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Evolution connection: Proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids

Grade Level(s):

  • 13-16

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Evo Connection slide set

Time: 5 minutes

Overview

This short slide set weaves basic information about carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids into one evolutionary story regarding the evolution of lactose tolerance, which relates to students' everyday lives. Save the slide set to your computer to view the explanation and notes that go along with each slide.

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  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 13-16] An organism's features reflect its evolutionary history.
  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 13-16] There is a fit between organisms and their environments, though not always a perfect fit.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Evolution results from natural selection acting upon genetic variation within a population.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] New heritable traits can result from mutations.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Inherited characteristics affect the likelihood of an organism's survival and reproduction.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Over time, the proportion of individuals with advantageous traits may increase (and the proportion with disadvantageous traits may decrease) due to their chances of surviving and reproducing.
  • [Studying evolution: Grades 13-16] As with other scientific disciplines, evolutionary biology has applications that factor into everyday life, for example in agriculture, biodiversity and conservation biology, and medicine and health.

There are no NGSS/DCI concepts currently linked to this resource.

Use this resource to relate evolutionary concepts to the topics of carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids (or get more suggestions for incorporating evolution throughout your biology syllabus). Incorporate these slides immediately after you've discussed the structure of these biological molecules. You may wish to prime students for this story by using lactose and lactase as examples when discussing carbohydrates and proteins. You may also wish to return to this story as an example when you cover Mendelian genetics. The European version of the lactase persistence gene is inherited as a dominant Mendelian trait.