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Whose "Truth" Is Out There?
Students read article It's a Fact: Faith and Theory Collide Over Evolution, and examine different ways people arrive at what 'the truth' is, focusing on the evolution vs creationism debate that has been a hot topic throughout the 20th...
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Studying Fossils: Hominoid Skull Comparison
High schoolers collect data on the differences in Hominid skulls using acrylic casts of fossil skulls. They measure a series of structures on skulls from six different species then use the data to determine evolutionary relationships...
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What a Cosmic Web We Weave
Learners explore, using journals and discussion in small groups, how the universe has evolved since the theoretical Big Bang and create dramatizations of various eras in cosmic evolution.
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Human Evolution
Young scholars investigate hominid evolution to learn the difference between a relative and an ancestor. They study the emergence of bipedalism and the related physical adaptations and cultural ramifications, and chart patterns of...
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The Science of Changing Seasons
Students explore basic principles of seasonal change, ponder the mechanisms that drive these changes, and perform experiments that show what causes the earth to heat differently during different seasons.
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Darwinist Dogma?
Students debate whether teachers should be mandated to present theories challenging evolution in their classrooms. For homework, they write letters to their local school board expressing their own opinions.
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Spinners of Color
Students review primary, secondary, and intermediate colors. They use a worksheet to select the combination of colors they want to try on the spinners. They predict the outcome of the spinning colors.
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PRIMATE CLASSIFICATION: Evolution, Cladograms,
Students transfer examples (names) of primates from their location in an outline hierarchy of primate groups into a set of nested boxes reflecting that same hierarchy. A cladogram can then be drawn illustrating how these groups are...
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So You Think the World Evolves Around You?
Students examine the topic of evolution as it relates to biodiversity in various remote areas of the world. They watch videos, conduct Internet research, and in small groups create a digital video report to illustrate common evolution in...
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Time Machine: Evolution, Geology
Students are taken on a simulated "voyage" backward in time, to the beginning of our planet. They "witness" that beginning, the origin of life, and a number of key events from then to the present.
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Examining the Fossil Record
Learners create an evolutionary tree based on fossil morphology and their ages. In this fossil record lesson plan, students are given 23 pictures of fossil. They study their morphology and arrange the fossils by age and structures on a...
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Island Biogeography and Evolution
Learners use this activity as a logic problem that is based on real organisms and real data. The problem is to develop phylogenies for seven related populations of lizards living on the Canary Islands. Three phylogenetic charts are...
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Using Concept Maps to Teach Evolution
Students encounter concept maps for reviewing evolution. Concept maps provides an alternative method of interacting with the information and a forum for asking questions about vocabulary, concepts and interrelationships. A quiz is...
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Molecular Approaches to Evolution
Students examine the molecular studies of organisms that have led to a new era in their understanding of speciation and evolutionary relationships. Students study the allelic frequency of genes controlling specific molecules and assess...
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They're more evolved that way
Students explore the notion of local evolution, or genetic selectivity among different continent-based human populations. They consider specific examples of local evolution, such as lactose tolerance, skin color, and cognitive capacity,...
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VARVES: Dating Sedimentary Strata: Geology, Paleontological Patterns
Young scholars count the number of varves (annual layers of sediment) in shale billets, taken from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. The count is then extended to reflect the entire 260 meters of sediments where the billets originated.
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Scavenger Hunt: A Group Collection
Students be complete a collection of living organisms and systems from the school campus.
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In Search of a Land Ethic
Students research the theory that everything is connected to everything else. Students explore the concept of how do we put normative values on our nonhuman environment. Students investigate an ecologist and write an informational...
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Time Conceptualization
Students use this activity to establish a new mode of reference to the conceptualization of time. To present hominid evolution in terms of millions of years and endosymbiosis of eukaryotes in billions of years carries little meaning to...
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Human Evolution
Students recognize that achievements of human beings throughout human history can be considered part of the ongoing story of human evolution. They research settings such as the biosphere and Mars and write imaginative short stories using...
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Historical Development of a Scientific Idea
Ninth graders examine how scientist's contribute to atomic theory. In this development of a scientific idea activity students work in groups and research the development of the atomic model.
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History of Atomic Theory
Young scholars study the significance of the quantum model and how scientific theories adapt over time. In this investigative lesson students describe the contributions that scientists have helped develop the atomic theory and...
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States of Matter and Gas Laws
In this matter activity, students review the states of matter and the gas law formulas and equations. Students then complete 7 multiple choice questions and 6 problems.
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How Evolution Works
Learners work in groups to investigate and present genetic variation, adaptation, and sexual selection as it relates to evolution. In this evolution lesson, students watch a video discuss how the human eye could evolve due to natural...