1. Big Idea 1: Evolution

2. Essential Questions
What role does evolution play in the organization of living things?
What evidence supports our current models of the origin of life?
How does the process of evolution drive diversity and the unity of life?
How does life evolve in changing environments?

3. Learning Objectives
Convert a data set from a table of numbers that reflect a change in the genetic makeup of a population over time and apply mathematical methods and conceptual understandings to investigate the causes and effects of this change
Evaluate evidence provided by data to qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the role of natural selection in evolution
Analyze data to support the claim that responses to information and communication of information affect natural selection
Apply mathematical methods to data from a real or simulated population to predict what will happen to the population in the future

4. Learning Objectives
Evaluate data-based evidence that describes evolutionary changes in the genetic makeup of a population over time
Evaluate evidence provided by data from many scientific disciplines that support biological evolution
Refine evidence based on data from many scientific disciplines that support biological evolution
Design a plan to answer scientific questions regarding how organisms have changed over time using information from morphology, biochemistry, and geology
Evaluate given data sets that illustrate evolution as an ongoing process

5. Learning Objectives
Connect scientific evidence from many scientific disciplines to support the modern concept of evolution
Construct and/or justify mathematical models, diagrams, or simulations that represent processes of biological evolution
Pose scientific questions about a group of organisms whose relatedness is described by a phylogenic tree in order to (1) identify shared characteristics, (2) make inferences about evolutionary history of the group, and (3) identify character data that could extend or improve the phylogenic tree

6. Learning Objectives
Construct explanations based on scientific evidence that homeostatic mechanisms reflect continuity due to common ancestry and/or divergence due to adaptation in different environments
Analyze data related to questions of speciation and extinction throughout Earth’s history
Justify the selection of data that addresses questions related to reproductive isolation and speciation
Describe speciation in an isolated population and connect it to a change in gene frequency, change in environment, natural selection, and/or genetic drift
Describe a model that represents evolution within a population

7. Day 1 Watch the video “What Darwin Never Knew”
Write down questions/interesting points you have as you watch

8. Day 2 (60 minutes) Required readings: Bozeman videos: Chapter 22, 23
There are 19 videos in the “Evolution” tab on that you should watch throughout this unit

9. Activity 1
Finish watching “What Darwin Never Knew”

10. Activity 2
Use the website (you can Google “Welcome to evolution 101”) to create a word map that organizes and connects evolutionary terms and concepts
Words to include (but are not limited to): adaptation, environment, natural selection, genetic variation, speciation, mutation, species, population
This will be useful to come back to throughout the unit
Time: 30 minutes

11. Day 3
Natural Selection
Artificial Selection

12. Activity 1 – Natural Selection
Work with a partner to complete the allele frequency lab
Complete the table on the handout
Complete the discussion questions on the back of the handout
Create another scenario with a different animal that has 2 different variations for a trait. What conditions would favour one trait over another?
Time: 45 minutes

13. Activity 2 – Artificial Selection
Describe the features or abilities of dogs for which humans might breed
Look at the “dog breeding example” – what traits match the example given? What other traits are important to consider? What traits are not important to consider?
You will be artificially selecting a new dog with certain traits by crossing 2 already existing dogs
Fill in the “ownership card” and “puppy traits” sheet
Each breeding pair will produce 3 puppies, and traits can be inherited from either the mother of father (use a coin to determine which traits are inherited)
Discuss the variation observed in the puppies
Display your findings in a picture

14. Day 4 Required Readings: Bozeman: Investigation #2 Chapter 23
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

15. Activity 1 Work through the sample model on excel
Create your own investigation:
What trait are you going to look at?
How many generations will you complete?
What allele frequencies will you use?
Complete a CERR write up for this investigation

16. CERR Write Up for Investigation #2
Claim – What is Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the principles behind it?
What are some facts behind the trait that you have decided to investigate? What is the % of it occurring in the real world?
Evidence – Calculations, graph, tables from your investigation
Reasoning – Why are you seeing what you do in your results?
How do the allele frequencies change over generations?
Why might this be?
Why do recessive traits stay in a population?
Relate back to Hardy-Weinberg
Rebuttal – Why don’t recessive traits disappear completely?
Why did a trait that had a low allele frequency not become a high frequency in the population?

