Four friends were hiking in the mountains when they came across a shell fossil like the one pictured to the right. The friends agreed that the fossil of the organism clearly came from the ocean, but they were confused about how the fossil ended up high on a mountain. Here is what each friend thought: Carlos: It belonged to a hiker and fell out of their backpack during a hike. Jenny: The land must have been covered by water long ago. Jordan: An animal carried the shell up the mountain and dropped it. Marcus: Weathering, erosion, and deposition slowly moved the shell up the mountain. Which friend do you agree with the most from the “Take a Hike” scenario? How do you think the fossil ended up on the mountain? Explain your answers.

1. true.2. true.3. true.4. false.5. true.the concept of darwin's theory of evolution involves the idea that there are limited resources in a given living environment and that the organisms which live within have variations in their genetic make up due to random mating. the ones with beneficial genetic variations can express certain traits which give them an upper hand in surviving and reproducing in the said environment compared to ones who may have a more disadvantageous variation in traits. over time, the organisms with an upper hand will survive and reproduce more frequently and pass on their beneficial genes while the others die. the result is evolution, where we observe (usually, but not always) eventually, phenotypic distinct changes.