Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Molecular Approaches to Evolution

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the molecular studies of organisms that have led to a new era in their understanding of speciation and evolutionary relationships. Students study the allelic frequency of genes controlling specific molecules and assess...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Evolution of Our Solar System

For Teachers 5th - 11th
Learners research pertinent solar system formation and Earth development events and work together to determine which events occurred first, second, third, and so on. Students arrange themselves as a human timeline across the room. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Effect of Natural Selection on Genes, Traits and Individuals

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Rotating through five stations, evolutionary biologists explore the question of how changes in DNA facilitate the changes in a population over time. High-quality, colorful cards of animals, skeletons, skulls, and DNA sequences can all be...
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Evolution Work?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students pretend they are a scientist like John Endler in this Web activity. They visit his pools, from hypotheses, and test them out. In the process, the explore about natural selection and sexual selection. They are able to explain the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Evolution and Antibiotic Resistance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance in such menacing diseases as tuberculosis and influenza. They take on the role of staff at a public health agency who are trying to communicate the problem to the public.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Fossil Evidence for Evolution

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore how scientists use fossils to explore how various species have evolved over time.  In this fossil instructional activity students study how to date fossils. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Diversity/Natural Selection

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine mechanisms behind biological evolution and the theories that feed it, and are able to demonstrate their knowledge of these theories in a story.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Whose "Truth" Is Out There?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read article It's a Fact: Faith and Theory Collide Over Evolution, and examine different ways people arrive at what 'the truth' is, focusing on the evolution vs creationism debate that has been a hot topic throughout the 20th...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You Have All the Answers

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the concept of theories in science while examining the theory of evolution. They conduct research and participate in a discussion about current issues in science culminating in the creation of question and answer pamphlets.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charles Darwin

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers research Charles Darwin and the process he used to develop his theory of evolution. They keep a journal about the skill of observation and make a newspaper of their learning.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Darwin's Obituary

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars read and analyze an obituary written for Charles Darwin. They are already familiar with Darwin and the theory of evolution. This is an introduction to evolution, or in fact, an introduction to biology.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lamarck Is Dead!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read Lamarck's obituary and respond to questions.Students can work individually or in small groups.This activity can be used at the beginning of an evolution unit.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What a Cosmic Web We Weave

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars explore, using journals and discussion in small groups, how the universe has evolved since the theoretical Big Bang and create dramatizations of various eras in cosmic evolution.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Darwin's Obituary

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read and analyze an obituary written for Charles Darwin. They make a list of facts about Darwin they learned from the obituary. Students compare Lamarack's theory to Darwin's.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Evolutionary Exchange

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students discuss the difference between designed and natural elements. After reading an article, they discover information about current controversies in evolutionary science. In groups, they research and write dialogues between two...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Darwinist Dogma?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students debate whether teachers should be mandated to present theories challenging evolution in their classrooms. For homework, they write letters to their local school board expressing their own opinions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

So You Think the World Evolves Around You?

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students examine the topic of evolution as it relates to biodiversity in various remote areas of the world. They watch videos, conduct Internet research, and in small groups create a digital video report to illustrate common evolution in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

They're more evolved that way

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the notion of local evolution, or genetic selectivity among different continent-based human populations. They consider specific examples of local evolution, such as lactose tolerance, skin color, and cognitive capacity,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rise and Fall of the Mammoths

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students develop an understanding of the evolution of species in the context of the woolly mammoth. They examine the fossil record to explain natural selection.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Selection and Variation in the Egyptian Origami Bird

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate genetics and evolution of species. They simulate the breeding of birds using origami birds. In addition, using dice they introduce genetic variation into the species.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time Conceptualization

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use this activity to establish a new mode of reference to the conceptualization of time. To present hominid evolution in terms of millions of years and endosymbiosis of eukaryotes in billions of years carries little meaning to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mimicry: An Example of Adaptation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

M & M Lab

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate how selection occurs in a random population. The concept is that selection affects evolution.They demonstrate how selection occurs and will analyze shifts in the populations. They design their conclusions with M...

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