17. Day 5
Required Readings:
Chapter 22

18. Activity 1 Read the excerpt of the article “Evolution of the Eye”
Support or refute the idea that the eye has changed due to natural selection
Provide 3 ideas to support your opinion
Provide an example of an animal that has changed over time by the process of natural selection
How has it changed specifically?
Propose a plan with scientific questions to test the theory of natural selection
Due – January 25
Time: 30 minutes

19. Activity 2 – Library
Use Berkley’s Understanding Evolution (Google “Evolution 101, we have used this site before) to explore the patterns in the diversity of life across the planet Earth
Connect evidence to help explain why organisms change over time
Interpret/analyze/manipulate the data presented to infer how evolution has affected different species
Time: 20 minutes

20. Activity 3 - Library Read the following articles:
4-evolution.html
0.html
Write an essay that explains how modern concepts of evolution are supported through natural selection
Due: January 25

21. Day 6 (60 min) Required readings:
e.htm
tic-resistance-of-bacteria

22. Activity 1
After reading the articles on the evolution of drug- resistant bacteria, explain the following:
How does the misuse of antibiotics affect the evolution of disease-causing bacteria?
Why should we care about a resistant strain of bacteria?
What are 5 common diseases caused by bacteria, and what would it mean if they became resistant to the antibiotic that treated it?
Time: 30 minutes

23. Activity 2
Quiz
When you finish, you can work on either of the 2 assignments due on Friday

24. Day 7
Required Readings
Chapter 26

25. Activity 1
How do we read this?

26. What does this show?

27. Activity 2 We are going to make cladograms from given information
Complete the “Making Cladograms” with a partner
Time: 45 minutes

28. Activity 3
Cladograms practice

29. Day 8 Required Readings: Bozeman Videos:
Investigation 3: Comparing DNA Sequences to Understand Evolutionary Relationships with BLAST
Bozeman Videos:
Investigation 3

30. Activity 1 Getting started Online Activities Time: 20 minutes
Complete #1, 2
Online Activities
Choose 1 of the online activities to complete to prepare for the lab
Time: 20 minutes

31. Activity 2 Complete steps 1-4 Analyzing results
#1-4
Evaluating results – compare your results with the other groups
Time: 40 minutes

32. Activity 3 Designing and Conducting Your Investigation
Create your own investigation using the example as a guide
Choose a starting question to base your investigation on
Time: 30 minutes

33. Day 9
Required Readings:
Chapter 24

34. Activity 1
Read the article “Speciation in Real Time” ( ation)
Split into 2 groups to answer the question “how can mating differences evolve in bird populations?”
Explain and analyze evidence from the article that suggests that the lineage is beginning to split
What do you think will happen with these bird populations in another 50 years? Explain
Time: 30 minutes

35. Activity 2 http://ats.doit.wisc.edu/biology/ev/sp/t1.htm
Using these two websites, follow and analyze speciation case studies in frogs and mosquitoes and the Florida panther
How does the extinction process occur? What are factors that contribute to a species’ extinction?
How do species affect disease vectors?
Is the Florida panther a unique species outside of other puma? Why or why not?
Time: 45 minutes

36. Activity 3
Choose a species that has evolved over time through speciation
Create a model to show how evolutionary speciation has occurred in your species
Describe the progression of evolutionary change and the circumstances that lead to a new species (think environmental factors, human influences, etc.)
Time: 20 minutes (complete as homework)

37. Day 10
Simulating the Darwinian Theory

38. Day 11 (60 min)
Evolution – Constant change and common threads lecture

39. Day 12
Unit test