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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Using DNA to Explore Lizard Phylogeny

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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...
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Lesson Plan13:10
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
After watching an engaging 13-minute video about the colorless blood of icefish, future ichthyologists examine icefish blood and non-icefish blood (blood samples are simulated with Karo syrup mixtures) to determine advantages of...
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Lesson Plan14:03
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed Standards
Sickle cell disease only occurs when both parents contribute the trait, and mostly in those of African descent. Where did it come from? How did it evolve? Tony Allison, a molecular biologist, noticed a connection between sickle cell and...
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Lesson Plan10:25
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
The pocket mouse can be light brown like the sands of the desert, or dark brown like the volcanic lava flows that are interspersed throughout New Mexico's Valley of Fire. It seems that predators have weeded out light colored mice in this...
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Lesson Plan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

How Novel Icefish Genes Can Improve Human Health

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Designed to accompany the 13-minute video The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes, this handout serves as both a viewing guide during the video and an analysis of how the adaptations of the icefish might help treat some...
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Lesson Plan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Adaptations must be made as environments change. This fabulous presentation features Icelandic icefish, a transparent, scaleless specimen that even has colorless blood. Genetics and adaptations concepts are explored as scientists study...
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Interactive3:06
Scholastic

Study Jams! Animal Adaptations

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Physical and behavioral adaptations are discussed by two teen girls as monarch butterflies flutter by. They also describe the process of natural selection. With colorful animation and relatable teen language, learners are sure to adapt...
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Activity
University of Pennsylvania

Evolution by Natural Selection

For Teachers 6th - 9th
A diagram, data table, and reading passage top this resource. Through it, biology beginners are introduced to the concept of natural selection. They answer some questions and then participate in a simulation using fabric as a habitat and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2009

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Emerging ecologists need a full understanding of life, from the inner workings of a cell to the complex relationships among organisms. This examination is meant to assess high schoolers after an entire year course on the living...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2003

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2005

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2007

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Environmental science enthusiasts show what they know at the end of the year by taking this full-fledged final exam. They answer multiple choice, graph interpretation, and essay analysys questions, 73 of them in all. Topics range from...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Adaptation of Species (Birds and Butterflies)

For Teachers 5th - 9th
A video about the impact of climate change on butterfly populations and a PowerPoint about butterfly and bird adaptations warm science learners up for the activity to follow. Using a variety of tools that reprsent unique styles of bird...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Specialized for the Sea

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students use pictures and make a mural to investigate how ocean animals are adapted to certain parts of their environment.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The Flower and the Fly

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
It's like a biological "Beauty and the Beast!" The fascinating mutualism between a South African meganosed fly and a deep-throated geranium builds a case study in coevolution for your biology buffs to analyze. After reading about this...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

It's All About Vitamins

For Students 7th - Higher Ed
The fascinating topic of human skin color is examined in this article from Muse magazine. It highlights a study done by a pair of scientists on the relationships among strength of sunlight, vitamins, and melanin in the skin. The results...
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Lesson Plan15:27
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: Evolving Switches, Evolving Bodies

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
How did the stickleback fish, which was once ocean bound, evolve to be able to persist in freshwater lakes? Hear from the scientists who identified the genes and related switches that allowed these survivors to adapt. In addition to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Allele and Phenotype Frequencies in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
In the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, some tiny creatures show just how quickly natural selection can turn a mutation into an advantageous adaptation. Watch a video about rock pocket mice, who show that one small change can make all...
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Lesson Plan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Icefish Adaptations

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What adaptations exist in order for icefish to survive the subfreezing temperatures of the Antarctic Ocean? Middle and high schoolers can find out through watching a related 13-minute video and performing a simple investigation to...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Questions - Appearances are Deceiving

For Students 9th - 12th
Five evolution-related questions are answered by beginning biologists on a separate sheet of paper. First, they are asked to list adaptations that allow organisms to survive under various conditions. The second question refers to...
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PPT
Curated OER

Glacier Bay Pacific Halibut

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
The National Park Service has produced a high-quality presentation on the halibut population of Glacier Bay, Alaska. It takes the viewpoint of the marine biologists or rather, ichthyologists, who have been studying the adaptations,...
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PPT
Curated OER

Glacier Bay Seabirds

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
A gorgeous collection of photographs take viewers on a virtual tour or Glacier Bay National Park with a focus on the seabirds living in the area. Adaptations to the polar climate are highlighted, different species of birds are displayed,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adaptation Investigation - Extreme Beaks

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Find photos of bird beaks or show a prepared four slide PowerPoint, "Extreme Beaks" to introduce your class to this special animal adaptation. Provide them with a data table and supplies to try gathering food with tools that each...