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Standard #: SC.7.L.15.2
This document was generated on CPALMS - www.cpalms.org
Explore the scientific theory of evolution by recognizing and explaining ways in which genetic
variation and environmental factors contribute to evolution by natural selection and diversity of
organisms.
Subject Area: Science
Grade: 7
Body of Knowledge: Life Science
Big Idea: Diversity and Evolution of Living Organisms A. The scientific theory of evolution is the organizing principle of life science.
B. The scientific theory of evolution is supported by multiple forms of evidence.
C. Natural Selection is a primary mechanism leading to change over time in organisms.
Date Adopted or Revised: 02/08
Content Complexity Rating: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning - More
Information
Date of Last Rating: 05/08
Status: State Board Approved
Assessed: Yes
TEST ITEM SPECIFICATIONS
Reporting Category: Life Science
Item Type(s): This benchmark will be assessed using: MC item(s) Also Assesses
SC.7.L.15.1 Recognize that fossil evidence is consistent with the scientific theory of
evolution that living things evolved from earlier species.
SC.7.L.15.3 Explore the scientific theory of evolution by relating how the inability of a
species to adapt within a changing environment may contribute to the extinction of that
species.
Clarification :
Students will identify and/or explain ways in which genetic variation and environmental
factors contribute to evolution by natural selection and diversity of organisms.
Students will identify and/or explain ways in which fossil evidence is consistent with the
scientific theory of evolution.
Students will identify and/or explain how a species’ inability to adapt may contribute to the
extinction of that species.
Content Limits :
Items will not address topics such as speciation, genetic drift, or gene pools.
Items will not assess or address hominid evolution or primate fossils.
Items assessing fossil evidence should focus on progressions over time/evolution from
earlier species and/or the idea that not all species alive today were alive in the past.
Items will not assess fossils in the context of relative dating or plate tectonics/continental
movement.
Stimulus Attributes :
None specified
Response Attributes :
None specified
Prior Knowledge :
Items may require the student to apply science knowledge described in the NGSSS from
lower grades. This benchmark requires prerequisite knowledge from SC.5.L.15.1 and
SC.5.L.17.1.
SAMPLE TEST ITEMS (1)
Test
Item #
Sample
Item 1
Question
Difficulty Type
A certain reptile species is a herbivore and exists only on an
N/A
isolated island. Which of the following would most likely result
in the extinction of the reptile species over a period of twenty
thousand years?
Related Courses
Course Number
Course Title
MC:
Multiple
Choice
2000010:
7820016:
2002085:
2000020:
7920040:
2002070:
2002080:
2000025:
M/J Life Science (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 and
beyond (current))
Access M/J Comprehensive Science 2 (Specifically in versions:
2014 - 2015, 2015 and beyond (current))
M/J Comprehensive Science 2 Accelerated Advanced (Specifically
in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 and beyond (current))
M/J Life Science, Advanced (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015,
2015 and beyond (current))
Fundamental Integrated Science 3 (Specifically in versions: 2013 2015, 2015 - 2017 (course terminated))
M/J Comprehensive Science 2 (Specifically in versions: 2014 2015, 2015 and beyond (current))
M/J Comprehensive Science 2, Advanced (Specifically in versions:
2014 - 2015, 2015 and beyond (current))
M/J STEM Life Science (Specifically in versions: 2015 and beyond
(current))
Related Access Points
Independent
Access Point Number
SC.7.L.15.In.2
Access Point Title
Recognize that physical characteristics of living things are adapted
to deal with the conditions of the environment, such as skin color or
gills on a fish.
Supported
Access Point Number
SC.7.L.15.Su.2
Access Point Title
Recognize that common plants or animals have special features that
enable them to live in their environment, such as a as a fish has
gills so it can live underwater.
Participatory
Access Point Number
SC.7.L.15.Pa.2
Related Resources
Lesson Plan
Access Point Title
Recognize a personal characteristic, such as hair color, that is
different from the parents.
Name
Description
This resource uses a variety of techniques to address the factors that
contribute to natural selection. Included in the lesson is a hook to
5E Natural Selection Module
engage students, a weblab exercise, a poster activity for expression
and a hands-on simulation.
This is an introductory lesson that enables students to explore
camouflage as an adaptation that enables organisms to escape
predation. Students decorate moths and place them around the
Attack of the Moth Eaters
classroom to hide them from the moth eater birds. Students then get
the opportunity to be the birds and search for moths hidden by their
classmates. This lesson lets students explore adaptations that help
the moths survive in their environment.
Students learn that an animal's physical attributes, such as a bird's
beak, may provide an advantage for survival in one environment
Bird Buffet (Animal Survival)
but not in another. Students will participate in modeling and
investigating structure and function relationships.
This lesson is designed to help students to explore Natural
Bird Feet: What do they
Selection by the adaptation of bird feet to their habitat and food
mean?
choices.
