History of Life Lesson Plans

  • Multimedia
    The Science of Ape Intelligence
    Lesson Plan
    Video
     
    Multimedia
    Student will watch the video about the science of ape intelligence and, after watching, discuss answers to questions related to similarities and differences between intelligence in apes and in humans. Students are first organized into teams to track experiments and field observations. Students then watch the video (online or by DVD) and take notes on their topic. Student next will meet in their groups and fill in the two worksheets. Lastly, student will have a class discussion about the topics discussed.
    NGSS Standard
    		  
    Published by Margy Kuntz, NGHT, Inc. and WGBH Educational Foundation High School
  • Worksheet
    Deep Time: Finding the Ages of Rocks & Fossils
    Lesson Plan
     
    Worksheet
    Students are taken through a combination of some background information and interactive experiences using a narrative that includes concepts of isotopes, radioactive decay, half-life, mineral formation, age analysis, Fair Test questions, and isochrons.
    NGSS Standard
    HS-LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
    		  
    Published by Larry Flammer High School
  • Class Activity
    Experience Deep Time & Earliest Fossils
    Lesson Plan
     
    Activity
    Students gradually build a realistic sense of deep, geological time from familiar linear analogs, e.g. calendars and football fields. Students also learn to associate the earliest fossils of specific groups of vertebrates with the geologic time of their emergence, on the now-familiar scale of relative distances from their school. From this, students discover the pattern of gradual vertebrate emergence and how well it consistently fits vertebrate phylogeny.
    NGSS Standard
    HS-LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
    		  
    Published by Larry Flammer High School
  • Lab Experiment
    Creating Coacervates
    Lesson Plan
     
    Experiment
    Students mix a carbohydrate solution with a protein solution, adjust the pH, and view coacervates: amoeba-like objects, which change shape, flow, merge, divide, form "vacuoles", release "vacuole contents", and show other life-like properties. Students understand that under suitable conditions, life-like structures can form naturally from relatively simple materials.
    NGSS Standard
    HS-LS4.C: Adaptation
    		  
    Published by Larry Flammer High School
  • Assessment
    Evolution of Populations Quiz
    Multimedia
     
    Assessment
    This quiz assesses students knowledge of how populations evolve, gene pools, types of isolation, speciation, species diversity, genetic drift, and macroevolution.
    NGSS Standard
    HS-LS4.B: Natural Selection
    HS-LS4.C: Adaptation
    		  
    Published by High School

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