Table 4 Percentage of students’ responses compared by plant and animal and standardized residuals of differences

Origin of traits

Blue jay

Cactus

Changes in traits arise through random genetic processes

40

24

±2.7*

Changes occur as a result of genetic mutations in direct response to the environment

27

38

±1.8*

Refers to mutations in genes, but not related to changes in traits

24

24

±0.0

No genetic mechanism for trait change

8

14

±1.7*

Variation

Yucca

Bighorn

Individuals within a population vary

50

57

±1.0

Individuals within a population are identical to one another

19

17

±0.5

Individuals within a population are all unique

31

26

±0.9

Transformationist Ideas

Chili Pepper

Skunk

Changes in traits arise from random genetic processes

26

44

±2.9*

Organism needed to change in order to survive

11

11

±0.1

Organism changes their traits in response to changes in their environment

40

22

±3.0*

Changes occur as a result of genetic mutations in direct response to the environment

24

23

±0.2

Fitness

Animal

Plant

Fitness is an individual’s capacity to reproduce

34

37

±0.3

Fitness is defined by how long an organism lives

19

30

±2.1*

Fitness is defined by the strength of the organism

43

23

±3.2*

Fitness is defined by the organism’s capacity to obtain food

4

11

±2.4*