Can you please help me with these science questions?

Question

First answer this question:

According to the theory of puctuated equilibria, why does the fossil record include very few intermediate forms?

Pick a question out of these 5 question and answer it:

What role does the overproduction of an offspring play in the process of natural selection?

Use an example to explain how natural selection can lead to evolution?

How are rock layers used to determine the relative age of fossils?

Explain why similarities in the early development of species suggest that the species are related.

You are a young reporter for a local newspaper near the home of Charles Darwin. You have been asked to interview Darwin about his theory of evolution. Write 3 questions that you would ask Darwin. Then choose one question and answer it as Darwin would have.

Answer 1

I'd love to write a ton, but this sounds like homework... don't want to do it for you :)

It is a thought that intermediate species aren;t found as often because it is possible evolution occurs in small spurts, erratically, as opposed to slowly over time. Also, if people are trying to find a fossil of half evolved legs in fish, wouldn't it make sense that the change was so beneficial, it occurred much too rapidly to show up in fossil records?

Well, overproduction is because, with more organisms altogether, it is more likely that at least some will survive. This mostly applies to animals like fish, which tend to get eaten when they are very little. Basically, highly competitive creatures who don't protect their offspring usually have lots of babies.

With evolution, the fittest survive, causing a change in the percentage of certain alleles in the overall gene pool. A prime example is a species of moth that lived in a city during the Industrial Revolution. The species has both black and white moths. Before the widespread dark soot coated most of the entire city, the black moths and white moths generally stood out about the same, and were thus equally eaten by birds. The frequency of the black moth allele was lower. However, after soot covered everything, the black moths were able to blend in better, while the white moths stood out like crazy. The birds then ate mostly white moths, changing the frequency of white moth alleles by decreasing them greatly. The overall population of the species of moth had then evolved, with the black moths able to adapt to their environments better than the white moths. The gene pool changed, over time.

Relative age is looking at the rock layers, comparing one layer to the ones below and above and ordering them. This determines the order in which a series of events occurred, not when exactly they occurred.

Species that have similar developmental stages in the embryo are usually more closely related. Also, the extreme similarity of the fetuses of most species shows the obvious link to their common ancestral past.

Darwin was a fascinating man, and I can't possibly think of only three questions I'd ask him, guess you'll have to do this yourself.
Hope it helped :)