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Evolution

Driving Question: How did the evolution of life on Earth increase complexity?

Life first appeared on Earth 3.8 billion years ago, and it’s been evolving ever since. But guess what? Our understanding of evolution has evolved, too!

Learning Objectives:

  1. Define and explain adaptation and evolution.
  2. Evaluate how Earth has impacted the characteristics and distribution of life.
  3. Use evidence to test claims about life on Earth.

Vocab Terms:

  • adaptation
  • DNA
  • evolution
  • gene
  • mutation
  • RNA
  • species
STEP 1

Opener: Evolution

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 2 of the Lesson 3.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Check out the OER Project Reading Guide to learn more about why we love using infographics in our courses.

STEP 2

The Instructions for Life

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 3 of the Lesson 3.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Want to see some different directions teachers have taken the Invent a Species activity. Check out this post External link and this post External link !

OK, so you know that life evolves in response to the challenges of its environment. We’ll use that knowledge to explore how those adaptations happen, and then it’s time to invent your own species.

What Is DNA? External link

The instructions for life are held within our DNA, but how does it work?

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 3

Earth, Life, and Evolution

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 5 of the Lesson 3.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Looking to differentiate, modify or adapt these activities? Check out our Differentiation Guide Locked .

This blog External link highlights the importance of using maps in social studies instruction.

Search for answers as you listen to this podcast clip and use your knowledge to figure out how plate tectonics might hold the key to answering this question.

"Unknowns" Podcast Episode 3 Clip External link

Listen in as paleontologist Michael Archer and David Christian, founder of Big History, discuss the connection between geography and the evolution of life on Earth.
STEP 4

Closer: Evolution

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 5 of the Lesson 3.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Want to provide feedback to your students about the quality of their claims. Check out the BHP Claim Testing Feedback Form. .

Extension Materials
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Humanity has searched for the secret of immortality since our very beginnings. But most people don’t know that in 1955, we sort of found it. Read this graphic biography to learn how.
...

An Immortal Legacy

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 6 of the Lesson 3.3 Teaching Guide Locked .

Henrietta Lacks’s immortal cells made incredible contributions to science, but she didn’t receive credit for her role in these discoveries until recently.