Evolution
Table of Contents
Lesson 1
DARWINS THEORY OF EVOLUTION
TIME
One session
SETTING
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
discuss and give examples of each of the main points of Darwins
theory;
describe three of Darwins observations about animals in South
America and the Galapagos islands; and
trace and explore how Darwin used his observations to formulate
this theory of natural selection.
RESOURCES
Activity 1
small brown paper bag
400-ml beaker or big plastic glass
250 g mongo seeds
100 pcs. corn seeds
100 pcs. red beans
stopwatch or clock with second hand
Activity 2
200 white beads
pencil
200 red beads
paper
3 glass containers
marker
calculator
Activity 3
world map
excerpts from Darwins The Voyage of the Beagle
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
PREREQUISITE
In Activity 1, let the students prepare the different kinds of seeds but
provide the stopwatch. Divide the students into five groups and retain
the groupings for Activity 2.
For Activity 2, ask the students to bring the beads, calculator and the
glass containers.
For Activity 3, ask the students to photocopy the world map and
excerpts of Darwins account on his voyages.
PROCEDURE
Opening Activity
2. Proceed by asking:
3. The students will view a short clip from the movie Jurassic Park.
Activating questions following the movie clip will stimulate them to
think about evolution.
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Main Activity
Distribute the activity sheet and tell the students to read the
investigation carefully. Instruct them to prepare the table on the sheet
provided.
a. Print the excerpts and map, and distribute the copies to the
students, or ask them to print the excerpts and maps.
b. Review longitude and latitude with the students before they begin
the mapping activity.
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Discussion Ideas
Extension Ideas
If Mendel and Darwin had met, how might Mendel have helped
Darwin develop his theory? Write a hypothetical letter from Mendel
to Darwin. Include the parts of Mendels theories that relate to
Darwins work.
ASSESSMENT
Explain:
2. How did the dinosaurs change from one time period to the next?''
"What mechanisms made them change?" "What if they did not
change?" What part did natural selection play in the evolutionary
history of the dinosaurs?
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
HOMEWORK
Write a short story that describes the new life forms able to survive
under these different conditions. You may wish to accompany your
story with one or more drawings depicting these unusual plants and
animals.
REFERENCES
Olivares, Maria, et al. 2003. Science and Technology for the Modern
World. Makati City, Philippines: Diwa Scholastic Press Inc. 241.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity 1
SIMULATING NATURAL SELECTION
Objective
In this activity, your group will investigate how genes change over time.
Procedure
1. After reading the investigation carefully, write the data on a
separate Data Table on a separate sheet of paper.
2. Examine and note the differences and similarities among the three
types of beans.
3. Fill the beaker about three-fourths full with mongo seeds. Then,
pour the seeds into the paper bag.
4. Add 50 pcs of corn seeds and 50 red beans to the paper bag. The
corn and red beans represent the organisms. The mongo seeds
represent the environment in which the organisms are hiding.
5. Have one member of your group time you for three minutes. During
the three minutes, remove one seed at a time from the paper bag.
Without looking, try to remove as many corn seeds and red beans
as you can. Use the shape of the seeds to help you identify them.
6. Record the number of corn seeds and red beans that you removed
in the appropriate place in the data table.
7. To determine the number of corn seeds and red beans that remains
in the paper bag, subtract the number of corn seeds removed from
the starting number. Do the same for the red beans.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
8. Add the number of remaining corn seeds and red beans together.
Record this information in the appropriate place in the data table.
9. To find the frequencies of corn seeds and red beans that remain in
the paper bag, divide the number of each of the remaining seeds by
the total number of remaining corn seeds and red beans. Round
these numbers off to the nearest hundredths place. Record this
information in the appropriate place in the data table.
10. The frequencies of each of the beans that remain in the paper bag
represent the distribution of genes in the population. To
determine the starting number of corn seeds and red beans that are
present in the next generation, multiply the frequency of each bean
by 100. Record the information in the appropriate place in the data
table. Add corn seeds and red beans to the bag to restore the same
starting number for the next generation.
11. Repeat steps 5 through 9 until the information in the data table is
complete for five generations.
Observations
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity 2
GENE FREQUENCIES AND NATURAL SELECTION
Objective
Resources
Procedure
2. Place all the beads in the Parents container. The red beads
represent the dominant allele [R] for the red flower color in a plant.
The white beads represent the recessive allele [r] for the white
flower color. The beads in the container represent the gametes
from a population of 50 RR, 100 Rr, and 50 rr individuals.
5. Return all the beads from the Fertile Offspring container to the
Parents container. Repeat step 3 and record your data under the
heading Trial 2 in the table.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
6. Repeat step 5 two more times. Record your data under the
headings Trial 3 and Trial 4.
7. Predict how the allele and phenotypic frequencies will change over
four generations if the white flowers are sterile.
8. Calculate and record the phenotypic and allele frequencies for each
generation.
Analysis
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity 3
DARWINS GREAT VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
Objective
In this activity, you will trace and reflect on Charles Darwins voyage
to the development of his theory of natural selection.
Resources
world map
excerpts from Darwins The Voyage of the Beagle
Procedure
Part A: PUTTING DARWIN ON THE MAP
1. Print the world map and excerpts from Darwins The Voyage of the
Beagle. Each journal excerpt describes a location and indicates the
date and latitude and longitude listings.
