Evaluate
the process of natural selection and its
consequences. (B IIC2a)
Overview:
The
students will analyze and discuss the
evolutionary history of dinosaurs after
viewing a short clip from the movie Jurassic
Park. Then the students will simulate natural
selection in two activities. As a culminating
activity, the students will monitor three
different organisms in the environment and
analyze the selection pressures that affect
the survival chances of these organisms.
Focus/Essential
Question(s): What
is natural selection? What part did natural
selection play in the evolutionary history of
the dinosaurs? How is natural selection
affecting the evolution of organisms in
present times?
Time
Frame: Three
90-minute class periods for activities and
instruction. Allow time for students to
complete the natural selection activity sheet
outside of class. This activity works well as
a zoo field trip activity.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS:
Biology
text such as Biology: Principles and
Explorations (Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
1996) under evolution (p. 244-268)
Paper,
pencils, overhead projector or chalkboard
Jurassic
Park movie clip with VCR and television
monitor
Pictures
of dinosaurs
Colored
markers
Colored
paper
Newsprint
Habitats
to observe 3 different organisms (the zoo is
ideal, but a backyard will suffice)
Natural
selection activity sheet
Laboratory
activity sheet included in Day 2 plan
CULMINATING
ASSESSMENT: The
culminating assessment is an activity that
addresses natural selection and three
different organisms. The student will observe
the three organisms in their habitats and
compare and contrast their characteristics.
The student will make inferences about the
characteristics and the selection pressures
acting upon the organisms. Vocabulary terms
will be defined in the activity, and the
student has the opportunity to create a new
environment for one of the organisms and
predict its evolutionary future.
INSTRUCTIONAL
ACTIVITIES:
Day
1
Essential
Questions:
What
is natural selection?
What
part did natural selection play in the
evolutionary history of the dinosaurs?
Launch:
The
students will view a short clip from the movie
Jurassic Park. Activating questions following
the movie clip will stimulate the student to
think about evolution. "Do you believe in
dinosaurs?" "What happened to the
dinosaurs?" "Where are the dinosaurs
today?" "What was the environment
like during the Jurassic Period?"
"Were humans alive during the Jurassic
Period (the Flintstones)?" The discussion
should be lively and designed to limit the
inhibitions about discussing what is perceived
to be the controversial topic of evolution.
Acquisition
Lesson:
The
students should be grouped in sets of three or
four, preferably one behind the other in
linear arrangement. Each student will receive
a blank sheet of paper. The teacher will then
distribute a dinosaur picture and a colored
marker to each of the first students in the
groups. That student will draw the dinosaur on
his paper (the students are not allowed to
trace). He will then pass his drawing back to
the next student in the group who will draw
the dinosaur from that drawing. The first
student keeps the original. Then, each new
drawing is passed back until all three or four
students have had the opportunity to draw a
dinosaur from the drawing they received. (This
is similar to the game "gossip"
where a phrase is whispered in someone's ear,
and passed along the group to the end. Of
course it becomes different as it is passed
along.)
While
the individual students are drawing, the other
students should be engaged in reading about
natural selection, and working on teacher-made
study questions. Samples of these:
1.
Define natural selection
2.
Briefly describe how natural selection occurs.
3.
Using the term adaptation, summarize the
modern theory of evolution in as few word as
you can.
4.
Why is evolution considered a theory?
5.
Describe how the fossil record supports
evolution.
6.
What is a common ancestor?
After
all sets of dinosaur drawings are completed,
the teacher will post them sequentially so
that all students can view and discuss.
Discussion:
It
will be apparent that each dinosaur has
undergone "change" through the three
or four students. Suggested stimulating
questions for this part of the lesson include:
1.
What changes do you see in your group's
dinosaur?
2.
Choose another group's dinosaur and note its
changes.
3.
Why did the dinosaur change this way?
4.
How did the dinosaur change this way?
5.
Describe the environment (abiotic and biotic)
of the first dinosaur drawing in your series.
6.
Describe the environment (abiotic and biotic)
of the last dinosaur drawing in your series
7.
Define natural selection in terms of your
dinosaur series.
Allow
the students to work together in their
original groups on these questions. Then, pair
two of the groups to discuss their answers
together. Leave the drawings up during the
evolution unit. To address the objective
"evaluate the process of natural
selection", discussion questions should
follow. "How did the dinosaurs change
from one time period to the next?'' "What
mechanisms made them change?" "What
if they did not change?"
Closure:
"Ticket
out the Door" Each student will define
Natural Selection, and write an "I
learned....." statement.
Day
2
Essential
Questions:
What
is natural selection?
What
part did natural selection play in the
evolutionary history of the dinosaurs?
How
is natural selection affecting the evolution
of organisms in present times?
Refining
Lesson:
Laboratory
Exercise: In
this activity, classified ads sections from a
newspaper that serve as large
"environments" will be placed on the
lab tables. The newsprint
"environment" is a sheet of
newspaper opened out flat. The students will
be grouped into sets of four or five. Each
group will receive "prey" which are
squares of colored paper and squares of
newspaper. (I use one inch squares of blue,
red, yellow, green, and newsprint.) One
student in the group will be recorder and he
will be responsible for arranging the prey on
the environment and keeping a record (tally)
of "prey" captured. Each
"predator" (the other students in
the group) will select a prey victim from the
environment as quickly as possible, and
without previously studying the arrangement.
This should be a prey square that the predator
just happens to see first. The recorder will
tally the victims (the types of colored or
newspaper squares), and the process will be
repeated for several trials. Following the
predator/prey activity, all students in the
group should work together on these questions.
1.
What color prey was chosen most often?
2.
What color prey was chosen least often?
3.
Why did your group get these results?
4.
Define Natural Selection.
5.
If you changed your environment to blue, what
results do you predict that you would get?
6.
Name a real-life situation that occurs in
nature that is similar to this simulation.
7.
Using a bar graph, graph the results of your
predator/prey activity. Include all proper
elements of a graph. (Objective B IB9)
Closure:
Students
from the different groups will compare and
contrast their graphs. Each group will check
for correctness and completeness of the other
groups' graphs before they are turned in and
suggest adjustments. Also, the groups should
discuss any differences in the results.
Day
3
Culminating
Assessment:
The
students will be given the Natural Selection
activity sheet. The teacher will discuss and
demonstrate, and answer questions. This
activity works very well at the zoo, using
some of the more exotic animals, or even the
aquarium animals. If it is not possible to
take a field trip, then the students can
successfully complete this activity using a
backyard habitat with local squirrels or
birds, or even house pets such as cats or
dogs. This activity can be extended over a few
days if the students are working on their own,
and are not using the field trip option. The
way this is graded is on points system, and
each teacher can decide the relative weights
and points for each item on the activity. If
the teacher uses it as a 100-point assessment,
then each item is worth about 2 points.
