By counting differences in amino acids, biology stars examine the relationships between different primates. With information gleaned, they map out a phylogenic tree and discover common ancestry. You will need to create printable versions...

Students explore natural selection. For this genetic adaptation lesson, students discover why certain traits continue and some traits disappear. Students discover how species evolve and change. Resources are provided.

Students develop likely phylogenies for seven related populations of lizards living on the Canary Islands using real data. They organize charts, and record the data for geography, geology, morphology, and molecular genetics.

Students plot the general distribution of major fossil hominid taxa on a small black and white world map using data provided. They infer a continent of origin and likely path of migration using a worksheet guide and small group discussion.

Evolution happens over generations, so how do we observe it? Scholars learn to look for patterns and create cladograms. Then they apply those lessons to the evolution of technology over many generations.

Students encounter an interactive computer program activity designed as a diagnostic of student beliefs related to the theory of evolution. Students process the Hypercard cascades structured around a set of biological topics related to...

Your high schoolers will examine the community in which they live and discuss with the class. Using the Internet, they identify the importance of African-American art and how it relates to the African-American culture. Individually, they...

Students explore the concepts of evolution. In this biology instructional activity, students read articles from the internet. They discuss the article within the group and answer their handouts.

High schoolers explore the history of Seoul, South Korea. For this Seoul lesson plan, students read and analyze handouts regarding the political and social history of the city of Seoul. High schoolers collaborate in small groups and...

Students create an evolutionary tree based on fossil morphology and their ages. For this fossil record lesson plan, students are given 23 pictures of fossil. They study their morphology and arrange the fossils by age and structures on a...

Learners discuss human behavior, sexual selection and the underlying genetic and evolutionary reasons for mate selection. The, in groups, they rate the attractiveness of certain individuals and measure facial features for symmetry.

Students go on an imaginary fossil hunt. They follow a script read by the teacher, students "find" (remove from envelope) paper "fossils" of some unknown creature. They attempt to reconstruct fossil pieces into an animal.

Young scholars examine a method biologists use to try to determine relationships. They examine how amino acid sequences have been determined for a number of proteins, and how scientists can make inferences about DNA based on the amino...

Students build a realistic sense of geological time, seek clues of transition fossils and find them.  In this investigative lesson students complete several activities and worksheets on fossils. 

There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers. 

High schoolers research the evolution and cultural significance of the Arabic ghazal form of poetry. They, in groups, compose an original ghazal poem and read it aloud to the class.

Do all languages have a common ancestor? Although no one yet knows the answer to that big question, the narrator of this short, animated video explains how linguists use migration patterns, geological features, and word clues to...

Did you know scientists can tell the age of an asteroid by looking closely at its craters? This final activity of a six-part series focuses on two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida, in order to demonstrate the concept of dating asteroids....

You may not know if that zebrafish in your fish tank is a model citizen—but it is definitely a model organism! What can we learn about ourselves from a tiny zebrafish? Discover more about the polygenic trait of skin color through a...

How does the Earth continually repair itself? Explore the answer to this question, and others, with a unit on plate boundaries and interaction. Pupils classify the types of movement at plate boundaries and identify the...

Young scholars analyze the three models on the origin of troglobitic fauna. In this life science lesson, students also consider how the Zonation model explains the fauna's origin. They also use the Internet to research solutional and...

Students identify key anatomical similarities and differences between great apes and humans. They infer likely anatomical features in ancient human ancestors and list principal anatomical changes in primates necessary for adaptation to...

Students use the Internet to complete an interactive simulation about evolution. They follow certain species and discover the process of natural selection. They answer questions to test for comprehension.

Students consider two sets of simulated fossils (caminalcules) that are provided as cutouts. They arrange them on two time scales. One set produces a visual example of gradualism, the other shows punctuated equilibria.