Virtual Galápagos
Unit 4 Lesson 2: Adaptations, Natural Selection, and Evolution
Tortoise Curriculum Lesson Plan
LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
- Goal 1: Students will be able to understand and provide examples of adaptation.
- Goal 2: Students will be able to understand Natural Selection and describe an example of Natural Selection.
- Goal 3: Students will be able to understand and provide an example of evolution.
STANDARDS
Next Generation Science Standards
3-LS4-2: Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
3-LS3-1: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
- Survival: a living thing’s ability to stay alive
- Species: a group of living things that look similar to one another and can reproduce
- Trait: a physical characteristic of a living thing
- Offspring: the children of two living things
- Adaptation: change in traits that helps a living thing survive better in its environment
- Natural Selection: the process over time where traits that best help a living thing survive get passed down to their offspring
- Evolution: change in a population over time
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
- This lesson builds on Ancestry Lesson 1: DNA and Inheritance of Traits
ADVANCE PREP FOR TEACHER KNOWLEDGE
Living organisms vary in their traits, such as size, color, and beak shape. Some traits increase an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. These traits are inherited from parents and can become more common in a population over many generations.
For example, in a habitat where small seeds are abundant, birds with smaller beaks may feed more efficiently and produce more offspring. If environmental conditions change, such as increased rainfall leading to an increase in larger seeds, birds with larger beaks may be able to feed more successfully. Because they are more likely to survive and reproduce, they pass the genes associated with larger beaks to their offspring. Over time, the frequency of larger beaks in the population may increase.
This process is called natural selection. Natural selection occurs when individuals with traits that are advantageous in a particular environment survive and reproduce more successfully than individuals without those traits. As these advantageous traits become more common, populations change over generations. Such changes in populations are part of evolution, and natural selection is one of the primary mechanisms that drives evolutionary change.
Additional Resources:
MATERIALS AND SETUP
- Virtual Galápagos Ancestry Unit Interactive Game:
- Virtual Galápagos Fieldbook
- Beaks of Finches Lab materials:
- Tools to pick up beans or seeds such as chopsticks, tweezers, spoons, etc.
- Beans or seeds (one large size, one small size)
- Paper cups
- Paper plates
- Timer
- Moth Mystery extra materials:
LESSON SEQUENCE
ENGAGE
- Beak of the Finch activity introduces the concept of adaptation.
- This lab requires a variety of tools to be used to represent different beaks so that students can compare which beaks are best suited to pick up the larger and the smaller seeds. Thus, we suggest that groups of 4-6 students work together to complete the lab and compare their individual results. Another suggestion is to set up 1-2 stations for students to rotate through to complete the lab if there are not enough tools available for every student to do the lab simultaneously.
- Teachers should make clear to students that this is NOT a competition. It is an experiment to determine which RANDOMLY assigned beak(s) are the optimal beaks for picking up
- Teacher begins by instructing students to make predictions on the beginning page of the “Beaks of Finches Lab” in their field books.
- The teacher assigns each student a tool to pick up seeds/beans, such as spoons, chopsticks, tweezers, etc. Tools should be assigned rather than chosen to represent how traits (such as beak characteristics) are passed down from parents to offspring and not chosen.
- The teacher should pour the large beans/seeds on a paper plate (or another flat surface). Each student needs a cup to be used as their “stomach”. Then, the teacher or one student should set the timer for 30 seconds. Once the timer starts, students use their assigned tools to pick up as many beans or seeds ONE AT A TIME as possible and place them in their paper cups until the time runs out. Once the thirty seconds is up, each student counts how many beans are in their cup and writes down their number in the corresponding trial in the chart in their field book. Students repeat this process two more times, recording how many beans are in their cup each time.
- Next, clean up the big beans, and pour the small beans onto the paper plate. Each student continues to use THE SAME assigned tool. Set the timer for thirty seconds again for students to pick up as many of the small beans/seeds ONE AT A TIME and place them in their cups. Again, after each trial, students should record how many small beans/seeds they picked up each time.
- Lastly, students respond to the post-lab questions in their field books based on their observations and results from the lab. When responding to the post-lab questions, it is important that students analyze and compare the data from their own trials, as well as, from other students’ trials where a variety of different “beaks” (tools) were used to pick up the seeds.
