Found 19 resources for:
alternative hypotheses
Aloha, spider style! The work of Rosemary Gillespie
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Research profile
Time: one class period
Overview
This research profile follows Dr. Rosemary Gillespie to Hawaii as she evaluates hypotheses about the evolution of the colorful happy-face spider.
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An Antipodal Mystery
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
Source:
- Herreid, Clyde Freeman
Resource type:
- Classroom activity
Time: 1 to 2 hours, ideally split over multiple class periods
Overview
The discovery of the platypus had the scientific world in an uproar with its mammal-like and bird-like features. How was one to classify the platypus? This case study uses this issue to model the scientific process, with scientists arguing, debating, collecting more evidence, and revising their opinions as new data become available.
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Ancient fossils and modern climate change: The work of Jennifer McElwain
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Research profile
Time: 40 minutes
Overview
Wondering how global warming will affect our planet? Scientist Jennifer McElwain studies the fossil record in order to learn more about how global warming has affected life on Earth in the past and how it might affect life on Earth in the future.
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Cells within cells: An extraordinary claim with extraordinary evidence
Grade Level(s):
- 13-16
- Advanced
- General
Source:
- Understanding Science
Resource type:
- Article
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
When biologist Lynn Margulis revived the strange-sounding idea that the merging of cells played a prominent role in the evolution of complex life, the scientific community roundly rejected the notion. Today, this idea is accepted as a textbook fact. Learn more about the evidence and social factors that spurred the acceptance of this key aspect of evolutionary theory.
This article is available from the Understanding Science website.
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Chimpanzee Droppings Lead Scientists to Evolutionary Discovery
Grade Level(s):
- 13-16
Source:
- Kosal, Erica F.
Resource type:
- Classroom activity
Time: 1.5 to 2 hours
Overview
Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) is thought to be a precursor to HIV. This multi-part case study explores changes in SIV in different chimpanzee populations and how researchers use this information to test hypotheses about the origins of HIV.
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Evo in the News: “Error. Greed does not compute.”
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- Advanced
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Evo in the News article
Time: 10 minutes
Overview
This news brief from May 2011 describes how researchers are using tiny robots to study the evolution of altruistic behaviors.
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Evo in the News: Grasshoppers change their tune. Is it evolution in action?
Grade Level(s):
- 13-16
- Advanced
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Evo in the News article
Time: 20 minutes
Overview
This news brief, from December 2012, describes new research into how traffic noise affects insect populations. Several hypotheses to explain the change in grasshoppers' songs are examined.
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Evo in the News: Lessons for today in ancient mass extinctions
Grade Level(s):
- 13-16
- Advanced
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Evo in the News article
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
This news brief, from May 2012, describes new research on the end-Ordovician mass extinction and the lessons we might glean about extinctions going on around us today.
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Evo in the news: Omicron and the case of the hidden evolution
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Evo in the News article
Time: 30 min
Overview
This news brief from January 2022, explores the evolutionary mystery at the heart of the Omicron COVID-19 surge.
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Evo in the news: Spreading disease on evolutionary timescales
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Evo in the News article
Time: 10 minutes
Overview
Most infectious diseases that we are familiar with are passed from human to human; however, on evolutionary timescales, pathogens don't necessarily respect species boundaries. This news brief from November 2010 examines a recently discovered case of disease swapping among species involving a deadly strain of malaria.
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Evo in the news: Toxic river means rapid evolution for one fish species
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Evo in the News article
Time: 10 minutes
Overview
This news brief from March 2011 examines the genetic basis for the evolution of resistance to PCBs in the Hudson River tomcod. Though this is great for the tomcod, what might it mean for other organisms in the ecosystem?
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Exploring KT extinction patterns
Grade Level(s):
- 13-16
- Advanced
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Lab activity
Time: 2-3 hours
Overview
Students will be introduced to a data set about mollusk genera that survived and did not survive the KT extinction event. They will formulate hypotheses regarding extinction patterns and mechanisms and analyze the data for evidence relevant to those hypotheses.
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How boogieing birds evolved: The work of Kim Bostwick
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Research profile
Time: 30 minutes
Overview
This research profile follows ornithologist Kim Bostwick through the jungles of Ecuador and the halls of museums as she investigates the evolution of an exotic bird's complex mating dance.
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Omicron y el caso de la evolución escondida
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
- General
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Evo in the News article
Time: 30 min
Overview
Durante el último mes, las cepas del SARS-CoV-2 Omicron han dominado los noticiarios del mundo. Esta variante de rápida transmisión ha llevado a limitar viajes, a cancelar planes de vacaciones, al agotamiento de los kits de pruebas, a la vuelta de los confinamientos, y además a un asombroso número de nuevos casos de COVID-19. Los científicos rápidamente se han puesto a estudiar Omicron, intentando entender qué tan rápido se transmite, qué tanto nos enferma, y si es resistente a los tratamientos, a las vacunas, y a los anticuerpos de infecciones de COVID previas. Necesitamos revisar todas estas cuestiones porque Omicron es muy diferente de otras cepas de coronavirus. Omicron ha acumulado más de 50 nuevas mutaciones en comparación con la cepa que empezó la pandemia. Además Omicron no es un descendiente de la cepa Delta, responsable de la anterior ola de infecciones. De hecho, Omicron es tan diferente de otras variantes que parece que ha estado evolucionando por su cuenta durante muchos meses. Y esto nos conduce a otro misterio que los científicos están tratando de resolver: ¿dónde estaba Omicron escondido mientras toda esta evolución tenía lugar?
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Teaching the Process of Molecular Phylogeny and Systematics: A Multi-Part Inquiry-Based Exercise
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
Source:
- Lents, Nathan, et al
Resource type:
- Lab activity
Time: 1 to 4 periods
Overview
Students explore molecular data from Homo sapiens and four related primates and develop hypotheses regarding the ancestry of these five species by analyzing DNA sequences, protein sequences, and chromosomal maps.
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The causes of mutation with Molly Przeworski and Felix Wu
Grade Level(s):
- 13-16
- Advanced
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Classroom activity
Time: 1.5 hours
Overview
In this article (and the linked assignments and student readings), students examine and interpret data that Molly and Felix used to study the causes of mutations that matter most for evolution. Use the tabs at the bottom of the feature to find related videos, assignments, and lessons to build this example into a lesson sequence on mutation.
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The Checks Lab
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
Source:
- ENSI
Resource type:
- Classroom activity
Time: One class period
Overview
Students construct plausible scenarios using bank checks to learn how human values and biases influence observation and interpretation.
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Visualizing life on Earth: Data interpretation in evolution
Grade Level(s):
- 9-12
- 13-16
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Online activity or lab
Time: 2 hours
Overview
This web-based module leads students through an exploration of the patterns in the diversity of life across planet Earth. Students are scaffolded as they practice data interpretation and scientific reasoning skills.
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Why Sex is Good
Grade Level(s):
- 13-16
Source:
- Herreid, Clyde Freeman
Resource type:
- Classroom activity
Time: portions of several class periods
Overview
This case study is based on a 2005 journal article that deals with the issue of sexual vs. asexual reproduction and their relative merits a question that has bedeviled biologists for more than a century. The article serves as the final stage of this case focusing on why sex is useful (at least in some circumstances).
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