Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Did Humans Evolve?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students complete an online activity in which they examine fossils to find possible hominid family trees.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Dinosaurs

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Young scholars discuss that scientists have theories about what dinosaurs were like but are unsure because they are no longer living. In this dinosaur research instructional activity, students examine how scientists use evidence to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Steppin' Out: Using Inquiry to Challente Alexander's Stride Analysis

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students distinguish between walking, jogging and running trackways in humans. They analyze the phylogenetic progression of the leg position as described by pace width and angulation, comparing amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Research...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What about Continental Drift?

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders research the Continental Drift by researching for evidence of continental movement. The teaching explains the theory of plate tectonics and the Earth's magnetic field. They conclude the lesson by watching the video of "In...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Populations – The Survival of the Fittest (Part 1)

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explain in their own words why organisms live together. For this biology lesson, students model what happens to organisms if their environment changes. They explain the importance of evolution.
Lesson Plan
NASA

What’s the Problem with Isotropy?

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Some patterns are so small, we can't see them without the help of technology. The same is true for cosmic microwave background radiation. During this activity and discussion, scholars examine both anisotropic and isotropic items and...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Gravitational Waves

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Young scientists participate in a hands-on experiment to explore Einstein's theory of relativity in a creative manner. They investigate various waves and compare their characteristics as they discuss how each wave is created....
Lesson Plan
NASA

Science Fiction Story

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
A instructional activity allows you to go back in time and see the big bang actually happen. Bazinga! In reality, pupils research the Big Bang Theory and theorize what it would be like to go back in time and see it happen....
Lesson Plan
Historical Thinking Matters

Scopes Trial: 1 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Why did many Tennesseeans support the 1925 Butler Act, which forbade the teaching of evolution? Using several primary source documents and a brief video clip, your young historians will draw connections between the broader historical...
Lesson Plan
Historical Thinking Matters

Scopes Trial: 3 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Was the Scopes trial more complicated than a simple debate between evolutionists and creationists? As part of a structured academic controversy (SAC) activity, pupils consider multiple perspectives of the Butler Act and engage in close...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Physiological Adaptations

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

Becoming Whales: Experiencing Discoveries of

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students experience, through a "dig," the historical discovery of fossils which increasingly link whales to earlier land-dwelling mammals. They encounter the intermediate forms which show changes that lead to the modern whale.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Studying Fossils: Hominoid Skull Comparison

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers collect data on the differences in Hominid skulls using acrylic casts of fossil skulls. They measure a series of structures on skulls from six different species then use the data to determine evolutionary relationships...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Natural Selection.... a Cumulative Process... it's in the cards!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners working in pairs attempt to produce a full sequence of 13 cards of one suit (ace - to king). This must be done by shuffling the suit of cards for each round, then checking the cards.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clipbirds

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students attempt to pick up various objects with a wide variety of beaks, including scissors, spoons, etc.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Survival of the Fittest – Battling Beetles

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

Gene Switches- A Model

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore genetic variation within a population. In this genetic adaptation instructional activity, students investigate the reasons contributing to genetic adaptation. Students collaborate and analyze DNA models. Multiple...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to Natural Selection

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students develop an understanding of natural selection, specifically, how it unfolds from generation to generation. They work in small groups to perform an experiment using beans. They use a worksheet imbedded in this plan to guide their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Cladograms

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students construct cladograms (evolutionary trees), showing how shared derived characters can be used to reveal degrees of relationship. They interpret and analyze cladograms, and determine where unclassified vertebrates would fit on a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Fossil Find - Reconstructing the Pieces

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

The Natural Selection of Bean Hunters

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Young scholars, in groups, hunt for beans placed in the lawn. Each group uses a different tool (hand, spoon, fork, etc.) and there are three different colors of beens.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Chips Are Down: A Natural Selection Simulation

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students, in teams, use different colored paper chips to represent prey and a piece of fabric as the environment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating Evolutionary Questions: Bats, Whales, Reptiles, Birds, Animal Classification

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Students are guided through a process in which three questions are addressed by retrieving beta hemoglobin sequences from online databases, and using online tools to compare those sequences in student-selected animals.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Examining the Fossil Record

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...

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