Understanding Evolution

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Found 11 resources for:
morphological adaptation

A Strange Fish Indeed: The “Discovery” of a Living Fossil

Grade Level(s):

  • 9-12
  • 13-16

Source:

  • Grant, Robert

Resource type:

  • Classroom activity

Time: 50-90 min.

Overview

Through a series of fictionalized diary entries, this case recounts the 1939 discovery by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer (and identification by J.L.B. Smith) of a living coelacanth, a fish believed to have been extinct for 70 million years.

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Evo in the news: A fish of a different color

Grade Level(s):

  • 9-12
  • 13-16
  • General

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Evo in the News article

Time: 15 minutes

Overview

This news brief, from February 2006, describes how a mutated zebrafish gene may help us understand human evolution and the genes underlying human skin color. Humans and zebrafish both inherited the same pigmentation gene from their common ancestor.

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Evo in the news: More than morphology

Grade Level(s):

  • 9-12
  • 13-16
  • General

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Evo in the News article

Time: 15 minutes

Overview

This news brief, from August 2006, describes recent research on T. rex, with a special focus on how paleontologists move beyond the shape of the animal's bones to learn about aspects of its life that don't fossilize very well: its physiology, sensory abilities, and population dynamics.

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Evolución 101

Grade Level(s):

  • 9-12
  • 13-16
  • General

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Article

Overview

¿Qué es la evolución y cómo funciona? Introducción a la evolución ofrece información detallada y práctica sobre los patrones y los mecanismos de la evolución.

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A three "step" illustration. The first "step" (left) shows a population of three green and three brown beetles. The second "step" (middle) shows a bird eating one of the green beetles in the population. The third "step" (right) shows a population of one green and five brown beetles.

Eye Evolution

Grade Level(s):

  • 13-16

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Online activity or lab

Time: 45-60 minutes

Overview

This worksheet guides students through an interactive online module entitled Why the Eye? on the Understanding Evolution website. Students gain a better understanding of the different types of animal eyes and how natural selection can account for the evolution of a complex organ.

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How are humans related to other primates?

Grade Level(s):

  • 13-16

Source:

  • Kalinowski, Steven

Resource type:

  • Lab activity

Time: Two lab periods

Overview

In this two-part laboratory students analyze skull morphology and DNA sequences among primate species to answer one of the most meaningful questions in biology: How are humans related to other animals?

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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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Mouse fur color

Grade Level(s):

  • 13-16

Source:

  • Evo-Ed

Resource type:

  • Case study

Time: One to two class periods

Overview

This case study in the form of a set of PowerPoint slides examines the evolution of light fur in beach mice from the molecular level up to the population genetics level.

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Problem-based discussion: Natural selection in Darwin’s finches

Grade Level(s):

  • 13-16

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Slide set

Time: 5-20 minutes

Overview

This set of two PowerPoint slides featuring questions for problem-based discussion (i.e., open-ended questions that engage students with each other and with course material) can be easily incorporated into lectures on natural selection.

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Stickleback Evolution Virtual Lab

Grade Level(s):

  • 9-12
  • 13-16

Source:

  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Resource type:

  • Online activity or lab

Time: 3 hours

Overview

This virtual lab teaches skills of data collection and analysis to study evolutionary processes using stickleback fish and fossil specimens.

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Why the eye?

Grade Level(s):

  • 13-16
  • Advanced
  • General

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Article

Time: 30-45 min

Overview

Eyes are something of an icon of evolution. How did such an integrated, multi-part adaptation evolve? While many different animals have complex eyes, untangling their evolutionary history reveals both remarkable diversity and surprising similarity.

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Light rays and photoreceptors in the eye