2. Trace Darwins voyage by reading the excerpts. You will find that
the journal excerpts are not in chronological order. The voyage of
the Beagle is a collection of many of Darwins journals, and he
arranged the entries in this book by geographical area rather than
by time. Make a list of longitude and latitude listings in the correct
time sequence. Number them and place these numbers on the map
that corresponds to the longitude and latitude readings. If there is
room, indicate on the map the date Darwin visited each location.
4. When you are finished with your map, draw small pictures to
represent your observations.
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Teacher Notes
Darwins curiosity and insight led him to observe both similarities and
differences among organisms and to compare them on the mainland
and the islands 600 miles offshore. Based on his observations, he
wondered about the origin of different plants and animals and the
variations in species he recorded in similar organisms.
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Source: http://www.ncedc.org/cnss/maps/template/world_2.gif
I have stated in the preface to the first edition of this work, and in the Zoology of
the Voyage of the Beagle, that it was in consequence of a wish expressed by
Captain Fitz Roy, of having some scientific person on board, accompanied by an
offer from him of giving up part of his own accommodations, that I volunteered
my services, which received, through the kindness of the hydrographer, Captain
Beaufort, the sanction of the Lords of the Admiralty.
As I feel that the opportunities which I enjoyed of studying the Natural History of
the different countries we visited, have been wholly due to Captain Fitz Roy. I
hope I may here be permitted to repeat my expression of gratitude to him; and to
add that, during the five years we were together, I received from him the most
cordial friendship and steady assistance.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Both to Captain Fitz Roy and to all the Officers of the Beagle, I shall ever feel
most thankful for the undeviating kindness with which I was treated during our
long voyage
AFTER having been twice driven back by heavy southwestern gales, Her
Majesty's ship Beagle, a ten-gun brig, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy,
R. N., sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December 1831. The object of the
expedition was to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego,
commenced under Captain King in 1826 to 1830to survey the shores of Chile,
Peru, and of some islands in the Pacificand to carry a chain of chronometrical
measurements round the World.
On the 6th of January we reached Teneriffe, but were prevented landing by fears
of our bringing the cholera: the next morning we saw the sun rise behind the
rugged outline of the Grand Canary island, and suddenly illuminate the Peak of
Teneriffe, whilst the lower parts were veiled in fleecy clouds. This was the first of
many delightful days never to be forgotten. On the 16th of January 1832, we
anchored at Porto Praya, in St. Jago, the chief island of the Cape Verde
archipelago.
The neighborhood of Porto Praya, viewed from the sea, wears a desolate aspect.
The volcanic fires of a past age, and the scorching heat of a tropical sun, have in
most places rendered the soil unfit for vegetation. The country rises in
successive steps of table-land, interspersed with some truncate conical hills, and
the horizon is bounded by an irregular chain of more lofty mountains. The scene,
as beheld through the hazy atmosphere of this climate, is one of great interest; if,
indeed, a person, fresh from sea, and who has just walked, for the first time, in a
grove of coconut trees, can be a judge of anything but his own happiness.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
In the morning we got under way, and stood out of the splendid harbor of Rio de
Janeiro. In our passage to the Plata, we saw nothing particular, excepting on one
day a great shoal of porpoises, many hundreds in number. The whole sea was in
places furrowed by them; and a most extraordinary spectacle was presented, as
hundreds, proceeding together by jumps, in which their whole bodies were
exposed, thus cut the water. When the ship was running nine knots an hour,
these animals could cross and recross the bows with the greatest of ease, and
then dash away right ahead. As soon as we entered the estuary of the Plata, the
weather was very unsettled.
One dark night we were surrounded by numerous seals and penguins, which
made such strange noises, that the officer on watch reported he could hear the
cattle bellowing on shore. On a second night we witnessed a splendid scene of
natural fireworks; the mast-head and yard-arm-ends shone with St. Elmo's light;
and the form of the vane could almost be traced, as if it had been rubbed with
phosphorus. The sea was so highly luminous, that the tracks of the penguins
were marked by a fiery wake, and by the most vivid lightning, the darkness of the
sky was momentarily illuminated.
The Beagle sailed from Maldonado, and on August the 3rd she arrived off the
mouth of the Rio Negro. This is the principal river on the whole line of coast
between the Strait of Magellan and the Plata. It enters the sea about three
hundred miles south of the estuary of the Plata. About fifty years ago, under the
old Spanish government, a small colony was established here; and it is still the
most southern position (lat. 41 degrees) on this eastern coast of America
inhabited by civilized man.
The Beagle arrived here on the 24th of August, and a week afterwards sailed for
the Plata. With Captain Fitz Roy's consent I was left behind, to travel by land to
Buenos Aires. I will here add some observations, which were made during this
visit and on a previous occasion, when the Beagle was employed in surveying
the harbour.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
The plain, at the distance of a few miles from the coast, belongs to the great
Pampean formation, which consists in part of a reddish clay, and in part of a
highly calcareous marly rock. Nearer the coast there are some plains formed
from the wreck of the upper plain, and from mud, gravel, and sand thrown up by
the sea during the slow elevation of the land, of which elevation we have
evidence in upraised beds of recent shells, and in rounded pebbles of pumice
scattered over the country.
At Punta Alta we have a section of one of these later-formed little plains, which is
highly interesting from the number and extraordinary character of the remains of
gigantic land-animals embedded in it. These have been fully described by
Professor Owen, in the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, and are deposited
in the College of Surgeons. I will here give only a brief outline of their nature.
