EVOLUTION

CULMINATING PROJECT
TH
DUE: MAY 16
You can turn it in as early as May 12th
Conceptual Framework:

The unit on evolution will contain inquiry based lessons on natural selection. Students will be able to
familiarize themselves with the nature of a competitive environment via scientific investigation. From lab
investigations and inquiry based lessons, students will take away some introductory knowledge on variation of
traits and experience evolution first hand. In succession, students will then be exposed to information on the
environment and consequentially inevitable environmental pressures.

Certain environmental factors cause different genotype frequencies to occur. This is a result of the
changes that occur to phenotypes when an organism adapts to the environmental pressures. Students will be
able to identify crucial environmental factors causing genotype frequencies to change.

Now students begin to make a connection that environmental pressures will cause genetic variation over
time. Based on this, students will evaluate the big picture of evolution and how it has been occurring for many
years. They will be introduced to the concept that a changing or competitive environment can allow certain
genotypes to be more successful than others. They will begin this discovery by investigating the idea of
artificial selection, which is the idea that humans can breed animals to be similar to each other by selecting for
certain phenotypes. They will make the connection that the artificial selection that occurs is related to
phenotype, which then goes back and relates to genotype.

After mastering the concept of artificial selection, students will be asked to use the same ideas to view
natural environments. Even though people are not selectively choosing which animals mate together, the
environments that the animals live in can allow certain phenotypes, and therefore certain genotypes, to survive
and  reproduce  more  successfully  than  other  phenotypes.  To  introduce  Darwin’s  theory  of  finches,  the  students  
will  evaluate  Darwin’s  discovery by focusing on the beaks of birds and how it relates to their success in finding
food.

From these sets of data that the students create, they might realize that there are gaps in their models.
Certain species may have gone extinct along the way. We will discuss the major extinction episodes over
Earth’s  history  and  the  leading  theories  for  why  those  extinctions  occurred.  Students  will  also  be  introduced  to  
the idea that species are currently going extinct because of the conditions of the environment that are either
natural or because of humans. Fossil records will be used so that students can see that there is some proof or
evidence of evolution occurring and that there has been evidence of species in the past that do not exist today.
Culminating Task:
The  culminating  task  for  our  unit  will  be  a  “book”  that  each  student  will  produce.    The  book  will  be  
centered around a fictitious organism that will be the creation of the student and how that organism reacts to a
series of scenarios posed to the student. These scenarios will be distinct tasks completed separately throughout
the unit and will then be compiled and presented to the class as the culminating task. It will assess California
State Standards 3.a, 3.b, 3.c, 3.d and 3.e.

The first task  will  be  the  creation  of  the  student’s  organism.    Each  student  will  be  given  a  choice  of  
environments and will they will then design an organism that is ideally suited to surviving in that environment.
This will reinforce the idea of adaptation and environmental pressure. At this time the student will also start a
glossary of terms relating to evolution which will be added on to with each task. The second task will ask the
students to think about who the ancestors of the organism were. The student will illustrate an example of a
fossil of an ancestor and write an explanation of why it is that the ancestors died out and how their descendants
have  evolved  to  be  better  suited  to  today’s  environment.    This  will  address  fossil  records  as  evidence  and  
extinction in general. Task three will be to give the student a scenario specific to the environment they
originally chose. The teacher will choose the way in which the environment changes for each environment. In
this scenario the environment will change and the student will be asked to explain in writing what effect this
change is or will have on their organism. They will be required to explain how it is that their animal can
overcome this change and what would happen over time to the species. This task will allow the students to
understand variation, natural selection and environmental pressures influencing genotypes and phenotypes.
Task four will be to have the students imagine that some of their organism are captured and bred for
domestication. The student will then illustrate the resulting species and compare/contrast the domesticated
version to the wild version. This task will focus on artificial selection and how it differs from natural selection.