EXPLORE
- The teacher will show the graphic of the two scenes with light and dark peppered moths and ask students to make observations about each image.
- Worksheet title: Moth Mystery
- Students can use the “Moth Mystery-Practice with CER” handout to help guide their thinking through the activity. The teacher can instruct students to do the process of Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) to come up with possible explanations as to why the moth population shifted from mostly light colored to dark colored.
- Note that the chart is labeled 1,3,2 from left to right on the page. This is intentional to help students connect their evidence to their claims using the middle reasoning column. Thus, it is set-up for the student to first make their claim, then add at least 3 pieces of evidence, and lastly move to the middle reasoning column where the student can reason how their evidence supports or fails to support their claim.
- From there, the teacher can briefly explain the image’s historical context of the industrial revolution and how it relates to the change in color in the moth population OR the teacher can show students the linked YouTube video: Story Time: A Very Special Moth.
- *Note: this part of the lesson does not have to be a comprehensive explanation of Natural Selection, adaptation, and evolution. It is intended to just prompt students to get curious about these processes and think about the processes within the content of a specific time and place in history. Additionally, you can choose any example image of Natural Selection from a general google search if you want an example other than the peppered moths.
EXPLAIN
- Students watch the Adaptations video and fill out the guided notes handout.
- A second version of the Adaptations Video Guided Notes that includes a Word Bank is provided.
- It is recommended that students are given time (~5 minutes) to discuss the handout and the video after watching it, in pairs or in small groups.
- Students watch the video transitioning to Natural Selection.
- Then, students watch the Natural Selection video.
- After, students respond to the Natural Selection questions on the handout and discuss (as a class, in small groups or with a partner).
- Worksheet title: Natural Selection Questions
ELABORATE
- Students explore the Natural Selection and Evolution Infographic by discussing and asking further questions.
- Students also have the opportunity to reflect on their learning, identifying points of confusion, things they understand, and questions they may have.
EVALUATE
- In small groups (preferably) or individually, students make creative works where they demonstrate what they have learned, connecting the processes of adaptation, Natural Selection, and evolution.
- Students are provided different options such as taking on the role of a news reporter, a musician creating a song, or a journalist writing an article about the processes of adaptation, Natural Selection, and evolution. Students are given a time limit up to the teacher’s discretion (suggested: 10-15 minutes) to make their creative work.
- Further, students are provided with a checklist on their student handout where they are prompted to incorporate each of the vocabulary words (adaptation, Natural Selection, and evolution), their definitions, and example situations of each of the processes. Students are given enabling time constraints depending on which creative work option they choose.
DIFFERENTIATION
- For the Beaks of Finches activity, students who are not able to carry out parts of the lab can work with a partner and take on roles they are able to do, such as being the data recorder/scribe while their partner picks up the beans.
- Pertaining to the creative work:
- It is an option to limit or assign one creative work option to students if they appear to be stuck due to too many choices. Additionally, teacher(s) and student(s) can brainstorm additional “enabling constraints” that frame and guide how the students present their learning before they begin. A good balance of freedom with enabling constraints helps students feel a sense of ownership and investment in their project.
- For students who are not comfortable performing their creative work in front of the class, the teacher can ask the student to write out their creative work and give it to just the teacher or other students to engage with. If students are non-speaking, the inclusion of props and/or whiteboards could be an option. Alternative forms of communication and expression are welcomed and can be incorporated.
ASSESSMENT
- Teachers can give students adequate time to return to their “My Scientific Field Notes: Ancestry” handout and follow the CER (claims, evidence, reasoning,and revision) guided thinking to work towards coming up with an answer to the ancestry module mystery question of “Are Becki and Tomás related?”
- Students can further reflect on their own learning by using the “comprehension, confusions, and curiosities” chart provided.
- Teachers can print out additional charts if wanted or use alternative student reflection tools. Then, teachers can collect students’ field books after each lesson in the module and assess their comprehension, confusions, and curiosities thus far.
This unit was designed by Regan Todd and Andrew Lass, and edited by Ava Wojtaszek and Sarah Jekel.
You can download the lesson plan here:
Virtual Galápagos
virtualgalapagos.colgate.edu