First, parts of three heads and other bones of the Megatherium, the huge
dimensions of which are expressed by its name. Secondly, the Megalonyx, a
great allied animal. Thirdly, I obtained a nearly perfect skeleton, the
Scelidotherium, also an allied animal. It must have been as large as a rhinoceros:
in the structure of its head it comes according to Mr. Owen, nearest to the Cape
Anteater, but in some other respects it approaches to the armadilloes.
Fourthly, the Mylodon Darwinii, a closely related genus of little inferior size.
Fifthly, another gigantic edental quadruped. Sixthly, a large animal, with an
osseous coat in compartments, very like that of an armadillo. Seventhly, an
extinct kind of horse, to which I shall have again to refer. Eighthly, a tooth of a
Pachydermatous animal, probably the same with the Macrauchenia, a huge
beast with a long neck like a camel, which I shall also refer to again.
Lastly, the Toxodon, perhaps one of the strangest animals ever discovered: in
size it equalled an elephant or megatherium, but the structure of its teeth, as Mr.
Owen states, proves indisputably that it was intimately related to the Gnawers,
the order which, at the present day, includes most of the smallest quadrupeds: in
many details it is allied to the Pachydermata: judging from the position of its
eyes, ears, and nostrils, it was probably aquatic, like the Dugong and Manatee,
to which it is also allied. How wonderfully are the different Orders, at the present
time so well separated, blended together in different points of the structure of the
Toxodon!
The remains of these nine great quadrupeds, and many detached bones, were
found embedded on the beach, within the space of about 200 yards square. It is
a remarkable circumstance that so many different species should be found
together; and it proves how numerous in kind the ancient inhabitants of this
country must have been. At the distance of about thirty miles from Punta Alta, in
a cliff of red earth, I found several fragments of bones, some of large size.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Among them were the teeth of a gnawer, equalling in size and closely resembling
those of the Capybara, whose habits have been described; and therefore,
probably, an aquatic animal. There was also part of the head of a Ctenomys; the
species being different from the Tucutuco, but with a close general resemblance.
The red earth, like that of the Pampas, in which these remains were embedded,
contains, according to Professor Ehrenberg, eight fresh-water and one salt-water
infusorial animalcule; therefore, probably, it was an estuary deposit.
The remains at Punta Alta were embedded in stratified gravel and reddish mud,
just such as the sea might now wash up on a shallow bank. They were
associated with twenty-three species of shells, of which thirteen are recent and
four others very closely related to recent forms. [1] From the bones of the
Scelidotherium, including even the kneecap, being entombed in their proper
relative positions, and from the osseous armour of the great armadillo-like animal
being so well preserved, together with the bones of one of its legs, we may feel
assured that these remains were fresh and united by their ligaments, when
deposited in the gravel together with the shells. [2]
Hence we have good evidence that the above enumerated gigantic quadrupeds,
more different from those of the present day than the oldest of the tertiary
quadrupeds of Europe, lived whilst the sea was peopled with most of its present
inhabitants; and we have confirmed that remarkable law so often insisted on by
Mr. Lyell, namely, that the "longevity of the species in the mammalia is upon the
whole inferior to that of the testacea."
Everything in this southern continent has been effected on a grand scale: the
land, from the Rio Plata to Tierra del Fuego, a distance of 1200 miles, has been
raised in mass (and in Patagonia to a height of between 300 and 400 feet), within
the period of the now existing sea-shells. The old and weathered shells left on
the surface of the upraised plain, still partially retain their colours. The uprising
movement has been interrupted by at least eight long periods of rest, during
which the sea ate, deeply back into the land, forming at successive levels the
long lines of cliffs, or escarpments, which separate the different plains as they
rise like steps one behind the other.
The elevatory movement and the eating-back power of the sea during the
periods of rest, have been equable over long lines of coast; for I was astonished
to find that the step-like plains stand at nearly corresponding heights at far distant
points.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
The lowest plain is 90 feet high; and the highest which I ascended near the
coast, is 950 feet; and of this, only relics are left in the form of flat gravel-capped
hills. The upper plain of Santa Cruz slopes up to a height of 3000 feet at the foot
of the Cordillera.
I have said that within the period of existing seashells, Patagonia has been
upraised 300 to 400 feet: I may add, that within the period when icebergs
transported boulders over the upper plain of Santa Cruz, the elevation has been
at least 1500 feet. Nor has Patagonia been affected only by upward movements:
the extinct tertiary shells from Port St. Julian and Santa Cruz cannot have lived,
according to Professor E. Forbes, in a greater depth of water than from 40 to 250
feet; but they are now covered with sea-deposited strata from 800 to 1000 feet in
thickness.
Hence the bed of the sea, on which these shells once lived, must have sunk
downwards several hundred feet, to allow of the accumulation of the
superincumbent strata. What a history of geological changes does the simply
constructed coast of Patagonia reveal!
Having now finished with Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, I will describe our
first arrival in Tierra del Fuego. A little after noon we doubled Cape St. Diego,
and entered the famous strait of Le Maire. We kept close to the Fuegian shore,
but the outline of the rugged, inhospitable Statenland was visible amidst the
clouds. In the afternoon we anchored in the Bay of Good Success. While
entering we were saluted in a manner becoming the inhabitants of this savage
land. A group of Fuegians partly concealed by the entangled forest, were
perched on a wild point overhanging the sea; and as we passed by, they sprang
up and waving their tattered cloaks sent forth a loud and sonorous shout.
