Bird is the word! Young biologists discover how the tiny finch changed the way scientists viewed evolution and changes in species using a fascinating video from Fuse School's Evolution playlist. The narrator describes Darwin's journey to the Galapagos Islands, his observations of the finch species there, and the development of the theory of natural selection.

Concepts

evolution, natural selection, charles darwin, galapagos finches, south america, bird beaks, food sources, species, competition

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Show the resource as an opener for your natural selection unit
• Dig deeper by launching a study of all 13 finch species discovered in the Galapagos Islands

Classroom Considerations

• Students should be familiar with animal adaptations

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• The video is brief but full of good details
• Illustrations allow viewers to compare the characteristics of the different finch species

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2