Evolution Lesson Plans

1. Amphibian & Reptile Crafts- "Templates and directions for making a paper mache alligator, a crocodile, a dinosaur, frogs, and a frog puppet."
2. Animal Adaptations- This activity enables students to get a better understanding of adaptations and their relationship to the environment by constructing an animal of their own!
3. Darwin/Lamarck Court Case- This is a fun activity where students learn about evolution by staging a trial. Dicussions and notes are then taken after the trial using the court reporters' notes. This is one the kids will remember all year.

1. Dinosaur Detectives- Students will understand that discoveries about dinosaurs have a long history and that each paleontologist adds his or her work to a body of fossil evidence used to support theories about dinosaurs.
2. Dinosaur Tracks and Critical Thinking- They will learn the rudiments of how tracks are made and how to read them. They will use powers of observation and critical thinking to produce a scenario.
3. Dinosaurs!- The purpose of this activity is to provide the opportunity to practice developmental skills while learning about dinosaurs.
4. Dinosaurs: A Thematic Unit- On completion of this thematic unit, students will be able to identify at least ten different dinosaurs and name them.
5. Introducing Evolution- Two advance organizers for introducing the topic of evolution. Both organizers address students' prior knowledge about the subject.
6. Jurassic Park Projects- These project ideas integrate science with language arts, mathematics and art. They can be used as alternative assessments for students who have read Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.
7. Modeling the Mitochondrial DNA "Clock"- This activity is designed to help students understand the concept of a molecular clock and how the accumulation of mutations reflect the length of time two populations (or two species) have been geographically or reproductively separated from one another.
8. Natural Selection- Introduction to natural selection and the Chi square method of statistical analysis.
9. Species and Systems- Activity in which students apply systems criteria to any species they choose.
10. The Natural Selection of Forks and Beans- In this activity, students actively participate as one of three predator species as they attempt to capture as many individuals as possible of four prey species.
11. The Origins of Man- In this lesson, students learn about new technologies being used to update what is known about human evolution and migration. Students then compare the new theories to the traditional knowledge.
12. Two Kinds of Dinosaurs- Students will compare two kinds of dinosaurs based upon the structure of the pelvis: bird-hipped and reptile-hipped.