The savages followed the ship, and just before dark we saw their fire, and again
heard their wild cry. The harbor consists of a fine piece of water half surrounded
by low rounded mountains of clay-slate, which are covered to the water's edge by
one dense gloomy forest. A single glance at the landscape was sufficient to show
me how widely different it was from anything I had ever beheld.
At night it blew a gale of wind, and heavy squalls from the mountains swept past
us. It would have been a bad time out at sea, and we, as well as others, may call
this Good Success Bay.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
On January the 15th we sailed from Low's Harbor, and three days afterwards
anchored a second time in the bay of S. Carlos in Chiloe. On the night of the 19th
the volcano of Osorno was in action. At midnight the sentry observed something
like a large star, which gradually increased in size till about three o'clock, when it
presented a very magnificent spectacle. By the aid of a glass, dark objects, in
constant succession, were seen, in the midst of a great glare of red light, to be
thrown up and to fall down.
The light was sufficient to cast on the water a long bright reflection. Large
masses of molten matter seem very commonly to be cast out of the craters in this
part of the Cordillera. I was assured that when the Corcovado is in eruption, great
masses are projected upwards and are seen to burst in the air, assuming many
fantastical forms, such as trees: their size must be immense, for they can be
distinguished from the high land behind S. Carlos, which is no less than ninety-
three miles from the Corcovado. In the morning the volcano became tranquil . . .
This day has been memorable in the annals of Valdivia, for the most severe
earthquake experienced by the oldest inhabitant. I happened to be on shore, and
was lying down in the wood to rest myself. It came on suddenly, and lasted two
minutes, but the time appeared much longer. The rocking of the ground was very
sensible. The undulations appeared to my companion and myself to come from
due east, whilst others thought they proceeded from southwest: this shows how
difficult it sometimes is to perceive the directions of the vibrations.
There was no difficulty in standing upright, but the motion made me almost giddy:
it was something like the movement of a vessel in a little cross-ripple, or still
more like that felt by a person skating over thin ice, which bends under the
weight of his body. A bad earthquake at once destroys our oldest associations:
the earth, the very emblem of solidity, has moved beneath our feet like a thin
crust over a fluid; -- one second of time has created in the mind a strange idea of
insecurity, which hours of reflection would not have produced.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
In the forest, as a breeze moved the trees, I felt only the earth tremble, but saw
no other effect. Captain Fitz Roy and some officers were at the town during the
shock, and there the scene was more striking; for although the houses, from
being built of wood, did not fall, they were violently shaken, and the boards
creaked and rattled together. The people rushed out of doors in the greatest
alarm. It is these accompaniments that create that perfect horror of earthquakes,
experienced by all who have thus seen, as well as felt, their effects. Within the
forest it was a deeply interesting, but by no means an awe-exciting phenomenon.
The tides were very curiously affected. The great shock took place at the time of
low water; and an old woman who was on the beach told me that the water
flowed very quickly, but not in great waves, to high-water mark, and then as
quickly returned to its proper level; this was also evident by the line of wet sand.
The same kind of quick but quiet movement in the tide happened a few years
since at Chiloe, during a slight earthquake, and created much causeless alarm.
In the course of the evening there were many weaker shocks, which seemed to
produce in the harbor the most complicated currents, and some of great strength.
We entered the harbor of Concepcion. While the ship was beating up to the
anchorage, I landed on the island of Quiriquina. The mayor-domo of the estate
quickly rode down to tell me the terrible news of the great earthquake of the
20th:"That not a house in Concepcion or Talcahuano (the port) was standing;
that seventy villages were destroyed; and that a great wave had almost washed
away the ruins of Talcahuano."
Of this latter statement I soon saw abundant proofsthe whole coast being
strewed over with timber and furniture as if a thousand ships had been wrecked.
Besides chairs, tables, book-shelves, etc., in great numbers, there were several
roofs of cottages, which had been transported almost whole.
The storehouses at Talcahuano had been burst open, and great bags of cotton,
yerba, and other valuable merchandise were scattered on the shore. During my
walk round the island, I observed that numerous fragments of rock, which, from
the marine productions adhering to them, must recently have been lying in deep
water, had been cast up high on the beach; one of these was six feet long, three
broad, and two thick.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
The island itself as plainly showed the overwhelming power of the earthquake, as
the beach did that of the consequent great wave. The ground in many parts was
fissured in north and south lines, perhaps caused by the yielding of the parallel
and steep sides of this narrow island. Some of the fissures near the cliffs were a
yard wide. Many enormous masses had already fallen on the beach; and the
inhabitants thought that when the rains commenced far greater slips would
happen.
The effect of the vibration on the hard primary slate, which composes the
foundation of the island, was still more curious: the superficial parts of some
narrow ridges were as completely shivered as if they had been blasted by
gunpowder. This effect, which was rendered conspicuous by the fresh fractures
and displaced soil, must be confined to near the surface, for otherwise there
would not exist a block of solid rock throughout Chile; nor is this improbable, as it
is known that the surface of a vibrating body is affected differently from the
central part.
