1. Many organisms that can reproduce both sexually and asexually share a reproductive pattern. When the environment is favorable for growth, reproduction is asexual. When the environment deteriorates, sex occurs. Sexually produced offspring remain dormant until better conditions occur. Which of the theoretical ideas about the function of sex is supported by this observation? And which of the disadvantages of sex are less of a problem?

2. From the point of view of development, how does the life cycle of a bacterium resemble the life cycle of an elephant? How does it differ?

3. If a trait is not well adapted to current local conditions, what might be the reasons why it is not, and how might one check to see which of those reason(s) is correct?

4. In many old texts and in some recent popular articles sex is seen as necessary to provide the genetic variability that will keep species from going extinct when the environment changes significantly. What do you think of this explanation?

5. Do ideas, agricultural practices, or computers evolve in response to natural selection? What then corresponds to reproductive success and to inheritance? How does cultural change connect to biological evolution? Neither reproduction nor inheritance can be as precisely defined for cultural change as they can for biological evolution, but the analogy is worth exploring.