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By Kelsey Kennedy
Arcadia-Overview
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Graders
Seven Sessions
Previous Lesson: Museums
Lesson: Evolution
Materials:
 Crayon boxes – washable markers, crayons, pencils
 Evolution worksheets
Review:
 What did you learn about museums?
 What did you learn about artifacts?
Focus:
 What is evolution, what are the four forces of evolution? Why do anthropologists study
evolution?
Learning Objectives:
 The students will learn about natural selection, mutation, gene flow and genetic drift.
o Natural selection: when traits are more adaptive, they are under pressure from natural
selection. If the trait is adaptive, the parents are likely to survive and pass the trait to
their offspring. After many generations, this adaptive trait is likely to become
permanent and more visible in the population.
o Gene flow: random changes in frequency of traits
o Genetic drift: when a group goes away or comes back into a population and introduces
new traits
o Mutation: when DNA replicates improperly and causes new traits to emerge that were
not present before.
 Students will learn that animals have traits that are adaptive.
o Adaptation: trait that helps an animal survive in its environment
o Trait: characteristic or feature of an animal.
 Students will learn why anthropologists study evolution
o It lets us learn more about human adaptations
o We can learn where we came from and what our ancestors were like.
Independent Practice (Activity):
 Students will be given a worksheet that has animals with parts of their body missing.
 Each clan will decide what environment they want to use.
 They will then come up with new adaptations for the animals, like fur color, teeth, ears, and
wings.
 The goal is for the students to use what they now know about adaptation and selection to come
up with adaptive traits.
PowerPoint script
Intro to Evolution
This week we’re talking about Evolution.
o This is the fossil record of all the animals have ever lived.
o How did we get from there to now?
o Evolution.
o Discuss more after our review.
Review
o CLAP!
o Our first week for physical anthropology
o Review words and definitions
What is Evolution?
o Evolution is change over time that helps a creature adapt to their environment. These changes
are called adaptations.
o Adaption
 Can everyone repeat that word?
o Trait?
 Repeat
 Traits for a human would be like brown hair versus blonde hair, or tall versus
short.
o Understand difference between adaptation and trait?
o Brazillian animals:
 Yellowbanded poision dart frog
 To escape predators, they developed poison.
 Pradtors avoid them because they know they’re posinous by the bright
spots on them.
 Jaguars
 Their spots help them blend in with the shadows.
What makes evolution happen?
o There are FOUR forces that make evolution happen.
o The first two we talk about are gene flow and genetic drift.
o Gene flow is random change in traits. For some RANDOM reason, traits are getting passed down
differently. Eventually the trait can disappear by random chance.
o Marbles
 Start out equal, become more blue than red. Even though they start out equal,
there starts to be more blue than red.
o Genetic drift is when a group goes away or comes back into a population and introduces new
traits.
o Beetles
 The brown beetle is going over to the green beetle place and then in the next
generation, there will problem be some brown beetles.
Mutation
o
Mutation is not TMNT or MONSTERS
o . Mutations are how NEW traits happen.
 DNA gets messed up
 When this happens, it can change how an animal functions, or has new
traits!
o Examples.
 Milk
 What is that little girl doing?
 Drinking milk past infancy is a mutation, and one that a lot of us have.
 Albinism.
 That alligator had a mutation in its DNA that caused it to not produce
melanin, which makes it completely white.
 Bunny
Natural Selection
 The fourth one is the MOST important, because natural selection is what make animals have
new adaptations!!! Some individuals have adaptations that allow them to survive better.
 They will be the ones having children, so those good traits will be passed on. Eventually, after
enough time, this causes change in the whole species.
 It’s called natural selection is because nature selects this to happen. Things in nature may
change, making one trait for adaptive.
 The peppered moth
o During the industrial revolution, there was more pollution in the air. Can anyone guess
what that might have done to the peppered moth, specifically its color?
o They became black.
 The Kea parrot
o It’s carnivorous
 Lives in harsh environment.
 The giraffe is more familiar
o Long neck: why?
 Leaves were higher, so those with long necks could eat and those with shorter
necks couldn’t.
Why do anthropologists study evolution?
 Does anyone have any idea?
 To learn more about human adaptations: what are things that we evolved that are unique to us.
 To learn where we came from and what our ancestors were like.
o What is universal, and what is cultural.
 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
o This goes back to lactose intolerance.
o Disease
