In this lesson students compare differences in amino acids in the beta hemoglobin from representative primates, complete a matrix of those differences, and from these data, construct and interpret cladograms as they reflect relationships and timing of divergence. Full description.

In this lesson, students will learn that some evolutionary change is rapid and discontinuous, and some change is gradual; how fossil evidence can provide clues to the past; and how speciation may account for evolutionary branching and diversification. Fossil shells of a land snail are arranged by layers of age into a sequence pattern suggesting gradual change, or punctuated equilibria. Students will ... Full description.

This site introduces a group of dinosaurs called ornithischians. There were many kinds of ornithischian dinosaurs dating back to the early Jurassic. The Ornithopoda included the hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs), the iguanodontids, the heterodontosaurs, the hypsilophodontids, and various others. The Ceratopsia included the horned dinosaurs, while the Ankylosauria and Stegosauria (now usually grouped ... Full description.

In this lesson students will examine how evolution has been scientifically explained historically. In doing so, students will examine the arguments and theories set forth by three historically important scientists: Jean Baptiste Lamarck, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Charles Darwin. The purpose of this lesson, however, is not to begin to make comparisons, but simply to help students understand how arguments ... Full description.

The Ceratosauria represent the earliest theropod dinosaurs and indeed may include the ancestor to all later theropods. This site discusses the overall morphology and then goes into more detail for three examples: Ceratosaurus nasicornis, Dilophosaurus wetherilli, and Segisaurus halli. Full description.

This lesson explores various hypotheses concerning the extinction of the woolly mammoth. Students will explore a Web resource that presents various hypotheses about why the woolly mammoth became extinct, with a special focus on an infectious disease as the cause. As part of the lesson, students will read an online article about the extinction of the mammoths, which poses questions and possible answers ... Full description.

This module leads students to an understanding of changes in the Earth system that have created the present physical environment and the evolution of life, using a student based inquiry approach. It consists of three chapters: Astronomy, Climate Change, and Changing Life. The chapters lead students from an understanding of the formation of our planet and its role as a subsystem in a dynamic universe, ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 6-8. Students research three types of symbiotic relationships between organisms in nature: mutualism, commensalisms, and parasitism. They report their research findings and hypothesize about how symbiotic relationships might have evolved. Included are objectives, materials, procedures, discussion questions, evaluation ... Full description.

This lesson uses a series of nested plastic bags as a 3-dimensional Venn diagram to illustrate the hierarchical grouping of organisms based on their shared derived characters, thus forming the basis of a cladogram. Students will learn that the groups-within-groups hierarchical pattern of Linnaean classification is a result of both extinction and branching from common descent. Full description.

This lesson demonstrates how natural selection operates, using different colored paper chips to represent prey and a piece of fabric as a background (the environment). The predator (student) will hunt (select chips) to show that the best adapted, by color, are NOT chosen, and others which are poorly adapted (by standing out) ARE chosen (removed). Thus, the best adapted survive and reproduce to pass ... Full description.