It is, perhaps, owing to this same reason, that earthquakes do not cause quite
such terrific havoc within deep mines as would be expected. I believe this
convulsion has been more effectual in lessening the size of the island of
Quiriquina, than the ordinary wear-and-tear of the sea and weather during the
course of a whole century
This archipelago consists of ten principal islands, of which five exceed the others
in size. They are situated under the Equator, and between five and six hundred
miles westward of the coast of America. They are all formed of volcanic rocks; a
few fragments of granite curiously glazed and altered by the heat, can hardly be
considered as an exception. Some of the craters, surmounting the larger islands,
are of immense size, and they rise to a height of between three and four
thousand feet. Their flanks are studded by innumerable smaller orifices. I
scarcely hesitate to affirm, that there must be in the whole archipelago at least
two thousand craters. These consist either of lava or scoriae, or of finely
stratified, sandstone-like tuff.
Most of the latter are beautifully symmetrical; they owe their origin to eruptions of
volcanic mud without any lava: it is a remarkable circumstance that every one of
the twenty-eight tuff-craters which were examined, had their southern sides
either much lower than the other sides, or quite broken down and removed.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
As all these craters apparently have been formed when standing in the sea, and
as the waves from the trade wind and the swell from the open Pacific here unite
their forces on the southern coasts of all the islands, this singular uniformity in
the broken state of the craters, composed of the soft and yielding tuff, is easily
explained.
Considering that these islands are placed directly under the equator, the climate
is far from being excessively hot; this seems chiefly caused by the singularly low
temperature of the surrounding water, brought here by the great southern polar
current. The map below shows the route of the voyage of The Beagle.
Except during one short season, very little rain falls, and even then it is irregular;
but the clouds generally hang low. Hence, whilst the lower parts of the islands
are very sterile, the upper parts, at a height of a thousand feet and upwards,
possess a damp climate and tolerably luxuriant vegetation. This is especially the
case on the windward sides of the islands, which first receive and condense the
moisture from the atmosphere.
The rocks on the coast abounded with great black lizards, between three and
four feet long; and on the hills, an ugly yellowish-brown species was equally
common. We saw many of this latter kind, some clumsily running out of the way,
and others shuffling into their burrows. I shall presently describe in more detail
the habits of both these reptiles. The whole of this northern part of Albemarle
Island is miserably sterile.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
The natural history of these islands is eminently curious, and well deserves
attention. Most of the organic productions are aboriginal creations, found
nowhere else; there is even a difference between the inhabitants of the different
islands; yet all show a marked relationship with those of America, though
separated from that continent by an open space of ocean, between 500 and 600
miles in width.
Seeing every height crowned with its crater, and the boundaries of most of the
lava-streams still distinct, we are led to believe that within a period geologically
recent the unbroken ocean was here spread out. Hence, both in space and time,
we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great factthat mystery of
mysteriesthe first appearance of new beings on this earth.
The remaining land-birds form a most singular group of finches, related to each
other in the structure of their beaks, short tails, form of body and plumage: there
are thirteen species, which Mr. Gould has divided into four subgroups. All these
species are peculiar to this archipelago; and so is the whole group, with the
exception of one species of the sub-group Cactornis, lately brought from Bow
Island, in the Low Archipelago. Of Cactornis, the two species may be often seen
climbing about the flowers of the great cactus trees; but all the other species of
this group of finches, mingled together in flocks, feed on the dry and sterile
ground of the lower districts.
The males of all, or certainly of the greater number, are jet black; and the
females (with perhaps one or two exceptions) are brown. The most curious fact is
the perfect gradation in the size of the beaks in the different species of Geospiza,
from one as large as that of a hawfinch to that of a chaffinch, and (if Mr. Gould is
right in including his sub-group, Certhidea, in the main group) even to that of a
warbler.
The largest beak in the genus Geospiza is shown in Fig. 1, and the smallest in
Fig. 3; but instead of there being only one intermediate species, with a beak of
the size shown in Fig. 2, there are no less than six species with insensibly
graduated beaks. The beak of the sub-group Certhidea, is shown in Fig. 4.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
1. Geospiza
magnirostris
2. Geospiza fortis
3. Geospiza parvula
4. Certhidea
olivasea
Source: http://www.du.edu/~ttyler/ploughboy/darwinjrnhg.htm
The beak of Cactornis is somewhat like that of a starling, and that of the fourth
subgroup, Camarhynchus, is slightly parrot-shaped. Seeing this gradation and
diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group of birds, one might
really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species
had been taken and modified for different ends.
I will first describe the habits of the tortoise (Testudo nigra, formerly called
Indica), which has been so frequently alluded to. These animals are found, I
believe, on all the islands of the archipelago; certainly on the greater number.
They frequent in preference the high damp parts, but they likewise live in the
lower and arid districts. I have already shown from the numbers which have been
caught in a single day, how very numerous they must be. Some grow to an
immense size: Mr. Lawson, an Englishman, and vice-governor of the colony, told
us that he had seen several so large, that it required six or eight men to lift them
from the ground; and that some had afforded as much as two hundred pounds of
meat.
The old males are the largest, the females rarely growing to so great a size: the
male can readily be distinguished from the female by the greater length of its tail.
