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California Academy of Science
Human Evolution
As the great and hilarious Tim Minchin once said, "Science is simply the word we use to describe a method of organizing our curiosity." Science is more than just a guess; it is based on questions, observations, and evidence. High...
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Jump, Glide, or Fly? Exploring Bird Evolution
How have birds evolved from prehistoric animals? With the three-part activity, small groups first research different prehistoric animals and determine whether they are birds. Then, scholars explore different bird adaptations using the...
Wild Screen
Evolution and Adaptation
The lesson on adaptation and evolution included here is a bit difficult to navigate using the teacher notes, but if you start with the handout, there are directions to guide you through the lesson. The link to the scrapbook within the...
Curated OER
How Evolution Works
Students work in groups to investigate and present genetic variation, adaptation, and sexual selection as it relates to evolution. In this evolution lesson, students watch a video discuss how the human eye could evolve due to natural...
Curated OER
Mimicry: An Example of Adaptation
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...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Using DNA to Explore Lizard Phylogeny
In a fun and interactive two-day lesson, learners sort anole lizard pictures by appearance. Next, they watch a video about the anoles and re-sort based on the information in the video. In addition to physical characteristics, budding...
American Museum of Natural History
What's This? Staying Safe
Amaze the class with the creative adaptations species employ to trick predators. An online interactive lesson introduces learners to six different species with unique adaptations. Each species highlights a different adaptation and its...
Curated OER
Natural Selection And Evolution
Students investigate the concept of evolution and how natural selection is used as an indicator that evolution has happened. They recognize the three effects it has on diversity and how adaptations can develop. Diversity is explained as...
Curated OER
How Does Evolution Work?
Middle schoolers are introduced to how the process of evolution works. As a class, they review the characteristics of natural selection and how those with advantageous traits reproduce and survive. To test this theory of natural...
Curated OER
Human Evolution
Students recognize that achievements of human beings throughout human history can be considered part of the ongoing story of human evolution. They research settings such as the biosphere and Mars and write imaginative short stories using...
Curated OER
The Rise and Fall of the Mammoths
Young scholars develop an understanding of the evolution of species in the context of the woolly mammoth. They examine the fossil record to explain natural selection.
ARKive
Opposable Thumbs
How do opposable thumbs help you complete certain tasks? An activity about evolutionary traits prompts learners to try writing their name, twist the lid off of a jar, and use tweezers to pick up a straw, first with their normal grip, and...
Curated OER
Habitats and Adaptations
Students research and describe the habitat and adaptations of a reef animal. After the student is assigned a habitat, they design and draw a cresture adapted to eat each food and to live in each habitat.
Curated OER
Using Living Organisms to Explain Evolution
Students investigate evolution in its most fundamental form: the observation of living organisms. By comparing variations that exist among living animals, students formulate their own hypotheses and conclusions about the evolution of...
Curated OER
Artificial Selection
The second lesson in the series begins with a starter activity discussing wild versus domesticated animals. Then, scholars play a card game, with optional variations, to emphasize artificial selection. Next, they attend a field trip to a...
Columbus City Schools
Get Your Organisms Organized
From large to small, show your class how to organize them all! Included within the guide is everything you need to take their knowledge of classification from the cellular to the species level. The worksheets focus on...
Curated OER
Investigating Our Past: Where Did Humans Come From?
Investigate the theories of human evolution. In this research based lesson, learners research and discuss how geographic isolation, interbreeding, generalization, and specialization are factors in the history of humans. Groups work...
Curated OER
A Model for Natural Selection- Spaghetti Worms
Does the early bird really get the worm? If so, which color of worm does it prefer? In an exciting and easy week-long field investigation, young field biologists set up a one square meter feeding area for birds. If you have a webcam,...
Curated OER
Evolution of Life
Pupils 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...
Curated OER
Physiological Adaptations
Students investigate the concepts of genetics and how it is tied to the variations found within different species and how it is tied to adaptations. They review the theory of evolution and factors found to help create variation. The...
Curated OER
A Journey with a Scientist
Students work in groups as they read chapters of Charles Darwin's, Voyage of the Beagle. They take notes on the chapter and in their group make a timeline of the chapter. They tape the timelines together in order to depict the entire...
National Constitution Center
Writing Rights: The Bill of Rights
Where did the cherished ideals enshrined in the Bill of Rights originate? While history gives the Founding Fathers much of the credit, laws in colonial America influenced the Bill of Rights. An interactive web-based activity allows...
Educa Madrid
Prehistory
Images of the Atapuerca Caves, the cave paintings at Altamira, and a Neanderthal skull found at Forbes' Quarry on Gibraltar serve to introduce kids to prehistoric sites in Spain. Designed to support a study of prehistoric Spain, the...
Curated OER
Use of the Forest in the Economic Evolution of Oakville, Pennsylvania
Students explore forest usage and the ways which it affected the development of Oakville. They identify the technological advances that shaped forest based industries, and the current challenges facing the community of Oakville.