Biology Junction
Lamarck vs. Darwin: Introduction to Change in Organisms
How are traits passed down from parents? Jean Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin envisioned conflicting theories. Learn about both scientists and their theories with an insightful presentation. Giraffes and dogs serve as examples of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Look Who's Coming for Dinner: Selection by Predation
What happens when a new predator comes to town? Learners analyze an experiment that studies the effect of predation on selection. They use real data to draw conclusions about the impact a new predator has on a prey species.
Curated OER
The Origin of Life: Alternative Views
Students explore the topics of faith and science as they relate to the origins of life. They consider the major points of Darwin's Theory of Evolution and brainstorm various explanations of how life began. Students investigate different...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Got Lactase? The Co-Evolution of Genes and Culture
Does the human body evolve as quickly as human culture? With a stellar 15-minute video, explore the trait of lactose intolerance. Only about 1/3 of human adults seem to still have the enzyme lactase and therefore, the ability to digest...
Curated OER
Evolution: Natural Selection
Learners analyze and discuss the evolutionary history of dinosaurs. In this investigative lesson students monitor different organisms in the environment and analyze the pressures that affect the chances of survival.
Curated OER
Wait, They Can do it by Themselves?
Students recognize the concepts of evolution and natural selection as well as cladistics and phylogenetics. They observe the process of regeneration in a sea anemone to simulate asexual reproduction.
Curated OER
Evolution of Life
In this evolution worksheet, students review the natural selection process and how organisms' adaptations evolve over time. This worksheet has 8 fill in the blank and 11 short answer questions.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
A Lesson on the Nature of Science
If you are looking for a great way to present natural selection in humans, look no further. This handout is intended to accompany the 14-minute video The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans, which can be found on the...
Curated OER
Charles Darwin
Students produce a newspaper describing the times during which Charles Darwin introduced the theory of natural selection. In this evolution activity, students make observations and explore the role of observation in Charles Darwin's...
Curated OER
Science Jeopardy
Make reviewing evolution, cell division, genetics, cell structure, and scientific method more fun! Science Jeopardy allows teams to choose a category for the question they will address. If you complete the entire game, learners will have...
Curated OER
Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2005
The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2003
The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes
After watching an engaging 13-minute video about the colorless blood of icefish, future ichthyologists examine icefish blood and non-icefish blood (blood samples are simulated with Karo syrup mixtures) to determine advantages of...
Curated OER
Science: Evolution and Natural Selection
Students watch a clip from the film, Jurassic Park, as an introduction to analysis and discussion of the evolutionary history of dinosaurs. As an exercise in evolution, students in groups, draw dinosaur pictures based on the previous...
Curated OER
Exploring Evolution Lesson Plans
There are evolution lesson plans that can help teachers get past the controversy to increase student understanding of natural selection.
Serendip
How Eyes Evolved – Analyzing the Evidence
Octopodes existed for hundreds of thousands of years before humans, yet our eyes share many similarities. Scholars analyze the evidence to determine if the evolution of eyes best fits a homology or analogy model. They discuss the issue...
Curated OER
AP: Chapter 23: The Evolution of Populations
How and why do populations change over time? AP biology aces explore this question by completing this assignment. They write the answers to 21 questions regarding population genetics, stability, genetic drift, polymorphism, and selection.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Jump, Glide, or Fly? Exploring Bird Evolution
How have birds evolved from prehistoric animals? With the three-part instructional activity, small groups first research different prehistoric animals and determine whether they are birds. Then, scholars explore different bird...
Curated OER
Natural Selection and the Peppered Moth
Learners study natural selection and its process in the peppered moth. In this evolution lesson, students read about the concept of natural selection as suggested by Charles Darwin. Learners then complete a natural selection simulation...
Curated OER
Natural Selection in Action
Students demonstrate natural selection through a lab activity. In this biology instructional activity, students explain how natural selection leads to speciation. They complete their lab report and discuss results in class.
Curated OER
Hide and Survive: A Natural Selection Activity
Students explore the theory of natural selection given certain scenarios. In this biology lesson, students graph data taken from the experiment. They explain the factors that contribute to the survival of the fittest.
Curated OER
Beans and Birds: A Natural Selection Simulation
Students examine the problem concerning the evolution of seed color in pinto bean plants "How does natural selection change the frequency of genes or traits over many generations"? Students work in teams to design an experiment that...
Curated OER
Evolution of Life
Students explore the evolution of life. They read sections of their text and make a foldable of the key vocabulary terms. They identify two types of butterflies and represent their similarities and differences on a Venn diagram. They...