In  compiling  the  “book”  the  students  will  create a cover page, table of contents, include their complete glossary
and  have  a  back  page.    The  students  will  receive  a  grade  based  on  the  neatness  of  the  “book”,  its  completeness  
and the quality of its sections. The students will also present their creation to the class and explain how their
organism did in one of the tasks. Students will receive their presentation grade based on their presentation
grade based on their overall presentation and also how well they handle themselves during other presentations.
They will receive a separate presentation grade based on participation and behavior during other presentations.

The materials needed for this culminating task are: sufficient quantities of colored pencils, crayons, markers,
rulers, scissors, drawing paper and construction paper. It requires the use of a hole punch and brads for the
compiling of the sections. It will require graphic organizers and mind maps and a checklist for the students that
they can use as we work towards to the completion of the assignment. It requires a means of storing the
students  completed  tasks  until  such  time  as  the  “book”  is  being  finished.    It  will  require  text  books,  other  media  
and pens and pencils. Well thought out! Good development and ties in nicely to previous class work.

Grading Rubric for Evolution Story Book

 4 3 2 1
Cover Page and Table Cover Page has name, Cover page is missing Cover page is missing Cover page is missing
of Contents: period, and title of the one of the following more than one or not enough info is
book. Well colored and components: name, component: name, title, provided. Little to no
good presentation. title, or period. Not or period. Some color, effort shown, no color,
Includes title of each of fully colored, decent average presentation. bad presentation.
the 6 topics, has correct presentation. Includes some Includes little to no
page numbers for Includes fragments of information about each information about the
topics, good one or more title or title, page numbers are titles, no page numbers,
presentation. page numbers are not not correct, average poor presentation.
correct, decent presentation.
presentation.
Animal Creation Information is accurate Information is almost Information is only half Information is not
Page: and complete. Pictures all accurate, but not accurate and accurate and
explain the information, quite complete. Pictures incomplete. Pictures incomplete. No pictures
are helpful and explain the information. kind of explain the or pictures are hard to
recognizable. Well Colored and okay information. Semi- decipher information.
colored and good presentation. colored and average Little to no color and
presentation. presentation. poor presentation.
Genetic Variation and Information is accurate Information is almost Information is only half Information is not
Artificial Selection and complete. Pictures all accurate, but not accurate and accurate and
Page: explain the information, quite complete. Pictures incomplete. Pictures incomplete. No pictures
are helpful and explain the information. kind of explain the or pictures are hard to
recognizable. Well Colored and okay information. Semi- decipher information.
colored and good presentation. colored and average Little to no color and
presentation. presentation. poor presentation.
Natural Selection Information is accurate Information is almost Information is only half Information is not
Page: and complete. Pictures all accurate, but not accurate and accurate and
explain the information, quite complete. Pictures incomplete. Pictures incomplete. No pictures
are helpful and explain the information. kind of explain the or pictures are hard to
recognizable. Well Colored and okay information. Semi- decipher information.
colored and good presentation. colored and average Little to no color and
presentation. presentation. poor presentation.
Extinction and Fossil Information is accurate Information is almost Information is only half Information is not
Records Page: and complete. Pictures all accurate, but not accurate and accurate and
explain the information, quite complete. Pictures incomplete. Pictures incomplete. No pictures
are helpful and explain the information. kind of explain the or pictures are hard to
recognizable. Well Colored and okay information. Semi- decipher information.
colored and good presentation. colored and average Little to no color and
presentation. presentation. poor presentation.
Glossary: Glossary is complete Glossary has only a Glossary has only a Glossary has only a few
with 10 words about max of 8 words about max of 5 words about words that are not in
evolution. Each word is evolution. Each word is evolution. Each word is alphabetical order and
in alphabetical order in alphabetical order not in alphabetical order the definitions are very
and has a definition. and has a definition and definitions are incomplete.
incomplete

Overall Presentation: Excellent overall Good overall Average overall effort. Poor overall effort. It is
presentation. It is presentation. It is It is evident that the evident that the student
evident that the student evident that the student student rushed through put very little time and
put a lot of time and put a good amount of the assignment and the effort into the
effort into the project. time into the project. presentation is average assignment. Overall
presentation is very
poor.
ANIMAL CREATION PAGE
You have been learning that animals have adaptations that allow them to survive in harsh environments.
For example; The elephant cools its blood by flapping its ears; a rhino has its thick skin to protect it from
thorns; a zebra travels in a herd and has stripes so that individuals are hard to hunt. You are going to design
your own animal with an adaptation. Pick ONE of the problems below and come up with an animal that has an
adaptation to help it compensate for the problem. Your adaptation should be a natural type of adaptation. No
strapping a flashlight to the head of the animal so that it can see better at night! For your animal you must
complete a picture and an explanation on your animal.

