Darvin and Evolution - Lesson Plan
Crossflatts Primary School
Morton Lane
Crossflatts
Bingley
West Yorkshire
BD16 2EP
Tel: 01274 782070 louarmour@hotmail.com 26 August 2011
Dear Reader, Re: Darwin, Evolution and the Origins of Life
I wrote this plan (see below) as a Topic for our Yr5/6. Time constraints meant I couldn’t cover everything I wanted to cover during ‘Topic’. Other investigations that may have been included are:
Artificial Selection
Why are cows and sheep not extinct? Why are there so many kinds of dog?
Where do red, blue and black roses come from? What are yellow bananas?
Sexual Selection
Why do peacocks –and many other birds - have such beautiful plumage? A predator can find them easily, so why have they evolved that way?
A ‘festive’ example (cough): ‘Why do reindeer have antlers?’1
Do Mammals Have Emotions?
Do mammals experience fear, happiness, sadness, grief?
I hope to address these and other questions during Science.
In the meantime, here is a collection of books which you may or may not find useful:
Richard Dawkins’ book is a hardcore response to all who question evolution as scientific fact.
Chris Stringer works at the National History Museum and is often called upon by the media to explain the origins of modern humans. His The Origin of our Species is a popular and engaging read which sets out to answer all the big questions in the debate about our origins. The graphic adaptation of Origins by Keller and illustrator Nicolle Rager Fuller is a marvellous version of Darwin’s seminal work. The illustrations are drawn from Darwin’s own words, including his diaries and letters. The book is brought up to date with a graphic account of recent breakthroughs in evolutionary science. It would make a wonderful gift for teenagers and adults with an interest in evolutionary theory. I love it. The nutty looking book by Murphy is funny, informative and perfect for Yr 5/6 +. I would highly recommend it for use when planning the ‘Life’ units in the Science SoW. The final book would be enjoyed by Yr5/6 and anyone requiring a gentle introduction to Darwin and his ideas.
The first lesson is a look at the Genesis account and other creation myths, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this plan is creationism or so-called ‘intelligent’ design in disguise, it most definitely isn’t! It is a celebration of Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory.
I believe Darwin’s “dangerous idea” is one of the most important topics we’ll ever teach our kids. I hope you enjoy teaching it.
Kind regards,
Lou Armour
Darwin, Evolution and the Origins of Life
L 1/2 - All Things Bright And Beautiful
Success Criteria
I can write a creation myth.
Intro
Entry song: Sing the first verse of All Things Bright And Beautiful.
What is the hymn about? Why do you think it was written? Does anybody know of any other songs, rhymes, etc that describe the rich diversity of life found on earth?
Show: How God created the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_QcEudi87I&feature=related What is the little girl attempting to explain? Where did she get the explanation from? Display the relevant Genesis passage as a timetable.
What do you think about the Genesis story as an explanation of life? Are there any oddities about the Genesis account? How old do you think the world is according to Genesis? (Creationists believe the world is only 6000 -10,000 years old).
Activity
Entry question: All cultures have creation myths. Do you know of any? Greek, Egyptian, Norse? Rudyard Kipling? How many creation myths do you think there are? Is there any reason why any one story should be the ‘correct’ one?
Part 1Story Telling Task
Show the clips, complete with a brief discussion of their story features/structure between each. Record the features, etc on the board for later use.
How elephant got his trunk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbIHqJ5p_cQ
How Zebra got her stripes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ6RVuip82s&feature=related Why Bat flies at night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8HDpCUi1po&feature=related LA - Referring to the board prompts and pictures children plan and write their own story book from ONE of Elephant, Zebra and Baboon, Koala or Bat.
MA/HA – + those LA who wish to do so - work in pairs and write an original and creative story for ONE of the following:
How Tiger got her stripes How Peacock got his feathers
How Leopard got his spots How Kangaroo got her pouch
How Tortoise got his shell How bear got her stumpy tail
Encourage children to act out their story as a means of composing it and telling it. Inform HA children that they will be telling their story during ