Learning+Experience+6+Variation…Adaptation…Evolution

Objectives **
 * Learning Experience 6: Variation…Adaptation…Evolution **
 * Students determine how structure is related to function in objects and organisms
 * Students explain how organisms can be categorized into different groups
 * Students explain Darwin’s theory of natural selection, and compare theories of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium
 * Students explore the random nature of variations, which, in conjunction with the environment, provides the basis for natural selection


 * Driving Questions **
 * How did such a variety of organisms come about, and why did multitude of other organisms become extinct?

>> Chapter Two: The Evidence For Biological Evolution pages 17-35. >> 1. Many areas of science have produced support for biological evolution. >> 2. The origins of the universe, our galaxy, and our solar system produced the conditions necessary for the evolution of life on Earth. >> 3. Radiometric Dating >> 4. Living things appeared in the first billion years of Earth’s history. >> 5. The fossil record provides extensive evidence documenting the occurrence of evolution. >> 6. Common structures and behaviors often demonstrate that species have evolved from common ancestors. >> 7. Evolution accounts for the geographic distribution of many plants and animals. Processing for Meaning **
 * Experimenting and Investigating **
 * Skip:
 * What is this anyway?
 * Collectors Classify
 * The Evolving Understanding of Evolution: A First Look
 * o Came, I Saw, I Inferred
 * The Beak of the Finch
 * Analysis p549 #1-4
 * Readings on Evolution from **Evolution, Science, and Creationism** NAP
 * Students discuss how random variations accumulate in a population, and that only variations allowing adaptation to an environment will be selected for in that environment.