Picture:
 Drawing of animal in color
 Problem you are solving written at the bottom of the poster
 Label where the adaptation is on the animal and what you adapted
 Give your animal species a name and put it on the top of the poster. This is NOT a pet name like
Cookie or Fluffy. (Greek and Latin roots might be helpful for the name.)
Explanation:
 Should be 6 sentences in length
 Explain what the problem is that the animal needs an adaptation for
 Explain the adaptation of your animal
 Explain the ideal habitat for your animal: temperature, plant life, other animals present, humidity,
rainfall  or  snowfall,  etc…
 MAKE SURE TO USE VOCABULARY WE HAVE LEARNED AND UNDERLINE THESE
WORDS IN YOUR SENTENCES.

Pick ONE challenge from the choices below for your animal:
Animal A: A fish that lives in tropical coral and needs some protection from larger fish that prey on it.

Animal B: A mammal that must find food at night. Adapt it so that it can see well or move quietly to hunt
other animals or keep from being hunted.

Animal C: A bird needs to be able to capture insects that live in hard to reach spaces.

Animal D: A reptile is cold blooded and needs to warm up quickly in the sun so that it can get moving. Find a
way to maximize the sunlight.

Animal E: A mammal living in Africa needs a special skin to blend in.

Animal F: An insect needs to be able to eat nectar from flowers. Find a way to help it find or collect the
nectar.

Animal G: A mammal will be eating leaves from the thorny bushes in Africa. It needs help in getting its food,
but not getting stuck or eating the thorns.
Greek and Latin Roots: For Naming your Organism...
a(n)- without don't- tooth pachy- thick
acanth- prickle dors- back pect(or)- chest
acer- without horns dulci- sweet pisc- fish
acri- acrid, sharp duo- two plum- feather
adipo- fat dur- hard pod- foot
aegopod- goat-foot echino- spiny polio- grey
al(i)- wing entolenter- inside poll(ex)- thumb
alb- white equi- horse, equal porc- pig
alopec- fox feli- cat quadr- four
altissim- tall gale- weasel quarter- four
amplex- clasping gast(e)r- stomach, pouch quin)- five
andr- male glo(ss/tt)- tongue rach- spine
angusti- narrow glut- sticky ran- frog
anser- geese hamat- hook repens- crawling
arach- spider heira- hawk retro- behind, backward
arthro- joint helminth- worm rhin- nose, snout
ater, atra- black hetero- different rhodo- red
aur- ear, gold hippo- horse sex- six
avi- bird hirsut- hairy simi- monkey
bdella- sucker homal- flat sol- sun
bell- pretty hyo- U-shaped soma- body
bi- two sphinct- closing
bov- ox leo(n)- lion spinos- spiny
brachi- arm lepid- scale squam- scale
brachy- short lepto- slender tetr- four
branch- gill leuc- white thalass- sea
brevi- short ling- tongue trago- goat
bucca- mouth cavity lip- fat tri- three
bullat- wrinkled mala- cheek ungui- nail, claw
cani- dog manu- hand ventr- belly
cap(it)- head maritim- of the sea
capill- hair marsupium- pouch
cauda- tail masseter- chewer
cera(s)(t)- horn mat(e)ri- mother
cerc- horns, lobes, short maxi- large
tail maxill- jaw
cerebro- brain medi- medium
cerv- neck mega- large
ch(e)ir- hand mel(l)i- honey
chel- turtle melan- black
cheno- goose micro- small
chil- lip muri- mouse
corn- horn narls- nose
corp- body nema- hair
crani- skull
crass- thick odont- tooth
crispus curled omm- eye
cyan- blue omo- shoulder
cycl- circular oo- egg
cyno- dog ophi- snake
delphis- dolphin ophthalmo- eye
dent- tooth or- mouth
derm- skin ovi- sheep
digit- finger oxys, oxus- sharp, pointed
Genetic Variation and Artificial Selection Page:
For  this  page  in  your  Children’s  Book,  you  must  think  about  how your animal creation
can differ from other animals in its same species.