The tortoises, which live on those islands where there is no water, or in the lower
and arid parts of the others, feed chiefly on the succulent cactus. Those which
frequent the higher and damp regions, eat the leaves of various trees, a kind of
berry (called guayavita) which is acid and austere, and likewise a pale green
filamentous lichen (Usnera plicata), that hangs from the boughs of the trees
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
I have not as yet noticed by far the most remarkable feature in the natural history
of this archipelago; it is, that the different islands to a considerable extent are
inhabited by a different set of beings. My attention was first called to this fact by
the Vice-Governor, Mr. Lawson, declaring that the tortoises differed from the
different islands, and that he could with certainty tell from which island any one
was brought. I did not for some time pay sufficient attention to this statement, and
I had already partially mingled together the collections from two of the islands.
I never dreamed that islands, about 50 or 60 miles apart, and most of them in
sight of each other, formed of precisely the same rocks, placed under a quite
similar climate, rising to a nearly equal height, would have been differently
tenanted; but we shall soon see that this is the case. It is the fate of most
voyagers, no sooner to discover what is most interesting in any locality, than they
are hurried from it; but I ought, perhaps, to be thankful that I obtained sufficient
materials to establish this most remarkable fact in the distribution of organic
beings.
At daylight, Tahiti, an island, which must forever remain classical to the voyager
in the South Sea, was in view. At a distance the appearance was not attractive.
The luxuriant vegetation of the lower part could not yet be seen, and as the
clouds rolled past, the wildest and most precipitous peaks showed themselves
towards the centre of the island. As soon as we anchored in Matavai Bay, the
canoes surrounded us
Early in the morning a light air carried us towards the entrance of Port Jackson.
Instead of beholding a verdant country, interspersed with fine houses, a straight
line of yellowish cliff brought to our minds the coast of Patagonia. A solitary
lighthouse, built of white stone, alone told us that we were near a great and
populous city. Having entered the harbour, it appears fine and spacious, with
cliff-formed shores of horizontally stratified sandstone.
The nearly level country is covered with thin scrubby trees, bespeaking the curse
of sterility. Proceeding further inland, the country improves: beautiful villas and
nice cottages are here and there scattered along the beach. In the distance stone
houses, two and three stories high, and windmills standing on the edge of a
bank, pointed out to us the neighbourhood of the capital of Australia.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
We arrived in view of the Keeling or Cocos Islands, situated in the Indian Ocean,
and about six hundred miles distant from the coast of Sumatra. This is one of the
lagoon-islands (or atolls) of coral formation, similar to those in the Low
Archipelago, which we passed near
We sailed from Port Louis, and, calling at the Cape of Good Hope, on the 8th of
July, we arrived off St. Helena. This island, the forbidding aspect of which has
been so often described, rises abruptly like a huge black castle from the ocean.
Near the town, as if to complete nature's defence, small forts and guns fill up
every gap in the rugged rocks. The town runs up a flat and narrow valley; the
houses look respectable, and are interspersed with a very few green trees. When
approaching the anchorage there was one striking view: an irregular castle
perched on the summit of a lofty hill, and surrounded by a few scattered fir-trees,
boldly projected against the sky
On the 19th of July we reached Ascension. Those who have beheld a volcanic
island, situated under an arid climate, will at once be able to picture to
themselves the appearance of Ascension. They will imagine smooth conical hills
of a bright red colour, with their summits generally truncated, rising separately
out of a level surface of the black rugged lava.
A principal mounted in the center of the island, seems the father of the lesser
cones. It is called Green Hill: its name being taken from the faintest tinge of that
colour, which at this time of the year is barely, perceptible from the anchorage.
To complete the desolate scene, a wild and turbulent sea lashed the black rocks
on the coast.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
On the 2nd of October we made the shore, of England; and at Falmouth I left
the Beagle, having lived on board the good little vessel nearly five years
Notes
1. I must take this opportunity of returning my sincere thanks to Mr. Bynoe,
the surgeon of the Beagle, for this very kind attention to me when I was ill
at Valparaiso.
2. Since this was written, M. Alcide dOrbingy has examined these shells,
and pronounced them all to be recent.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Lesson 2
LAMARKS THEORY OF EVOLUTION
TIME
One session
SETTING
Classroom
OBJECTIVES
RESOURCES
PREREQUISITE
Before the lab session, assemble the materials needed per group. Cut
out pictures like that of a moth. You may also assign this to the
students.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
PROCEDURE
Opening Activity
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Main Activity
Guide Questions
a. How did Lamark think evolution occurred?
b. Describe three observations you have made disproving Lamarks
theory of evolution by acquired characteristics.
c. What are two errors in Lamarks theory of evolution?
d. How would Lamark and Darwin explain how snakes evolved from
reptiles with legs?
Discussion Ideas
Hunters and fishers often claim that their sports activities help ensure
the survival of some organisms. Do you agree with this statement?
Explain how you think such activities may affect extinction and
evolution.
Extension Ideas
Darwin was greatly influenced by other people. Describe how your own
life had been influenced- by reading the ideas of other people and
sharing it with others. If you were Lamark, how would you explain the
long legs of a heron?
ASSESSMENT
1. Explain the principle of use and disuse.
2. What genetic information rejects Lamarks hypothesis?
3. What is the difference between Darwins and Lamarks theories of
evolution?
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
HOMEWORK
Answer these questions with a yes or a no. Give a brief explanation for
your answers:
a. Does lifting weights increase the length of the arm?
b. Does reaching for the leaves of a tall tree really make a giraffes
neck longer?
REFERENCES
http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity
MODELLING HOW ADAPTATIONS AID SURVIVAL
Objective
In this activity, your group will make a model that shows how coloration
can be adaptive to moths.
