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Module 3

SCIENCE
SOURCES OF EVIDENCE
INSTRUCTION TO FOR
THE
LEARNERS
EVOLUTION
 Simple reminders for this module.

1. Read and follow the instructions carefully.

2. Answer the pre-test, check and compare your answers with the answers provided at
the back of this module.

3. Be honest in working on this module.

4. The activities are divided into three parts. Read and perform all the activities, as this
will help you to have a better understanding of the given topic.

5. Answer the pre-test and the post test honestly.

6. Lastly, compare your answer with the answer key on the last page of this module.

OVERVIEW

Evolution is a key unifying principle in biology. As Theodosius Dobzhansky

once said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” But what,
exactly, are the features of biology that make more sense through the lens of
evolution? To put it another way, what are the indications or traces that show evolution
has taken place in the past and is still happening today?

In this module, you will examine the sources of evidences for evolution on both
macro and micro scales. You will look at several types of evidence (including physical
and molecular features, geographical information, and fossils that provide evidence
for, and can allow you to reconstruct, macro evolutionary events.

LET’S CHECK YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE!

A. Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer.

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 1. Where can most of the fossils be found?
A. Black soil
B. Lava flows
C. Igneous rock
D. Sedimentary rock

2. Similar structures that related species have inherited from a common ancestor
are called
A. Ancestral structures
B. Analogous structures
C. Homologous structures
D. Multi-cellular structures

3. In what era can the oldest fossils be found?

A. Cenozoic
B. Mesozoic
C. Paleozoic
D. Pre-Cambrian

4. According to evolutionist, which is the best test to show the relatedness of two
organisms?
A. Similarity in structure
B. Similarity in development
C. Similarity in genomic DNA
D. Similarity in courting behavior

5. Which of the following is the weakest evidence supporting a close evolutionary

relationship between two animals?
A. Lesser chickens look like birds.
B. The bones of a bird’s wings are similar to the bones of a dog’s legs.
C. Human embryos look like turtle embryos in their early development.
D. The amino acid sequence in mouse hemoglobin is similar to the amino acid
sequence in monkey hemoglobin.

B. Identify the sources of evidence that support the theory of evolution. Write
your answer in a graphic organizer like the one below.

Sources of Evidence

Theory of Evolution
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 (Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS

MODULE?

After reading this module, you should be able to

 Identify the sources of evidence for evolution

 Examine the sources of evidence for evolution

LET’S LEARN!

SOURCES OF EVIDENCE IN THE STUDY OF EVOLUTION

Organisms inhabiting the earth have changed overtime. Their structures, traits and
abilities allowed them to adapt and survive in their environment. Data gathered from
fossil records, anatomy and morphology, embryonic development, and biochemistry
could be analyzed to demonstrate if evolution of life on Earth has taken place.

 FOSSIL RECORD

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 Fossils are the preserved remains of previously living organisms or their traces,
dating from the distant past.

Fossils like the ancient fishes provide evidences on how life changes over time.
Fossils can also help scientists infer how earth’s surface has changed. Fossils are clues
to what environments were like.

There are numerous types of fossil evidence that have been left behind by
organisms. Some of the types of fossil evidences commonly used by scientists include
trace fossils, molds and casts, replacement fossils, petrified fossils, amber and original
material fossils.

A trace fossil is any indirect evidence left by an organisms. Examples of trace

fossils include footprints, burrows and fossilized faeces that have been left behind by
organisms. They simply leave material evidence that the organisms existed rather than
evidence of the actual structure of the organism.

Molds and casts are also important fossil evidence. Molds are impressions of
entire organisms that have been left behind. Casts are molds that have been filled with
sediment over time. Compression is most common fossil for leaves and ferns but can
occur to other organisms.

Examples of Fossils

Petrified wood Trilobite Sloth skull

Mollusk Crinoids Fern

 https://www.grandcanyon.org/shop/online-store/geology/

Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by sediments. The
sediments slowly harden into rock and preserve the shapes of organisms. Fossils are
usually found in sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rock is the type of rock that is made
of hardened sediment. Sediment is Smade up of rock particles or the remains of living
things.

Earth's rocks form layers on top of each other over very long time periods.
These layers, called strata, form a convenient timeline for dating embedded fossils.
Strata that are closer to the surface represent more recent time periods, whereas deeper
strata represent older time periods.

