Student

Teachers Name: Danielle Wilson

Date: 3/5/15
Lesson Title: Evolution and Classification
Subject: Biology
Instruction time: 42 minutes
Students grade Level: 10th Grade

State Standard(s):
Natural selection explains molecular similarity of diverse species. (S.912.LS.9)
Natural selection is a mechanism for evolution leading to organism diversity. (S.912.LS.9)
Current diverse species are related by descent from common ancestors. (S.912.LS.10)
Biological classification is based on evolutionary relationships. (S.912.LS.11)
Species is the most fundamental classification unit. (S.912.LS.11)

Learning Objectives:
Students will understand how classification of species has changed over time as a result of concepts regarding
evolution and genetics.
Students will investigate the classification of species using reasoning and deduction.
Students will begin to form an understanding of how concepts of classification, fossils, DNA, and evolution are
connected.
Students will analyze evidence in the fossil record in order to reevaulate scientific thought concerning the evidence.

Student Needs/Differentiation:
A student in the special education program will be paired with a student he enjoys working with in order to increase
his motivation.
Other students may receive extra support as I circulate around the room during individual and group work times. If
they are struggling to understand a question or task, I can reword it and use questioning strategies to help scaffold the
lesson better for them.
Some students will receive additional assistance from a resource teacher.

Resources/Materials:
Envelopes
Pictures of varying organisms
Equine Fossil Worksheet
Scrap paper

Instructional method(s) used in this lesson:
Think/Pair/Share
Discussion with higher-order thinking questions
Concrete activities (to help understand abstract concepts)

Lesson Sequence:
Hook:
Ask students: How do scientists classify the species? How do you think earlier scientists classified species (lets say,
scientists living in the 1800s)? Whatever students dont know about earlier scientists, you may fill in by stating, One
goal of classification was to show how species are related. Similar species share similar names. How did scientists early
on decide how the species were related in order to classify them? Students should say something about how the species
looked, how they acted, and/or where they lived. Ask: How can todays scientists find out which species are related in
order to classify them? If students dont readily suggest the use of DNA testing, ask: How do scientists verify if people
are related?

Classification Activity:
Pass out envelopes and and pictures of organisms for students to classify in pairs. They will organize them in
different envelopes based on which organisms they think are related to which. After they have done this, discuss
these questions as a class:
o How did you organize these species?
o How would you justify your groupings? Take a couple examples of groupings from student pairs. Ask them
what visible features they used to group organisms.
o What kind of information might you need to verify that your classification is the most accurate? Students
should suggest geographical information or DNA testing.

Suggest a specific DNA link between two of their organisms that would be unexpected, and ask them how
they would use this information to regroup their species. Give them a couple minutes to do this. (10 min)

Equine Fossil Worksheet:
Pass out the worksheet. Tell students: Sometimes when scientists are studying how species are related, they come
across anomalies, and they have to adjust the way they think about classification and adjust the way they look at the
evidence. Read the story about these fossils, which were supposed to be related to modern-day horses, and answer the
questions with your partner. (15-20 min)

A Closer Look At Evidence:
Ask the class: How did having more information change your thinking about the evidence? To what extent does evidence
tell us the answers? What role does interpretation play in analyzing the evidence?
Ask: When the evidence we are using to support a scientific idea has significant problems, as is shown by the story about
horse evolution, what do we do with that evidence? What happens to our scientific idea (in this case, the idea of
evolution)?
Write on the board: Science is subjective. Ask students to discuss in their partners how science is subjective.
Discuss as a class. Students should be able to see how science is subjective in that all evidence is interpreted by
fallible people.
Ask: Think back to the story about Darwin. How readily did people accept the idea of evolution? How long did it take for
the scientific community to openly accept the Theory of Evolution? Why did it take them so long?
o Write on the board: Science is tentative yet durable.
! Tell students that the tentative part means that the science community is not quick to accept new
ideas when they would cause a big change in accepted scientific thinking. Ask: Why do you think that
is?
! Ask students: What do you think the durable part means? Students should know that something
durable is sturdy and will last. Explain that once a scientific idea has passed through extensive
testing and is accepted by the community, it will last a long time. Its difficult for scientists to discard
it for a new explanation or idea. Ask students why they think that is.
Explain: These are Nature of Science ideas, like ones weve discussed before. What questions do you have about these
statements? What questions do you have about the Nature of Science? (10-15 min)

Closure of the Lesson:
Pass out a graphic organizer intended to help students come up with key questions regarding the content we covered
for evolution. Introduce the concept with an example. Ask students to think of questions that should be on the test in
order to assess what they know about evolution. Assign this as homework due tomorrow. (5 min)

Check(s) for understanding and scaffolding of student learning
As students work in pairs, I will walk around and listen to their conversations. I will also ask to look over their
answers from the homework.
Assessment of student understanding will happen during the whole class discussion.

Assessment of/for learning
I will check student answers from the homework they prepared for class.
Students will have a chance to apply content ideas to new situations by answering the questions on the Equine Fossil
Worksheet. This will help them to self-evaluate their understanding of the content, and I will check student work the
following day.
Students will show their understanding regarding all of the evolution standards by coming up with test questions.

Bridge to next lesson
Students will mentally prepare themselves for tomorrows activities by preparing test questions over the content.