Resources
scissors
4 sheets of classified advertisements from a newspaper
2 sheet of black paper
2 sheets of white paper
envelope
cardboard
timer
Procedure
2. Using the cardboard moth as a guide, trace and cut out 15 white
moths, 15 black moths and 15 newspaper moths.
4. Place three sheets of newspaper on the floor. Close your eyes and
have your partner scatter the moths randomly over the sheets of
newspaper.
5. Now, play the role of a bird. Start in a standing position and see
how many moths you can capture within a certain period of time.
Pick only one moth at a time and stand up straight after capturing
each.
6. Have your partner set the timer for 15 seconds and begin capturing
moths.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity
MAKING INFERENCES ABOUT OFFSPRINGS
Objective
In this investigation, you will infer that organisms can produce more
offspring than will survive.
Resources
pea pods
paper towel
pencil
paper
Procedure
1. Carefully open 10 pea pods, making sure you do not spill any of the
seeds.
2. Count the seeds in the pods. Calculate the number of seeds in a
pod and record this number in a data table like the one shown.
3. Assume that one pea plant of the parent generation bears 10 pods.
Calculate the number of seeds the plant will produce. Record this
number.
4. Suppose each seed germinates for the next four generations.
Calculate and record the number of pea plants you would have
during each generation.
Data Table
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
4. How does natural selection affect the number of pea seeds that
germinate and reproduce?
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Lesson 3
EVIDENCES OF EVOLUTION
TIME
One session
SETTING
Classroom
OBJECTIVES
RESOURCES
PREREQUISITE
Ask the students to bring the materials before the laboratory session
takes place. Let them research on fossils and have them read about
the geologic eras.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
PROCEDURE
Let's say that you are trying to save Php1,000,000,000 pesos and
you are able to save your money at a rate of Php100 per day.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Fossils and blood sera are both tangible objects; yet they are
considered be indirect evidences of evolution. Indirect evidence
provides human insights into evolution.
Half-life
the time required for something to fall to half its initial value (in
particular, the time for half the atoms in a radioactive substance
to disintegrate)
Paleontologist
A specialist in the study of the forms of life existing in prehistoric or
geologic times, as represented by the fossils of plants, animals, and
other organisms.
Sediment
Petrification
Radioactive
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Ancestal origin
Main Activity
Guide Questions
Discussion Ideas
Why have these jars retained their original shapes and forms?
Extension Ideas
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
ASSESSMENT
2. Suppose you find a fossil and are told that it is part of a primitive
horse. You know that dinosaur fossils have also been found in this
area. Relative to a horse fossil, where would you look for dinosaur
fossils? Why?
HOMEWORK
Examine the stone blocks of a building in your area for fossil seashells,
snails, or other evidence of life. Make a list of the different kinds of life
you see. Try to find out where the stones were quarried.
REFERENCES
Olivares, M., et al. 2003. Science and Technology for the Modern
World. Makati City: Diwa Scholastic Press. 230234
http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity 1
MAKING A MOLD AND CAST
Objective
In this activity, you will observe how traces of an organism can be
preserved.
Resources
modeling clay water
plaster of Paris leaves
plastic container small bones shells
petroleum jelly
Procedure
1. Flatten the modeling clay into a thick pancake. Coat the top of the
clay with a thin layer of petroleum jelly.
2. Choose a small object. Rub a small amount of petroleum jelly all
over the object.
3. Gently press the object into the clay.
4. Carefully remove the object so that you leave a sharp outline of the
object in the clay.
5. In the plastic container, mix a small amount of water with plaster of
Paris to make a thick paste.
6. Quickly pour the plaster of Paris into the clay outline. Leave the
plaster to set overnight.
7. Gently press the clay away from the plaster of Paris.
8. Place your plaster of Paris model and the object you used to make
the model on a table. Mix the model and the objects with those that
belong to your classmate. Try to match the original objects with
their plaster model.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity 2
CONSTRUCTING A TIMELINE
Objective
In this activity, you will construct and observe a time line based on
significant events in the earths past.
Resources
meters of adding machine tape
pencil
notebook
meter stick
Procedure
1. On the tape, the length of the line will represent time, with 1
centimeter representing 10 million years.
2. Copy and complete the data table by using the scale 1 cm = 10
million years.
3. Mark one end of your tape present. Plot each of the events from
the data table on the tape.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Lesson 4
INDIRECT EVIDENCES
TIME
Two sessions
SETTING
Classroom/Laboratory/Farm/Zoological garden
OBJECTIVES
RESOURCES
PREREQUISITE
Prepare the activity sheets before lab work is undertaken. Let the
students read about the patterns in chemistry and development. Ask
the students to bring the materials needed for the activity.
PROCEDURE
Opening Activity
1. Show to the students the pictures of the ape and human skeletons.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Turn to the person next to you and share your thoughts (think-
pair-share).
Homologous
Having the same evolutionary origin but serving different
functions; corresponding in structure, position, origin, etc., such
as the feathers of a bird and the scales of a fish, the antigen and
its specific antibody, the allelic chromosomes. An example of
this is the pendactyl limb, which can be found in many
organisms, that have all evolved from one common ancestor.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Analogous
According to a due ratio, conformable, proportionate,
resembling or similar in some respects, as in function or
appearance, but not in origin or development.
