Artificial Selection Lesson Plans

Students brainstorm a list of improvements they might make to a picture of a skinny cow to improve its milk yield. They draw ideas on the board and compare these pictures with the original and ask the students which cow they would use to produce calves if they were a farmer.

Students evaluate the traits that made cattle ideal for human domestication. In this selective breeding lesson, students consider the advantages and disadvantages of domestication of several species. They watch video clips and view websites to evaluate the traits of cattle that led to their widespread domestication.

Students explore natural selection using an interactive online website. In this biology lesson, students research about a specific natural selection topic. They create a visual aid about it and share their findings in class.

This lesson has learners investigate the life cycle of plants by growing their own in class.  In this botany lesson, learners practice using plant vocabulary while they grow their own Wisconsin Fast Plants.  This lesson has learners collaboratively build a light box and observe the growth of the plants over the subsequent 20 days.

Students get a look into the life of dogs-from their origins and basic biology, through selective breeding, and into how dogs have become intricate parts of everyday life for many people worldwide.

In this lesson students learn the process of dog domestication. They act out two scenarios to see how dogs may have become domesticated, research dog breeds on the Internet, and write essays tracing a dog breed's evolution from its wolf origins.

Students solve the following 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?" They use the constructivist approach to studying as they work in teams to design and conduct an experiment that solves this natural selection "problem."

In this lesson students are able to explain the relationship between adaptation and ability for survival and reproduction. They are able to give examples of a series of adaptations that would support the idea that evolution is a series of minor changes. In this lesson students are able to compare and contrast adaptations involving camouflage, warning coloration, and mimicry.

Students explore the effects of different density-dependent and density-independent factors on population growth. They explore how the interactions of organisms can affect population growth. Students explore the pattern of population growth and the predator-prey relationship.

Students study the Venus Flytrap including its habitat and how it eats.  In this ecology lesson students complete several experiments using a Venus Flytrap to see how it reacts to various conditions.