Ancestor Teacher Resources
Find Ancestor lesson plans and worksheets
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Lesson Planet Curated
My Part of the Story: Exploring Identity in the United States
Is it possible to combine many voices into one national identity? That is the question addressed by the unit module “My Part of the Story: Exploring Identity in the United States.” The unit consists of six lessons that ask high schoolers...
Curated OER
Human Ancestry Made Easy
Explore the Out of Africa Theory, genetics, and human ancestry with this clear and interesting video clip. Older scientists will gain a basic understanding of how genetic markers have helped anthropologists determine the origin and...
Crash Course
Why Human Ancestry Matters: Crash Course Big History #205
Genetic variation makes for stronger species, but for a mammalian species, humans are disturbingly closely related. Help your class explore human ancestry and genealogy using the 15th video in a 16-part series. It describes how we became...
PBS
What Was the Ancestor of Everything?
As part of evolution species branch off of others species. But what did the original limb look like? Young scientists discover the exciting study of the last universal common ancestor as they hear from specialists in multiple scientific...
Curated OER
Immigration / Ancestry Bulletin Board Activity
Pupils bring items to school that represent their ancestry or heritage. Individually, they present this item to the class so that their classmates can discover their unique past. Using the Internet, they research their own family history...
Personal Genetics Education Project
How Does Ancestry Testing Work? Exploring Admixture Testing
Find out the science behind ancestry testing! Investigators watch a video exploring how ancestry works before participating in a hands-on group activity. Scholars role play scientists while learning about testing protocols and test...
Bozeman Science
LS4A - Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
Need help putting together an uncommonly good unit about common ancestry? Check out a video that covers NGSS standard LS4A, Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity. Topics include ways to convey similarities and differences between...
Curated OER
Structures That Reveal Common Ancestry
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, check out wing shapes for common ancestry! Beginning biologists compare wings as analogous structures and discover that environment influences evolution of adaptations. A third activity relies on...
Curated OER
Tracing Genetic Ancestry Using DNA Microarrays
High school learners read and discuss an article about genetic ancestry and genetic ancestry testing. They complete a paper and pencil activity that mimics the function of a DNA microarray and consider the ethics of genetic testing in...
Curated OER
The Colonization of the United States
Bring the Age of Exploration into the 21st century with this ancestry activity! Learners get a chance to explore the complex genealogy of the Spanish settlers through watching two video clips (approximately five minutes each) featuring...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Great Transitions: The Origin of Tetrapods
The featured movie focuses on the ancestry of our four-footed friends. Find the fundamental pattern of their limbs and vertebrae in fossils of fish. After viewing, biology learners can enjoy interactive websites to zoom in on the...
PBS
Gloria Steinem’s Ancestry and Women’s Rights Movements: Lesson Plan | Finding Your Roots
Introduce class members to Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, activist, writer, and lecturer Gloria Steinem with a PBS resource that not only investigates Steinem's ancestry but also encourages learners to trace their own.
Curated OER
Once Upon a Time
High school pupils research online to complete a family tree and explore their ancestry. They view a sketch of a family tree, and brainstorm questions to ask their parents about their heritage. They also diagram their own family tree. In...
Curated OER
Structural Factors in Evolution
Laboratory activities encourage evolutionary biology scholars to consider homologous structures as evidence of common ancestry. They learn how to formulate phylogenic trees and that environment influences to genetic variation. Activities...
Curated OER
Introduction to Adaptation
Tenth graders observe collections of specimens and discuss their answers to provided questions. They explore common ancestry, homology, analogy, adaptive radiation, and evolution, while formulating creative answers based on their...
Curated OER
Evolution Primer #5: Did Humans Evolve?
Clear up any confusion regarding human evolution and ancestry with this comprehensive clip. Using scientific evidence and concrete examples such as DNA, this clip explains human evolution in a way elementary learners can understand. This...
Curated OER
Roots: The Ancestry of Modern People
High schoolers investigate the models for the origin of modern humans and the conditions that facilitate speciation and evolution. The classification and nomenclature of hominid species is also examined.
Curated OER
Tree of Life: lineage
In this lineage worksheet, students pick a tree to research and write its lineage and where it originated from. Students complete the lineage of a tree with 14 blanks.
Curated OER
My Family Tree
Students create a family tree. In this ancestry instructional activity, students research a country that one of their ancestors is from. Students interview a grandparent and map out a family tree.
Curated OER
Tree of Life: lineage
In this organism worksheet, students use the website provided to trace the lineage of an organism. Students complete 17 lineage lines.
The Brain Scoop
Dimetrodon Is Not A Dinosaur
Dimetrodon—the dinosaur that wasn't really a dinosaur! Explore the facts about an animal that lived before the Jurassic era with a fact-filled video from Brain Scoop. The narrator shows dimetrodon's characteristics, its common ancestry...
Curated OER
Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, Part 5 of 13
Part five of the 13-part series begins with a refutable argument stating that genetically, the ancient people of Australia were populated by the first African ancestors. Spencer Wells travels to India to find the link that bridges...
Curated OER
Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, Part 12 of 13
Part 12 starts with the Navajo story of creation and the journey of the ancient ancestors. Spencer argues the facts of this story with his genetic evidence. This episode recaps the journey thus far and attempts to describe the difference...
Curated OER
Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, Part 7 of 13
The seventh entry in this 13-part series attempts to show the path the second migration wave took out of Africa. Young geneticists will learn how environmental stressors pushed a second wave of people into the Middle East, China, and...
