Advantage or Disadvantage?

Advantage or Disadvantage? Worksheet (Grade 6 Science, TEKS 6.13C)

Can the same trait help in one place and hurt in another? This one-page sheet tells the real story of peppered moths near Manchester, England. When soot darkened the trees, dark moths were harder for birds to see, and by 1895 about 98% were dark. After clean air laws, the trees turned pale again and dark moths became rare.

What's Inside

• A Big Question box and a short reading with real data
• A Key Words note defining variation, advantage, and disadvantage
• Activity 1: Students sort six cases into an Advantage or Disadvantage table
• Activity 2: Two multiple-choice questions
• A visual answer key with answers marked in red

How Teachers Use It

Use it to wrap up TEKS 6.13C or as a review before a test. The sheet takes about 10 minutes and prints clearly in black and white.

This worksheet is part of the Reading in Science series for grade 6. It supports TEKS 6.13C: describe how variations within a population can be an advantage or disadvantage to the survival of a population as environments change. It is one of eleven connected TEKS 6.13 sheets: cell theory (6.13A), the basic characteristics of organisms (6.13B), and variation and survival (6.13C), plus a vocabulary review.

Why It Works

Each sheet opens with a Big Question, teaches the key terms in plain words with simple black-and-white doodles, and then asks students to use only what the page taught. Activities stay at the circle, sort, match, and fill-in level, so students can finish in about 10 minutes, and the visual answer key lets teachers check work fast.