Example: We are all in the species, humans, even though we may have different eye
color and hair color. Some humans have better eyesight than others. Some have better
health. This is genetic variation.

So what it is a genetic variation in your species?

You must first draw your animal creation with another animal of the same species that
you created. Then decide what is going to be genetically different about the two and
make sure it is present in your picture.

Then  take  two  of  the  animals  in  your  species  and  “select”  them  to  breed.    People  who  
selectively breed animals are looking for those animals with the most desirable traits.

Example: If a farmer wants to breed a horse with another horse, he would pick his
best, most strong, and competitive two horses to mate so that 100% of the babies would
be the strong horses.

Things to think about: (These questions must be answered in the 6

sentences)
Does the genetic variation in your animal species make a difference in terms of the ability
for the animal to get food, water, or survive?

If you could selectively breed your animal, what genetic traits would you want the
animal you breed to have?

What will happen over time if you continue to selectively breed your animal?

Make sure you use the words: artificial selection and genetic variation in the 6
sentences for this page.
Natural Selection Page:
For this page in your book, you want to look back and see what was the genetic variation that
occurs in your species.

For  example:  My  species  “Glut-Dbella”  have  2  different  colored  eyes,  green  and  brown.  
The brown eyed ones are almost blind and cannot see very well, but the green ones are
normal.

Natural Selection: organisms with favorable traits survive and

reproduce at a higher rate than organisms without the
favorable trait.

So…my  Glut  Dbella  with  the  green  eyes  are  better  able  to  survive  because  of  the  process  
of natural selection.

For this page:

1. You must decide which trait within your species is more desirable (will help them
survive) and draw a picture of that species surviving over time.
2. Then you must write 6 sentences to describe the process of natural selection and how
it relates to your animal.
3. Don’t  forget  to  use natural selection and trait as your words and underline them in
the paragraph.
Last Book Page on Extinction and Fossils-
For this book page you need to explain what will happen to your species of animal over
time.

Natural selection says that those animals with the FAVORABLE trait will survive and
reproduce and those without it will die off.

Think about which animal you chose that does not have the favorable trait. If it dies off
for good, then it is EXTINCT.

EXTINCTION: when a species dies out completely.

Once a species goes extinct, it can never reappear.

For your book page, you need to say how and why your species of animal becomes
extinct (or dies out).

It could be because of a meteor strike or pollution or perhaps you animal could no longer
find food.  YOU  CHOOSE…

Then what happens to a dead animal when it gets buried in the ground? It can form into a
FOSSIL.

FOSSIL: the solidified remains or imprints of once living

organisms.
(This is what dinosaur bones at the  museum  are…FOSSILS.)

In your book, explain how your animal became a fossil.

REMEMBER…6  sentences  for  this  page  with  a  good  picture.

Also, you need to use the words EXTINCTION and FOSSIL
on this page.

REMEMBER…your  completed  books  are  due  at  the  beginning of the period.
Table of Contents Page
1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Animal Creation Page
4. Genetic Variation and Artificial Selection Page
5. Natural Selection Page
6. Extinction and Fossil Records Page
7. Glossary

Cover Page:
Must  say  “The  Life  and  Evolution  of  ______________(insert  your  species  name  here)”
Must have a picture
Must have your name and your period on it

Glossary Page:
You must define all of these words and then put the page number where these words are
used. THEY MUST BE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER!!!
Adaptation
Evolution
Habitat
Species
Natural Selection
Artificial Selection
Selective Breeding
Genetic Variation
Trait
Fossils
Extinction