Are humans biologically and behaviorally adapted to the modern world?
Global Citizenship
Students will think critically about the relationship between organisms that are extinct with organisms that are currently living on Earth. Students will draw connections between adaptations and different environments around the globe.
Critical Thinking
Students will think critically about how evolution has shaped the organisms found on our planet, as well as humans using evidence.
Responsibility
Students will learn to use lab equipment responsibly and safely so that the equipment can be used in the future. Students will responsibly participate in simulations so that all students have access to their education.
What evidence is there to support the theory of biological evolution?
How does natural selection play a role in the creation of new species on earth?
How do adaptations in organisms develop?
Students should be able to analyze the data available as evidence to support the theory of evolution.
Students should be able to participate in a lab that demonstrates how organisms become adapted to their ecosystems. Students should be able to take evidence from the lab to write a conclusion that explains how bird beaks are specifically adapted to their environment and niche.
Skills:
Scientific Modeling - Students use scientific modeling to collaborate on a hypothesis regarding the essential question. Students use scientific models to make meaning of phenomena. Students will use punnett squares to represent genetic crosses as a scientific model.
Written and Oral Discourse - Students will communicate ideas and arguments through writing and through speech
Note taking - Students write key ideas in their lab notebooks so that they may use the resource on labs and other assessments.
Research Methods - Students will use research skills to collect information about an extinct animal whose remains have been discovered on Earth and their related ancestor that lives in the present day.
Presentation Skills - Students will complete a mini presentation where they will teach the class about a particular organism and their physical and behavioral adaptations.
Differentiation:
Explicit instruction of expectations for answering questions in complete sentences (TTQA) on formative and summative assessments.
Explicit instruction on lab notebook setup and maintenance throughout the course.
Explicit instruction on reading articles, lab activity instructions, and textbook passages (Bold Words, Headings, Interpreting Diagrams and Charts).
Explicit instruction on how to create a presentation and confidently present new material to an audience.
Explicit instruction on how to analyze complex evidence in order to support claims.
Reteach and recall material during the start of the lesson prior about previous concepts in order to develop memory skills and create future study material for exams.
Review activity and instruction on how to study for closed book exams. Students draw connections between concepts through a visual web of ideas.
HS-LS4-1. Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.
HS-LS4-2. Construct and explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
HS-LS4-3. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable traits tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
HS-LS4-5. Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
Textbook - Miller & Levine Biology
Khan Academy
POGIL - Process-oriented guided inquiry learning
New Hampshire Fish & Game
[Our Hidden Google Drive Resource link]