Evolution Unit Outline

HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY

ENDURING KNOWLEDGE FOR EVOLUTION

Statement of Enduring Knowledge

Overarching Questions

  • From where did life come?
  • What determines the creation and survival of species?
  • What is the difference between scientific theory and fact?

Background Information

Students will view evolution as the central unifying theme of biology. Students will be able to construct arguments supporting the modern theory of evolution that include molecular, fossil, and physiological evidence for evolution. The raw material for evolution is variation, which originates in biochemical differences. The expression of these biochemical differences results in variation between individuals within populations. Some variations better adapt an organism to its environment than others. Both artificial and natural selection act upon these variations; thus, species evolve over time.

Many diverse studies and experiments have yielded indirect evidence that life originated under conditions that presumably existed on the early Earth. The great diversity of organisms is the result of more than 3.5 billion years of evolution that has filled every niche with life forms. The millions of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms that live on Earth today are related by descent from common ancestors. Biological classifications are based on how organisms are related. Organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities which reflect their evolutionary relationships.

Students will understand the nature of scientific theory in general as well as the historical context of evolutionary theory in particular. This knowledge will allow students to judge the opposition that has come from people whose beliefs are in conflict with modern evolutionary theory.

REVIEW OUTLINE FOR EVOLUTION UNIT ASSESSMENT

Vocabulary

natural selectiongradualismvariation

artificial selectionvestigialmutation

radioactive datingextinctiongel electrophoresis

homologous structureclassificationtaxonomy

analogous structureprokaryoteeukaryote

absolute datingrelative datinghalf-life

punctuated equilibriumprimateape

convergencedivergencecoevolution

adaptive radiationpopulationvariety

genetic driftacquired characteristicsembryology

genetic recombinationgene poolfossil

transitional fossilevolutionprimitive

paleontologyHominidGenus Homo

Genus Australopithecusdirectional selection

Unit Outline

I.Charles Darwin
  1. Five-year voyage on the H. M. S. Beagle
  2. Galapagos Islands – Finches and other observations
  3. Natural Selection (mechanism)
  4. Prediction of transitional fossils

II.Earth’s History

  1. Pre-historic condition of the atmosphere
  2. Miller-Urey experiment
  3. Fossil record (emphasize horse)
  4. Human Evolution
  5. Methods of dating (relative, absolute, radioactive)

III.Natural Selection

  1. Not all offspring survive
  2. Variations exist naturally in a population
  3. Organisms with advantageous traits survive and live to reproduce
  4. Causes of new gene combinations (mutation, genetic recombination)
  5. Peppered moth observations (Kettlewell)
  6. Effects of environmental change (adaptation, migration, extinction)

IV.Evolutionary Relationships

  1. Prokaryotes vs. Eukaryotes
  2. Categories of classification (relatedness of species)
  3. Anatomy (analogous/homologous/vestigial structures)
  4. Embryological similarities
  5. Biochemical similarities

V.Evolutionary Events and Evidence to Support Evolution

  1. Divergence
  2. Convergence
  3. Coevolution
  4. Adaptive radiation
  5. Extinction
  6. Gel electrophoresis (DNA and protein similarities)
  7. Fossils and geographic relationships

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BCPS Summer 2003