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In my AP biology class senior year we talked a lot about both Darwin and his work. Mostly we spoke of natural selection, and more specifically decent with modification. As Paul Grobstein said at the end of Thursday's class, we can explain evolution without using the phrase natural selection, because that's only part of the story. Also most people think to believe that natural selection and sruvival of the fittest are the same thing, when in fact they are not. Survival of the fittest implies that the strongest animal will pass on its genes and the weakest will die. Well in some circumstances the weaker, or smaller animal is the one to survive a change in environment and live to pass on its genes. Also some animals are just inherently able to withstand diseases or famines because of their genetic makeup, while not always being the leaders of the pack. Descent with modification means a random change in genes and physical structures over generations. These two concepts are both part of evolution and are not mutually exclusive, but do not mean the same thing.