Videos: The evolution of the peppered moth
The evolution of the hummingbird
For many years, a number of studies has been made by scientists and biologists following Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection. The following videos show the evolution of the peppered moth and the hummingbird. These videos show easy ways to understand how creatures can evolve over a period of time to adapt to their environment.
Learn how the dark-colored moths lived and flourished, and how the hummingbirds eventually got their long bills. Evolution through natural selection is an amazing topic, and these videos provide clear, and simple explanations using the peppered moth and the hummingbird as examples.
Using both of the above video clips, students will work in groups to identify and explain the similarities and differences of the evolution of the peppered moth, and the hummingbird. They will use a venn diagram in organizing their ideas.
They will also create their theory on how a particular animal of their choice can evolve 20 or more years from now. They will create images of that particular animal, how they look like today, and how they think they will look like in the future. Students will identify or create environmental forces that can force their chosen animal to change or evolve. They will create their own book that contains all of these information.
Beast636. (2009). Evolution of the Peppered Moth. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyRA807djLc
jo3y2fly. (2011). How Does Evolution Really Work? A Natural Selection. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgIm6i-Olc4
Website: Survival of the Fittest
This website has an interactive game for students in learning about evolution. It has an introduction to natural selection, and a survival game where students can create theoretical species that can survive a million years based on Darwin's rule of natural selection. It is a fun way to study about evolution.
After exploring this site, students can write a descriptive narrative about the theoretical species they created using the interactive game. They will describe the physical and adaptive characteristics of their species, their environment, and how they can or cannot survive a million years.
Trade book:
Based on the review by professor Gerald Skoog posted November 21, 2005 on the NSTA website, this trade book emphasizes the power of evolution in explaining the nature and history of life. It is written for high school students and has a high density of informative illustrations, photos, and graphs, which interact with the text. Relevant questions are embedded in the text, and key ideas, quotes of scientists, referrals to information and activities are on an accompanying CD-Rom and teacher guide. Prompts for student actions are placed in the margins. Anyone searching for a book that depicts evolution and the nature of science in an understandable and informed way should access this book.
The students can use this book as one of the resources in writing an expository essay about the theory of evolution and natural selection.
Corporate Author. ( 2005). The Nature of Science and the Study of Biological Evolution. NSTA Press
Article:
This article from Science Daily reveals very recent findings on how insects can affect the plants' evolution through natural selection. It is a very informative article that proves of evolution as a continuous process, as scientists still discover different kinds of species changing to adapt to their environment.
Students will read this article in groups of four, assigning specific paragraph or paragraphs to each member. Each student will take note of the important points in their assigned part of the text. The group will discuss each other's work, and will come up with a summary of the article.
University of Toronto. (2012, October 4). Insects a Prime Driver in Plant Evolution and Diversity. Science Daily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121004141745.htm
The videos about the moths and hummingbird are interesting - especially the moth one. I like that they are short, and the narration is clear and not fast.
ReplyDeleteI also like the fact the the article you chose is easily accessible. I was a bit skeptical about it being on Wikipedia, but I saw many sources for its information, which lessened my suspicion.
That's exactly the reason why I chose the article on Wikipedia. There are tons of links to more related information. When I found the moths and hummingbird videos, I thought they are too useful and interesting not to use as resources for my students.
ReplyDeleteI have to replace the Wikipedia article with a more simple and interesting one. Feedback is we cannot use a wikipedia article here which I agree after being able to search for other articles.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed both video clips. They are brief, but comprehensive looks at evolution. I also really like how you plan to assess your students after they view these clips. Having students imagine how a particular animal will evolve allows them to be really creative and truly use their imagination as well as actual facts. This blog has a variety of age-appropriate material that really shows us that science is fun!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the evolution website. It's going to give a students a way to apply what they have learned and see it in action. I especially like the activity that you have selected for them - creating their own species! This is a very creative way to get students involved and I like that the website that you picked is very interactive.
ReplyDelete