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North East School Division
Unpacking Outcomes
Unpacking the Outcome
Examine  processes and patterns
Examine  significance
Outcome (circle the verb and underline the qualifiers)
BI30-LE2 Examine the significance of evolution as a key unifying theme in biology, through the principles, processes and
patterns of biological evolution.
KNOW
UNDERSTAND
Vocabulary: natural selection, common
ancestor, common descent, genetic drift,
phylogenetic tree, selective breeding,
cladogram, last universal common ancestor,
speciation, selective pressures, punctuated
equilibrium, gradualism, convergent
evolution, adaptive radiation, co-evolution,
mass extinction, evolutionary arms race,
fossil record, radioactive dating, comparative
embryology, homologous structure,
analogous structure, competition, predation,
parasitism, pollution, geographic isolation,
temporal isolation, behavioural isolation
Key researchers: Vesalius, Harvey,
Malthus, Lamarck, Wallace, Wegener,
Margulis, and Gould
Key Concepts and How to’s:
 Theory of Natural Selection
 Environmental causes of evolution
 Represent evolution with cladograms
and phylogenetic trees
 Key contributions of scientists to
evolutionary biology
Prior knowledge:
 Facts vs. myths of evolution – humans
did not come from apes
 Ancestry
 Climatic changes
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The addressing
misconceptions are a
critical component of
understanding a topic
deeply
That natural selection
and genetic drift are the
driving forces behind
evolution
Evidence for evolution
could be represented by
fossil record, radioactive
dating, comparative
embryology, homologous
and analogous structure
The history of our
understanding of
evolution is diverse and
complex
The principle of common
descent is important in
understanding
evolutionary relationships
among organisms
Selective pressures have
driven and continue to
drive the evolution of
species
BE ABLE TO DO
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Identify common misconceptions (e.g., individuals evolve,
natural selection is evolution, evolution is random and evolution
is a theory) regarding biological evolution.
Outline the key principles (e.g., descent with modification, fitness
as a result of adaptations and struggle for existence) and
processes (e.g. natural selection, genetic drift and selective
breeding) of biological evolution.
Investigate how humans use selective breeding (i.e., artificial
selection) to enhance desirable characteristics in organisms.
Explain the importance of the concept of the last universal
common ancestor (LUCA) in understanding evolutionary
relationships among organisms.
Interpret cladograms and phylogenetic trees to determine
evolutionary relationships among organisms.
Identify historical perspectives and key contributions to the field
of evolutionary biology by scientists such as Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck, Thomas Robert Malthus, Charles Darwin, Alfred
Russel Wallace, Alfred Wegener, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Lynn
Margulis, Stephen Jay Gould, and E. O. Wilson.
Discuss how Darwin’s observations informed the development of
the theory of natural selection as a mechanism of evolution.
Recognize how the principles of natural selection occur at the
level of the individual and may result in the evolution of the
population.
Examine how particular selective pressures (e.g., competition,
predation, changes in climate, parasitism and pollution) acting
on an individual can influence a population over time.
Explain how geographic, temporal and behavioural isolation can
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There are large scale
patterns and processes
in evolution
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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
How are misconceptions developed and refuted?
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Did humans really come from apes?
Can life change?
Can biology be biology without evolution?
What are the driving forces of evolution? How does it happen?
What evidence do we have for evolution?
How has our understanding of evolution changed over time?
Why is the principle of common descent important?
What pressures impact evolution of a species?
What are the large scale patterns and processes of evolution?
What kinds of isolation influence speciation and how?
influence speciation.
Identify concepts (e.g., gradualism versus punctuated
equilibrium, convergent evolution, divergent evolution,
coevolution, adaptive
radiation, mass-extinction and the evolutionary arms race) that
are only evident when examining evolution over a multitude of
generations extending to geological time.
Examine how scientists use the fossil record, radioactive dating,
comparative embryology and homologous and analogous
structures as evidence of biological evolution.
Explore human evolution in relationship to other primates,
considering the Out of Africa hypothesis and the agricultural
revolution.