Scientists who study fossils are called paleontologists. Paleontologists collect

fossils from sedimentary rocks all over the world. They use this information to
determine what past life forms were like.
Paleontologists also classify organisms. Their group similar organisms
together. They arrange organisms in the order in which they lived, from earliest to
latest. Together, all the information that paleontologists have gathered about the past is
called fossil record. The fossil record provides evidences about the history of life and
the past environments on Earth. The fossil record also shows that different groups of
organisms have changed over time.

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http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/outreach/floridaseagrant/pdf_files/TropicalConnections_GeologicalTimeWith
LET’S DO IT AT HOME!

FAMILY FOSSILS
A Fossil is something old that has been preserved. With your parents’
permission, look around your house for the oldest object you can find. Interview
family members to determine how old the object is, why it has been preserved, and
how it may have changed since it was new. 6 Make a drawing of the object and bring it
to class. Tell to the class the story of this “fossil.”
 Source: Printice Hall Science Explorer Indiana Grade 8, Pearson Prentice
Boston,Massachusetts,

 COMPARATIVE ANATOMY

If two or more species share a unique physical feature, such as a

complex bone structure or a body plan, they may all have inherited this feature
from a common ancestor. Physical features shared due to evolutionary history
(a common ancestor) are said to be homologous.

To give one classic example, the forelimbs of whales, humans, birds,

and dogs look pretty different on the outside. That's because they're adapted to
function in different environments.

The similar bone arrangement of the human, bird, and whale forelimb is
a structural homology. Structural homologies indicate a shared and evolved
from common ancestor. This type of evolution is called divergent evolution.

Homologous Structures

Image credit: "Understanding evolution: Figure 7," by OpenStax College, Biology, CC BY 4.0.

Not all physical features that look alike are marks of common ancestry. Instead,
some physical similarities are analogous: they evolved independently in different
organisms because the organisms lived in similar environments or experienced similar
selective pressures. This process is called convergent evolution. (To converge means
to come together, like two lines meeting at a point.) For example, two distantly related
species that live in the same place like bird, bat and butterfly. This shared feature
(wings) doesn’t reflect common ancestry but have similar functions.

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 Examples of Analogous Structures

Image credit: http://www.majordifferences.com/2013/05/difference-between-homologous-

and.html#.WcOh_NERW6o

LET’S TRY TO DO THIS!

Direction: Tell whether the structures below are homologous or analogous.

STRUCTURE CLASSIFICATION
Bird wing and Bee wing
Crocodile forelimb and Human arm
Whale flipper and mouse forelimb
Bat wing and Butterfly wing
Human arm and cat forelimb

(Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

 EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT

An embryo is an early stage of development in organisms. Embryonic development

include stages such as blastula, gastrula, and organogenesis.

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 Scientists make inferences about evolutionary relationships by comparing the early
development of different organisms. Adult fish, salamander, chicken, cat and human
look quite different from each other. However, during early development, these five
organisms are similar. All of them have a tail and a row tiny slits along their throats.
These similarities suggest these vertebrate species are related and share a common
ancestor.

The images below show a human and mouse embryo that appear externally close to
the same stage of development.

37 - 42 days, Week 6, 8 - 11 mm CRL (Carnegie stage 16)

11.5 days, Week 2, 6 - 7 mm CRL (Theiler Stage 19)

https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/
K12_Human_and_Other_Animal_Development

Which illustration refers to the embryonic development of human? Mouse?

 GENETIC INFORMATION

Some species have similar body structures and development patterns. Scientists
infer that the species inherited many of the same genes from a common ancestor.

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 Genes are made of DNA. By comparing the sequence of nitrogen bases in the
DNA of different species, you can infer how closely related the two species are. The
more similar the DNA sequence, the more closely related the species are.

The DNA bases along a gene specify what type of protein will be produced.
Therefore, you can also compare the order of amino acids in a protein to see how
closely related the two species are.

LET’S TRY TO DO THIS!

LET’S TRY
TELLTALE TO DO THIS!
MOLECULES

Problem

What information can protein structure reveals about evolutionary relationships

among organisms?

Procedure

1. Examine the table below. It shows the sequence of amino acids in one region of
protein, cytochrome c, of six different animals.
2. Predict which five other animals are most closely related to the horse. Which
animal do you think is the mostSUM UPrelated?
distantly
3. Compare the amino acid sequence of the horse to that of the donkey. How
many amino acids
functions. differ between
Styrofoam, inks aretheused
two species? Record
in offices that number in your
and pri
notebook.
4. Compare the amino acid sequences
LET’S DO of each
IT!of the other animals to that of the
horse. Record the number of differences in your notebook.

