Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Creating Phylogenetic Trees from DNA Sequences
How closely are animals related? Check their phylogenetic trees! The use of DNA sequencing altered our understanding of these relationships. Individuals explore and gain a better understanding of how scientists sort, align, and determine...
Computer Science Unplugged
Phylogenetics
Introduce your class to the concept of creating phylogenetic trees by playing a game of Telephone. Participants create a mixed-up message and through the use of distance matrices, the evolution of the message is recreated.
PBS
NOVA Evolution Lab Game
Many scholars study phylogenetic trees without understanding how they are made. Through an online game, young scientists use the given data to create phylogenetic trees of increasing complexity. They rely on the trees they create to...
Curated OER
An Automobile Phylogenetic Tree
Learners study a list of cars and trucks and think about characteristics that can be used to show an "evolutionary relationship". From the characteristics they identity, students construct a phylogenetic tree to show how the automotive...
Curated OER
Using Amino Acid Sequences to Show Evolutionary Relationships
Junior biologists compare the amino acid sequences from fragments of five different globin molecules. They count the letter differences between each species pair. They construct a graphic representation of the evolutionary relationships...
Curated OER
Tree of Life
Students study genetics and evolution. They evaluate a group of organisms and estimate their genetic relatedness. Then they use an online program to check the accuracy of their estimations and make a branching phylogenetic tree which...
Curated OER
Vertebrate Dioramas
Learners are able to describe the development of their chosen form of vertebrate life from the past to the present in a four to six page typed paper. They explain the use of phylogenetic tree. Students use the phylogenetic tree to...
Curated OER
Embryology as Evidence of Evolution
Students observe the two major developmental pathways (protostome and deuterostome). They analyze data regarding differences in nucleotide sequences and construct a phylogenetic tree. They observe the similar evolutionary history shared...
Curated OER
Vertebrate Dioramas
Young scholars describe the development of their chosen form of vertebrate life from the past to the present in a four to six page paper. They explain the use of a phylogenetic tree, and use this to exemplify an organism's evolutionary...
Curated OER
The Phylogenetic Tree
In this biology learning exercise, learners label parts of a phylogenetic tree and differentiate between bilateral symmetry and radial symmetry.
Curated OER
Constructing a Phylogenetic Tree Using DNA Sequence Data
Students analyze DNA sequence differences between organisms in order to establish a reasonable picture of the evolutionary relationships between them. They take the role of molecular biologists and make genetic changes and constructing...
College Board
2018 AP® Biology Free-Response Questions
The average AP Biology score dropped in 2018 with the addition of more data tables and graphs. Offer additional practice free-response questions by using the questions from the 2018 AP exam covering phylogenetic trees, cell structure and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Using DNA to Explore Lizard Phylogeny
On the Caribbean islands, lizards expanded into different niches instead of competing for resources. Scholars discuss and learn from experts in a video how scientists prove the theory. They build phylogenetic trees based on appearances...
Curated OER
An Automobile Phylogenetic Tree
Students construct a phylogenetic tree for various automobiles and trucks after considering important characteristics of these "organisms". They work in small groups to construct the trees and complete a set of questions then they...
Curated OER
Constructing a Phylogenetic Tree
Students are given the opportunity to analyze DNA sequence differences between organisms in order to establish a reasonable picture of the evolutionary relationships between them (Phylogenetic Tree). In the simulation form they are...
Curated OER
Systematics and the Phylogenetic Revolution
This assignment conducts a thorough exploration of systematics. Clearly designed for an AP biology course, questions pertain to taxonomic categories, phylogeny, and construction of cladograms.
Curated OER
Cut-Off Genes
Students explain the concept of gene sequence analysis. In this gene lesson, students draw inferences about phylogenetic similarities of different organisms.
Curated OER
Organizing Principles of Plants and Animals
Three lessons and five assessments are contained in this material. Various paper shapes are sorted as a simulation of biological classification. Learners gather a list of living things that they are familiar with and design a...
Curated OER
Molecular Biology and Primate Phylogenetics
Pairs of high school biologists compare amino acid differences in the beta hemoglobin of different primates. They use the information collected to construct a phylogenic tree. Follow-up discussion questions are provided. This is a...
Curated OER
Island Biogeography and Evolution: Solving a Phylogenetic Puzzle With Molecular Genetics
Students engage in solving a logic problem based on real organisms and real data. They develop phylogenies for seven related populations of lizards living on the Canary Islands.
Curated OER
A Phylogenetic Perspective for the Cladistically Challenged
Students observe the structures of skulls as presented in drawings, and determine which are most closely related to the skull of the mosasaur.
Curated OER
Fun with Phylogenetic Trees
Tenth graders differentiate angiosperms and gymnosperms. In this biology instructional activity, 10th graders construct a musical phylogenetic tree from information they gathered on resource websites. They present their project in class.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Biodiversity and Evolutionary Trees
Compare what shells look like on the outside with what makes that happen on the inside. Scholars begin by sorting an various seashells by their physical characteristics into phylogenetic trees. They then conduct a DNA comparison of...
Curated OER
Playing Hot and Cold
Students read about homeothermy. Through research and poster projects, they gain insight into the diversity among mammals and the ways specific mammals survive in their native climates.