Summary: The theory of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of living things and is supported by a range of scientific evidence.
Evolution
“describe scientific evidence that present-day organisms have evolved from organisms in the past”
Notes
| Activity/Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
Fossil Record and Age of the Earth
“relate the fossil record to the age of the Earth and the time over which life has been evolving”
Notes
| Activity/Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| [Practical] Timeline | Overall as a class, students construct an accurate timeline of the Earth’s history This could be a multi-lesson task that requires students to do research/collect images etc. Should divide this task into groups, since the timeline is very long (~4.5 billion years); ideally, want an accurate-ish scale (physical timeline could span a few metres) Particularly within the last billion years, students may need to ‘zoom in’ (to make room for more events) Key events: earliest life (single-cell); photosynthesis; eukaryotes; multicellular life (fungi, plants, animal); Cambrian Explosion |
| [Discussion] Misconceptions | Ask students to debate how old the Earth is (without searching it up) Can provide facts or observations to support discussion, e.g. the observable universe is ~13.8 billion years; how long ago was the dinosaurs?; how long would it take to make certain landforms (Related to Earth & Space): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hills (oldest material of terrestrial origin found to date) |
| [Practical] Model | Students construct a model/diagram to observe and compare the structure of a range of observable forelimbs |
| [Research] Humans | Students research/identify examples of vestigial organs/structures in humans |
Natural Selection
“explain, using examples, how natural selection relates to changes in a population, eg in the development of resistance of bacteria to antibiotics and insects to pesticides”
“outline the roles of genes and environmental factors in the survival of organisms in a population”
Notes
| Activity/Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| [Research] Modern Examples | Students can research modern examples of natural selection, e.g. Peppered moths and air pollution, Insects and DDT resistance, Rabbits and resistance to calicivirus/myxomatosis |
| [Video] Simulating Natural Selection | Primer. (2018). Simulating natural selection [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZGbIKd0XrM |
| [Video] Why do Things Exist? | Primer. (2018). Why do things exist? Setting the stage for evolution [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDvzbBRiNlA |
| [Video] Forest of Friendship | Veritasium. (2014). Forest of friendship, baggage carousel of jerks [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zShHRkwSoI In summary: For trees, being taller is costly (more material, more stress, more difficult to transport water, etc.); but if a tree is shorter than all of its surrounding trees, it will not have access to the sun (and will die) – ‘taller’ trees (and subsequent generations) are at an advantage, up until the point where the costs are equal to the possible benefits (see video for more details) |
*Will continue adding/refining ideas here over time.
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