Evolution Notes Mrs. Painter

Cube investigation Form a group of three or four with nearby students Without touching, opening, moving the cube, come up with questions about the cube. Let’s focus on one question_______

What is on the bottom of the cube? What number is it, why do you think so? Is it shaded or not shaded? Why do you think this? What does this have to do with science? What in the world does this have to do with evolution?

Footprints You need a piece of paper: I will be showing you three different scenes. For each scene Write the letter (A, B or C) then the following: Observation: Inference: Please do not share your observations or inferences

Glossary of Terms About the Nature of Science Fact: In science, an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed. Law: A descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstances. Hypothesis: A testable statement about the natural world that can be used to build more complex inferences and explanations. Theory: In science, a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses.

Are you listening? Stand up Turn to your elbow partner Person A-describe the difference between a hypothesis and a theory Person B-listen to person A and repeat back to them what they described Look at the terms and evaluate what you described

Change Across Time Others can be large and take a very long time: The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed many astronomical phenomena that ground-based telescopes cannot see. The images show disks of matter around young stars that could give rise to planets. The world around us changes Some changes are small and appear quickly like the change of pond after a rainstorm

Biological Change More than 99 percent of the species that have ever lived on the earth are now extinct, either because all of the members of the species died, the species evolved into a new species, or it split into two or more new species.

What is evolution? Evolution in the broadest sense explains that what we see today is different from what existed in the past. Galaxies, stars, the solar system, and earth have changed through time, and so has life on earth. Biological evolution concerns changes in living things during the history of life on earth. It explains that living things share common ancestors. Over time, evolutionary change gives rise to new species. Darwin called this process "descent with modification," and it remains a good definition of biological evolution today.

Do you understand? Stand up, turn to your elbow partner Person B--Explain Evolution in the context of a scientific explanation Person A-Listen to person B – add or explain anything you think person B should have included

Is evolution a fact or a theory? The theory of evolution explains how life on earth has changed. In scientific terms, "theory" does not mean "guess" or "hunch" as it does in everyday usage. Scientific theories are explanations of natural phenomena built up logically from testable observations and hypotheses. Biological evolution is the best scientific explanation we have for the enormous range of observations about the living world. Why isn't evolution called a law? Laws are generalizations that describe phenomena, whereas theories explain phenomena. For example, the laws of thermodynamics describe what will happen under certain circumstances; thermodynamics theories explain why these events occur. Laws, like facts and theories, can change with better data. But theories do not develop into laws with the accumulation of evidence. Rather, theories are the goal of science.

Glossary of Terms Used when talking About Evolution Evolution: Change in the hereditary characteristics of groups of organisms over the course of generations. (Darwin referred to this process as "descent with modification.") Species: In general, a group of organisms that can potentially breed with each other to produce fertile offspring and cannot breed with the members of other such groups. Variation: Genetically determined differences in the characteristics of members of the same species. Natural selection: Greater reproductive success among particular members of a species arising from genetically determined characteristics that confer an advantage in a particular environment.

History of Evolution studies