Module 4 Intro

Module 4—Mechanisms of Population Change

Reflect and Connect

 

A student is on holiday and will be away for Lesson 3. Create a summary for the student so he or she can quickly catch up without missing important information. The summary can be visual, text-based, or a combination of the two. Your review may be in audio form, written, electronic, or video. It should review all the evidence for evolution learned about this lesson.

 

This is a part of your Lesson 3 Assignment. You will also be able to use this summary in the future as a reference and to help you study.

Reflect on the Big Picture

 

Module Project

 

You have now explored different types of evidence for evolution. Now you can build this new knowledge into your game, play, or podcast. Maybe you want game players to collect bones as they travel around the board, as they build a fossil skeleton, or as they find a transitional fossil.

 

Will your players be quizzed on analogous structures? Or maybe they need to collect pieces of DNA to compare evolutionary lineages. Will your play include props? Maybe a fossil skeleton would create an interesting dialogue about evolution. Imagine what Darwin would say today had he known about genetics and DNA!

 

You may use all, some, or none of the noted ideas from the first three lessons in your Module Project, but it is now time to continue working on it.

1. You should now have enough information to answer the essential questions from the first three lessons. Jot down notes to answer these questions.
   
   
   • How do mutations create species variability?
   • Why is sexual reproduction important to the process of evolution?
   • How do theories explaining evolutionary change compare?
   • What theories are the foundation of modern evolutionary change ideas?
   • What proof is there that present-day species evolved from ancestral forms?
     
     
2. Brainstorm ways that this information could be in your game, play, or podcast. Talk to other students about their ideas if you need some help.
   
   
3. Look back at the project work you placed in your course folder in Lesson 2.
   
   
4. Continue creating your game rules/setup or the plot outline for your play.
   
   
5. Place what you have completed in your course folder to continue working with in the next lesson.

Discuss

 

Is the evidence for evolution discussed in this lesson enough to prove to you that evolution occurs? If not, what further evidence do you need? If it is enough evidence, what piece of evidence stood out for you? What area of evidence would you like to explore in more depth? Create a response to these questions, and post your response in the discussion area.

 

Going Beyond

 

 

The organism shown here is unique to the Burgess Shale. Some fossils in the shale have never been found anywhere else in the world. Work collaboratively with students in your class to do some research to find out what unique and interesting fossils have been found in the Burgess Shale. What have scientists learned from these fossils? Why is the Burgess Shale a protected area? Post your information in the discussion area. Create a poster or written summary of the information posted. This may be completed as a group.

 

Module 4: Lesson 3 Assignment

 

Remember to submit the Assignment answers to your teacher as part of your Module 4: Lesson 3 Assignment.

 

Biology 20 © 2008 Alberta Education