Evolution

Activities

  • Show the NOVA video “Dogs and More Dogs” and have students play the “From Wolf to Dog” (pdf) card game. It is not necessary to see the video to do this activity.
  • Watch the NOVA video “Hawaii Born of Fire” and have the students do the accompanying activity.
  • Students can read this “Survival of the Sneakiest” cartoon and answer the questions that follow it (doc).
  • The Mating Game” is an online interactive game that shows how the selection of mates influences evolution.
  • The “Evolution Lab” is an online natural selection simulation. It works well with students working independently at computers or using a projector to show it to the class. Here is a worksheet to go with the simulation.
  • In “The Evolution Game” you’re a small primate in the Eocene forests of 50 million years ago, but the world is changing.
  • Have students do the “Evolution” wordsearch puzzle (doc). Here’s the solution (doc).
  • Try this “Peppered Moth” activity.
  • Or do this “Sex and the Single Guppy” activity with the accompanying worksheet.
  •  Do the “Variation and Selection In the Origami Bird” (pdf) activity.
  • Anolis Lizards of the Greater Antilles: Using phylogeny to test hypotheses” is a middle school activity where the students “take a trip” to the Greater Antilles to figure out how the Anolis lizards on the islands might have evolved.
  • Play Overman band’s “Evolution Rocks” for your students. The words are included on the site.
  • Introduce the theory of “Coevolution” (pdf) with another of Sue Hinojoza’s concept maps.
  • ATeacher Domain’s lesson (You must register for free to access.), “How Evolution Works,” includes videos, readings, and Flash and Shockwave interactive segments.
  • Again from Teacher’s Domain, “The Fossil Evidence for Evolution” lesson, includes videos and readings.
  • This “Co-Evolution” lesson from Teacher’s Domain has videos, readings, and Flash interactive segments.
  • The “How New Species Evolve” lesson is yet another Teacher’s Domain activity. It includes videos, readings, and Flash interactive segments as well.
  • In the “Human Evolution” lesson from Teacher’s Domain, videos, readings, and Flash interactive segments are included.
  • Try Mrs. Rebello’s “Designasaurous” (doc) activity with these dinosaur skeletons (doc).
  • Or do Mrs. Rebello’s “Adaptation of the Human Hand” (doc) activity.
  • Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science” has 7 chapters and 8 activities related to evolution.
  • Play this “Evolution” Jeopardy game with this key.
  • Chromosome Comparison 2” is a comparison of human and ape chromosomes.
  • Gerald Skoog of Texas Tech University developed this “Solving the Puzzle” (doc) activity. Darwin formulated his theory of evolution by observing nature and analyzing evidence—or using the scientific process. In this activity, student teams use evidence (jigsaw puzzle pieces) revealed over time to gain knowledge of the nature of science and its limitations.
  • Judith S. Nuño contributed this “Evolution WebLabs” (doc) activity where students visit various tutorials on the web, write short commentaries about them, and rate them.
  • Show this PowerPoint, “Teacher’s Guide to: Evolutionary Theory,” that has been converted to a YouTube video. It is in the form of a quiz.

Labs

  • Simulate natural selection with the “Candy Dish Selection” lab.
  • Introduce the Hardy-Weinberg principle of gene frequency equilibrium with this “Breeding Bunnies” lab. This includes a data sheet (in pdf format), discussion questions (pdf), and a student page.
  • And “The Chips Are Down” is yet another natural selection simulation.
  • Try this peppered moth simulation with worksheet (doc) or try this peppered moth lab (doc), contributed by Kim Rebello.
  • Do Mrs. Rebello’s “Natural Selection in Goldfish” (doc) lab using Pepperidge Farm’s cheddar and pizza flavored “Goldfish.”
  • In the “Battle of the Beaks” students learn about adaptive advantage, based on beak function, by simulating birds competing for various foods.
  • In “Creating Coacervates” students mix a carbohydrate solution with a protein solution, adjust the pH, and view coacervates: amoeba-like objects, which change shape, flow, merge, divide, form “vacuoles”, release “vacuole contents”, and show other life-like properties.
  • If you are a member of NSTA, you can access “The Discovery of Jelly bellicus,” (pdf) an activity that uses jelly beans to explore natural selection.

Links

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