. they each had different ideas about what happens when an organism’s environment changes so that it is very different from the organism’s existing environment. this is what they said: leslie: “i don’t think individual organisms can adapt to changes in their environments.” jordan: “i think individual organisms can adapt to changes in their environments if they need to.” question 1 1 pts who do you agree with? leslie jordan question 2 1 pts why do you agree with that student.

Explanation:

Question 1

In the context of biological adaptations, individual organisms typically do not adapt to drastic environmental changes in the sense of evolving new traits during their lifetime. Adaptation at the individual level is often limited to acclimation (short - term physiological changes), but for major environmental shifts, evolutionary adaptation occurs at the population level over generations. Leslie's statement aligns with this biological concept as individual organisms can't undergo the kind of fundamental adaptation (like developing new species - level traits) to very different environments. Jordan's idea of individual organisms adapting "if they need to" implies a more Lamarckian - like view which is not supported by modern evolutionary biology.

Evolutionary adaptation (the kind needed for very different environments) happens in populations over many generations through natural selection, not in individual organisms during their lifetime. While individuals can acclimate (e.g., a plant wilting less in drought over a few days via physiological changes), major environmental changes (very different from existing) require genetic changes that spread through populations. So individual organisms can't adapt in the long - term, fundamental way to such drastic environmental shifts, supporting Leslie's view.

Answer:

Leslie

Question 2