Students will see how evolution works with a simulated breeding
bunnies lab using red and white beans, one representing dominant
Breeding Bunnies and Flashy
alleles and the other recessive alleles. This lesson can be used in
Fish
sixth grade with some minor modifications of the directions and the
data being recorded.
This lesson plan from National Geographic uses the domestication
Evolution-- from Wolf to
of the dog as a platform to explain evolution and adaptation. Using
Woof
an article from National Geographic, world maps and internet
research, students will map the movement of dogs across the world.
In this lesson, students will analyze an informational textintended
to support reading in the content area. This article describes new
research suggesting urban life creates evolutionary changes in
plants and animals. Examples of changes to an urban growing plant
Evolution in the City
(the white clover) and a Leapin’ Lizard are described as they evolve
to suit their new environment. This lesson includes a note-taking
guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys,
and a writing rubric.
The 5E lesson addresses the theory of evolution beginning with
Darwin's travels and observations. The lesson builds on the
Exploring the Theory of
evidence and observations of Darwin by teaching how genetic
Evolution
variation and environmental factors affect evolution. This is then
related to the ability or inability of a species to adapt with in a
changing environment.
Students read an interesting article about a fish with a see-through
head to help them think about traits that are beneficial in a certain
Fish with a See-Through Head
environment (adaptation). They also consider how improved
observations lead to more sophisticated science ideas.
In this lesson, students will recognize and explain ways an
organism can be affected by genetics, environmental factors and
relate how an organism can be in danger of extinction if it cannot
adapt to its environment.
The teacher implements a variety of instructional components:

Florida Birds: Who has the
Best Beak?



Students read two e! Science News articles (can read online
if internet accessible or the teacher can make copies for
class ahead of time) on bird adaptations.
Students then research a Florida coastal bird from a list
provided in the lesson to create a "Vote for Me" poster.
With this, students summarize their research and
information gathered on a Florida coastal bird and try to
convince their classmates that their bird's beak is the "best."
Students will engage in the Battle of the Beaks hands-on
activity using everyday items to simulate different bird
beaks.
Finally, students will write a response to "Who has the best
beak?" using references from the science news articles, the
poster presentations, and their research (website links in
lesson)
This role-playing activity will visually show students how genetic
variation and environmental factors contribute to evolution by
Kingsnakes: Can Genetic
natural selection and diversity of organisms. During this activity,
Variation be Advantageous in students will represent the alleles themselves! Students will "mate"
Changing Environments?
to create various genotypes and phenotypes through an engaging,
fun, and content-enriched activity. Students will use scientific and
mathematical skills to complete and draw conclusions.
In this lesson, students will use dice to simulate environmental
pressures on a moth population. The comparison and analysis of
Moth Survival
theoretical and experimental data will be the main focus of the
activity.
In this lesson, students simulate the process of natural selection and
its effects on prey phenotype frequencies over multiple generations.
Students are provided with four background patterns and many
prey pieces in four corresponding patterns. In this way, each prey
Natural Selection on Beach
type is well-camouflaged for one corresponding background, but is
Mice
less suited to the others in varying degrees. Following several
rounds of natural selection simulation, students compare
prey phenotype frequencies to those frequencies found using
random selection.
Natural Selection with
In this lesson, students will explore the use of probability models to
Probability Models
simulate natural selection of a type of organism. Using theoretical
and experimental probability concepts will help enhance the idea
that simulations do not always behave as expected.
SYMBIOSIS - Episode 3:
Inside the Pea Aphid (Dr.
Alex Wilson's Amazing Pea
Aphids!)
This lesson uses the MyStemKits.com Rabbit Kit.
Dr. Alex Wilson of the University of Miami is an evolutionary
biologist whose research centers on symbiotic relationships. In this
short animated film, she explains exactly how the bacteria aids the
aphid. The film explores how scientists use what they learn to seek
evolutionary patterns in nature. "SYMBIOSIS – Episode 3: Inside
the Aphid" from Day's Edge Productions on Vimeo is the third of
four films created with funding from the National Science
Foundation. This lesson, which includes a pre-test, slide
presentation, activity, and formative assessment was developed to
support the learning concepts provided by Dr. Wilson's films.
