Unit 8 Evolution and Biodiversity
Essential ideas
- There is overwhelming evidence for the evolution of life on Earth.
- The diversity of life has evolved and continues to evolve by natural selection.
- Species are named and classified using an internationally agreed system.
- The ancestry of groups of species can be deduced by comparing their base or amino acid sequences.
The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus originally invented the binomial system to help him consistently name plants he identified. The system was eventually adopted by other scientists and remains to the accepted naming system for species. Though species may have many common names to avoid confusion scientists always use the (scientific) binomial name.
Content |
Core Resources |
Support Material |
Evidence for evolution What is the evidence which supports the theory of evolution? In what ways can science provide evidence for a process which takes millions of years? Complete Kognity 5.1 |
This is the complete ppt guide for this section:
2. Introduction to evolution Complete this activity to illustrate how how evolution could lead to a gradual accumulation of differences in the average beak length of a species of birds 3. Illustration of evolution activity Here is a quick review of evidence for evolution: 4. Summary slides evidence for evolution |
Weblinks
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Natural Selection To understand how natural selection leads to evolution it is important to know about variation and overproduction of offspring. These two concepts are the key to understanding evolution. Complete Kognity section 5.2 |
This is the complete ppt guide for this section: 5. (5.2) Natural selection Mutation, meiosis and sexual reproduction cause variation between individuals in a species because they lead to a different set of alleles in each offspring. Offspring keep these genes and the same characteristics for the whole of their life but some individuals are better adapted, and reproduce more successfully. How much variation is there in natural populations? Do all populations show variation in their features? View the images on the ppt and then complete the worksheet on variation 6. Variation images ppt 7. Varation worksheet There are many examples of organisms which produce far more offspring that the environment could ever support. Humans may be considered one example, many fish species lay millions of eggs at one time, though only a fraction of those survive. Sea turtles can lay anywhere from 70 to 190 eggs at a time, though only about one out of 100 typically survive. Why do organisms invest such a lot of energy into reproduction. Complete the following worksheet to understand how common overproduction of offspring is: 8. Overproduction of offspring 9. Adaptive radiation activity |
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Classification and Biodiversity |
This is the complete ppt guide for this section: 10. (5.3) Classification and Biodiversity Introduction to classification 11. Why we classify ppt 12. Classification of species cards Use the following worksheet and fill in as you work through this QUIZLET the characteristics of the plant phyla: 13. Features of the plant phyla worksheet You need to also know the animal kingdom so first complete the features of the animal phylums on the worksheet: 14. Identification of the animal phyla
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What IS Evolution? |
Watch the following introduction:Working as a CDC researcher, you will now investigate an outbreak of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections and determine how evolution was involved by tracing the source and cause of the outbreak. Go to Explorelearning and open the stem case Evolution. Work through at your own pace. |
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Gene pools and speciation |
Intro videoComplete the activity to explore gene pools using the pepper moth 13. Gene pools Watch this video on the evolution of polyploidy Answer the following questions:
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Cladistics |
What is a clade? How can we explain analogous and homologous traits using cladograms? What do we need to know about cladograms? 14. (5.4) Cladistics 15. Edible cladistics an introduction 16. Biscuit cladistics 17. Building cladogram questions 18. Examples of cladograms Complete this website as you move through the ppt 19. Example Cladogram questions |