SECTION OF CYTOCHROME C PROTEIN IN ANIMALS

Animals Section of Cytochrome c Protein in Animals

39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
Horse A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
Donkey A B C D E F G H Z J K L M N O
Rabbit A B C D E Y G H Z J K L M N O
Snake A B C D E Y G H Z J K W M N O
Turtle A B C D E V G H Z J K U M N O
Whale A B C D E Y G H Z J K L M N O

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 Source: Printice Hall Science Explorer Indiana Grade 8, Pearson Prentice Hall,
Boston, Massachusetts,

Based on these data, which species is mostly related to the horse? Which is
most distantly related?

(Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

LET’S SUM UP!

Evidences of evolution come from many different areas of biology:

 Anatomy. Species may share similar physical features because the feature was
present in a common ancestor (homologous structures).

 Embryonic Development. Species look similar during their early

development.

 Molecular biology. DNA and the genetic code reflect the shared ancestry of
life. DNA comparisons can show how related species are.

 Fossils. Fossils document the existence of now-extinct past species that are
related to present-day species.

LET’S CHECK HOW MUCH YOU HAVE

LEARNED!

A. Multiple Choice. Write the letter of the best answer.

1. The remains or traces of organisms, such as animals, plants, insects from the past,
which are preserved through natural processes.

A. bones C. artifacts

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 B. fossils D. remnants

2. Similar structures that related species have inherited from a common ancestor are
called

A. ancestral structures C. homologous structures

B. analogous structures D. multi-cellular structures

3. Based on the number of amino acid sequence (section of cytochrome c of animals),

which pair of organisms is least related to each other?

A. Horse and Turtle C. Rabbit and Snake

B. Horse and Donkey D. Snake and Whale

4. Changes in a species over a long period of time are called

A. evolution. C. variation.
B. extinction. D. developmental stages.

5. Geologic time scale is divided into

A. relative ages. C. unconformities.

B. absolute ages. D. eras and periods.

B. Tell whether the statement below is True or False.

1. Fossils, patterns of embryonic development and similar body structures all

provide evidence that organisms have changed over
time.

2. Analogous structure is associated to divergent evolution.

3. Most fossils form when organisms that die become buried in sediments.

4. The embryonic development of the different vertebrates in the late stage is

similar.

5. By comparing the sequence of nitrogen bases in the DNA of different species,

you can infer how closely related the two species are.

(Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

REFERENCES

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Department of Education, Science 10 Learner’s Guide, Rex Bookstore, Inc. FE 2015

Department of Education, Science 10 Teacher’s Guide, Rex Bookstore, Inc. FE 2015

Printice Hall Science Explorer Indiana Grade 8, Pearson Prentice Hall, Boston,
Massachusetts, 2005

ELECTRONIC
REFERENCES

https://www.grandcanyon.org/shop/online-store/geology/

http://www.majordifferences.com/2013/05/difference-between-homologous-
and.html#.WcOh_NERW6o

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/outreach/floridaseagrant/pdf_files/
TropicalConnections_GeologicalTimeWith

https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/
K12_Human_and_Other_Animal_Development


ANSWER KEY

Let’s check your prior knowledge!

A. 1. A 2. A 3. B 4. A 5. C

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 B. Fossil records, comparative anatomy, genetic information

Let’s try to do this! (Comparative Anatomy)

1. Analogous
2. Homologous
3. Homologous
4. Analogous
5. Homologous

Let’s try to do this! (Telltale)

Most closely related - Horse and Donkey with 1amino acid difference

Distantly related - Horse and Turtle with 3 amino acid difference

Horse and Snake with 3 amino acid difference

Let’s check how much you have learned!

A. 1. B 2. C 3. A 4. A 5. D
B. 1. True 2. False 3. True 4. False 5. True

METADATA

Title: Evidence for Evolution

Language: English

Keywords: S10LT-IIIf-39

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Description: The module will help the students to identify and
examine the sources of evidence for evolution

Primary Media: Print Material

Primary storage: CD, Flash drive

Resource Location: Department of Education

Region VI- Western Visayas
Division of Aklan
District of Madalag
Madalag National High School

Developer: JENALYN N. NACASABUG

Teacher III

Checked by: NOEL L. SOLIDUM LUCITA T. BELINARIO

MT I-Linabuan NHS T III-Tangalan NHS

Reviewed by: ANGEL D. ROSE HERMY E. FELICIANO

MT II-Mangan NHS MT I-Gaudencio L. Vega NHS

Endorsed by: Dr. MARY CHERRY LYNN M. DALIPE

Education Program Supervisor
Science and Research

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