Text Resource
Name
Between a Rock and a Wet
Place
Caught in the Act
Early Tyrannosaurs Would
Have Feared This Predator
Evolved to Run
Description
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. The article explains how natural selection can lead
to changes in populations. Variations in body types were observed
in a species of climbing goby (a fish) in Hawaii. These variations
allow differential success in avoiding predators and climbing
waterfalls. Depending on conditions on different islands,
individuals with certain body types are more likely to thrive
because their body type makes it easier for them to survive and
reproduce.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. This article describes several fascinating
examples of rapid evolution by natural selection. It explains
research on three organisms—cichlids, crickets and sea urchins—
that demonstrates how these creatures have quickly adapted to their
changing environments. This is a very useful article for students
beginning to explore the concepts of natural selection, evolution,
and extinction.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. This article discusses how the early tyrannosaur's
rise to dominance was likely delayed by the existence of a newly
discovered, fiercer predator with which it competed. The new dino,
Siats meekerorum, likely postponed tyrannosaur's emergence as the
top predator in its ecosystem.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. The text compares the bone and muscle structure
of early Homo sapiens and Neandertals. It describes the ability to
run long distances in one and not the other and explains how this
difference may have evolved.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. The article discusses how crickets on two
Hawaiian islands have evolved wings that make them silent in
For Some Male Crickets,
response to parasitoid flies that locate male crickets via sound (and
Silence Means Survival
eat them from the inside out!). The crickets on Kauai and Oahu
evolved completely different silent wing types, which is evidence
that these two cricket populations evolved their silent wings
independently.
House Cat Origin Traced to This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
Middle Eastern Wildcat
the content area. The article discusses how a changing environment
Ancestor
may have led to the domestication of cats.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. The human evolution of bipedalism (walking
upright) has resulted in a change in the morphology of the spine,
Many Human Ails are ‘Scars’
feet, and other features of modern humans that are also present in
of Evolution
fossils of our hominid ancestors. These changes have resulted in
unintended consequences - body pains and injuries that our nonbipedal primate relatives do not experience.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. The article discusses current thinking and popular
hypotheses for the function of zebra stripes. A recent study
One Plus to Wearing Stripes
indicates that zebra stripes may protect the animals from fly bites,
which are both a nuisance to the animals and a means of spreading
infectious fatal diseases.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. It describes new research suggesting urban life
Plants, Animals Adapt to City creates evolutionary changes in plants and animals. Examples of
Living
changes to an urban growing plant (the white clover) and a
Leapin' Lizard are presented as they evolve to suit their new
environment.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. The article is mostly a biography of Charles
The Man Who Rocked
Darwin, including his studies and what drove him to be a biologist.
Biology to its Core
The second half of the article discusses his theory of evolution by
natural selection and his influences on the development of the
theory. It gives a synopsis of how natural selection operates.
This informational text resource is intended to support reading in
the content area. The appendix has long been thought to be useless.
However, new research suggests that the appendix actually can
What the Appendix is Good have a healthy function - to harbor bacteria beneficial to the
For
immune system. This would have been vital early in humans'
evolutionary history, when the chance of infection was much higher
and medicine was lacking, and may still play that role for people in
less developed parts of the world.
WebQuest
Name
Evidence for Evolution
Description
PBS has developed an EXCELLENT unit on Evolution It has great
activities, video clips, and games that lead a student through the
mechanisms that lead to evolution, evidence that supports
evolution, and the evolution ideas/scientific discoveries.
Lesson Study Resource Kit
Name
Exploring Diversity and
Evolution grades 6-8
Description
This toolkit is designed to assist lesson study teams as they work to
develop a unit on natural selection that conforms to the NGSSS for
science and the State Standards for mathematics and English
language arts.
Problem-Solving Task
Name
Learning in Florida's
Environment (LIFE) - Fish
Adaptations
Description
Students collect fish using seine nets and observe/explain how the
physical traits of fish are related to long term environmental factors
and genetic variation and adaptation.
Virtual Manipulative
Name
Natural Selection
Description
Students will explore natural selection by controlling the
environment and causing mutations in bunnies. This will
demonstrate how natural selection works in nature. They will have
the opportunity to throw in different variables to see what will
make their species of rabbit survive.
Assessment
Name
Performance Task for a Unit
on evolution
Description
Complete a brochure for the Galapagos Islands. The purpose of
your brochure is to attract tourists to the island in order to support
research and preservation of the island and its many natural
resources.
Original Tutorial
Name
Description
Population Variation:
Genotype (Part 2 of 2)
Examine how evolution is influenced by genetic variation, natural
selection, and allele frequency through the lens of organism
genotype.
Teaching Idea
Name
The Benefits of Biodiversity
Description
This activity explores concepts studied by genetic scientists as well
as biomedical and environmental engineers.
Perspectives Video: Expert
Name
Using Mathematics to
Optimize Wing Design
Description
Nick Moore discusses his research behind optimizing wing design
using inspiration from animals and how they swim and fly.
Student Resources
Name
Description
Students will explore natural selection by controlling the environment and
causing mutations in bunnies. This will demonstrate how natural selection
Natural Selection
works in nature. They will have the opportunity to throw in different
variables to see what will make their species of rabbit survive.
Population Variation: Examine how evolution is influenced by genetic variation, natural
Genotype (Part 2 of 2) selection, and allele frequency through the lens of organism genotype.