Vestigial
Refers to an organ or part (for example, the human appendix)
which is greatly reduced from the original ancestral form and is
no longer functional. Not fully developed in mature animals;
example - rudimentary wings.
Main Activity
Guide Questions
a. Why are patterns in body chemistry and development considered
evidences of evolution?
b. Are the wings of bats and birds analogous or homologous?
c. In what ways were the organisms you drew similar to the earths
earliest organisms?
Discussion Ideas
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Extension Ideas
ASSESSMENT
Write the word or term that best matches each of the phrases below.
Choose your answers from the list below.
Choices
a. homologous
b. vestigial
c. sedimentary rock
d. half-life
e. analogous
HOMEWORK
Could life exist in the other planets in the solar system? Investigate
the environmental conditions of the other eight planets and evaluate
their potential for supporting life. Remember that not all living things
need the same conditions.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
REFERENCES
http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity
EXAMINING HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES
Objective
In this activity, your group will:
examine the bone structure of a frog;
investigate how the homologous structures support the theory of
common descent.
Resources
preserved frog
chicken wings
human skeleton (model/chart)
dissecting pan
scalpel
scissors
forceps
Procedure
2. Pull the frogs arm toward the head. Use your scissors to cut the
muscles around the base of the arm. When you have completed
your cut, the bones of the arm and shoulder should be visible. Pull
back on the arm. The arm should come loose from the shoulder,
but you may have to use your scissors to cut the connections that
hold the arm in place.
3. With your scissors, cut the ends of the muscles away from the bone
on the severed frog arm. Use your forceps to peel the muscles
away from the bones. Remove as much of the muscles from the
frogs arm as you can. Then using a scalpel, gently and carefully
scrape the bones clean.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
1. Put a chicken wing in a dissecting pan. Use your scissors to cut the
skin toward the wing tip. The dotted line in the accompanying figure
indicates where you should cut. Using forceps, remove all the skin
from the chicken wing.
2. Carefully cut the muscles away from the bones using your scissors.
With a scalpel, carefully scrape the bones clean.
Observation
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
PROCEDURE
1. At the end of the unit, students will integrate or argue the biological
theory of evolution as it applies to their own schema. (See Case
No. 1)
5. After the students have presented their project and paper, they will
express their view of evolution in their journal. At this time, students
will read everything they have written up to this point, organize their
thoughts, and provide a written analysis of how the unit fits into
their schema and personal beliefs. This will give the students an
opportunity to evaluate the concept of evolution as it applies to
them and to humans.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
ASSESSMENT
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Student Activity
ESSAY ON EVOLUTION
Case No. 1
A group of evolutionists who live in your area have spent the last week debating
the Rate of Evolution. Knowing that you are a stellar student in the subject of
Biology, they have chosen you to attend one of their meetings in order to try and
resolve their differences. Which argument for the rate of evolution would you
choose? Provide evidence that proves the theory you have chosen to be valid.
Also, include questions and evidence that the opposing side might have to
dispute your claim.
This portion of the assessment plan will serve to evaluate the level of learning of
the students. Students will be required to accomplish this assignment in the last
four days of the unit.
Case No. 2
You live in the year 2299. On New Years Eve, in 1999, a small meteor hit the
Earth causing catastrophic changes in the climate and environment. Over the
following 300 years, the ocean water level rose, causing it to take up 98 percent
of the Earths surface. In addition, the average temperature rose 43 degrees and
clouds were non-existent now. The primary producer in 2299 is seaweed and the
top predators are 500-foot whales.
Your Task
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
2. Using the environmental changes, come up with five adaptations that the
species might develop between 1999 and 2299.
3. In essay form, describe the species. Your essay should include:
3.1 Title
3.2 Species scientific and common names
3.3 Your answers to the following questions:
D. How does each of the five adaptations help the species survive?
REFERENCE
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jshindl/teaching/Maryellen510unitb.htm
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Unit Summary
Using the attached concept map as guide, ask the students to draw their own
concept map to sum up the theories and applications of evolution.
The basic idea of biological evolution is that the earth's present-day species
developed from earlier, distinctly different species.
Natural selection leads to organisms that are well suited for survival in
particular environments. Chances alone can result in the persistence of some
heritable characteristics, having no survival or reproductive advantage or
disadvantage for the organism. When an environment changes, the survival
value of some inherited characteristics may change.
The theory of natural selection provides a scientific explanation for the history
of life on earth as depicted in the fossil record and in the similarities evident
within the diversity of existing organisms.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
Evolution builds on what already exists, so the more variety there is,
the more there can be in the future. But evolution does not necessitate
long-term progress in some set direction. Evolutionary changes appear
to be like the growth of a bush: Some branches survive from the
beginning with little or no change, many die out altogether, and others
branch repeatedly, sometimes giving rise to more complex organisms.
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Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life
may result in
Divergence
Speciation
Eukaryotes
can show
branching
represents giving rise to
may
illustrate Prokaryotes
Phylogenetic
tree giving
illustrated such as rise to
by illustrates
including
Adaptation(s) Definition of such as
may
illustrate Evolution
may be maybe
Change over
favors certain
may be time
Convergence
Shown in different
Change in
may result in
gene
natural
frequencies
selection
Geological periods
reflects is a Indicated
by
Hardy-Weinberg
Equilibrium
populations gene pool
1 http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~iejll/volume4/map_v4n00.gif
Biology: Unit VII - Evolution: Disclosing Past Life