Download NOVA Evolution Lab

NOVA Evolution Lab
Name _____________________________
Date ____________ Period ______
This is a computer based lab where you will solve tree puzzles to study taxonomy and
explore evolutionary history. The website link is on your Google Classroom page. Go to
Classroom.google.com  login using your student#@student.mtnhomesd.org and your
network password  click the NOVA Lab link. Confirm location as Boise, ID if asked. 
“Play Game”  click sign in using Google+ and “allow”.
You are now in The NOVA Evolution Lab. You will be completing as many missions as you
can in the next hour. Put on headphones before starting. Enjoy!
Introduction
Watch the video “Evolution 101” and answer the questions before continuing into the
mission tree puzzles.
1. What 2 key ingredients are required for natural selection?
2. Fittest in an evolutionary sense is whoever has
_______________________________________.
3. What did you think was the most interesting information in this video?
Mission 1 – Training Trees
Close the video window and select “Mission 1”. Watch the instructional video to learn how to
complete the mission puzzle trees. Answer these questions as you go along. For the
questions inside each mission, the first puzzle Red, Green and Gecko will be referred to as
puzzle A, Familiar Faces as puzzle B and Tree of Life: Veg. edition as puzzle C and so on
through following missions.
A. Is an animal or a plant more closely related to a fungus?
B. What trait do all animals in the Familiar Faces tree share?
C. Is a banana more closely related to a lemon or an onion?
Mission 2 – Fossils: Rocking the Earth
Watch the video.
1. What did you think was the most interesting information in this video?
Continue into solving the 3 puzzles for this mission and answer the following questions as
you go along.
A. What trait do birds share with a T-rex?
B. What is the first trait that helped aquatic species evolve into creatures that live on land?
C. Which species does not have tail flukes?
Mission 3 – DNA Spells Evolution
Watch the video.
1. The more closely related two species are, their DNA is also going to be very
_______________. The more time that’s passed from when two species split from one
another, the more time there’s been for __________________ to accumulate so the
more ________________ the DNA will be.
Continue into solving the 3 puzzles for this mission and answer the following questions as
you go along.
A. The DNA sequence of the West Indian Ocean coelacanth is closest to which species?
B. In 2013, scientists found that coelacanths are not the closest relative of four-footed
amphibians and other animals. Which species is?
C. What species is most closely related to T. thermohilus?
Mission 4 – Biogeography: Where Life Lives
Watch the video.
1. What did you think was the most interesting information in this video?
Mission 4 Continued… Solve the 3 puzzles for this mission and answer the following
questions as you go along.
A. What food do three of these birds eat?
A2. If a new species of honeycreeper were discovered, and it had a short, straight beak,
which bird in this puzzle would likely be its closest living relative?
B. What tree is most closely related to the Paranã pine?
B2. Thanks to DNA testing, scientists have discovered that a tree in South America is
genetically similar to one in Australia. What is one possible evolutionary inference they
could make from this discovery?
C. Which 2 of these animals use a pouch for development of the young?
C2. Despite living oceans apart, the North American kangaroo rat and Australian hopping
mouse look similar. Both are nocturnal and burrow underground. What can you infer?
Mission 5 – Tree of Life and Death
Watch the video then continue into solving the 3 puzzles for this mission and answer the
following questions as you go along.
A. If blood flukes were to exhibit strict cophyly (rules of close relationship) over millions of
years, you would predict that blood flukes would:
B. Which anti-venom will save Tyler from the bite of the unknown snake?
C. Which ape virus is most closely related to the HIV virus that has killed about 39 million
people due to AIDS?
Mission 6 – You Evolved Too
Watch the video then continue into solving the 3 puzzles for this mission and answer the
following questions as you go along.
A. Based on this tree, who is your closest living relative?
B. What is the closest relative to H. sapiens on this tree?
C. With which archaic human species did some of the ancestors of modern Europeans
interbreed during the past 100,000 years?
WHEN 10-15 MINUTES of class remain……
The Deep Tree – The Tree of Life
Click the little house in the top right corner to take you to the lab home page if you aren’t
there already. Click on the hexagon below the title of the lab that says “Deep Tree”. This
tree shows the relationships between 70,000 species. Watch the video to learn how to
navigate this tree.
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Type “humans” in the search window at the bottom of the page. Look around the tree
and explore life.
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Click the species tabs on the right side to explore other organisms.
1. How many years has it been since a kangaroo and a dog had a common ancestor?
2. List at least 2 interesting things you learned from exploring this tree.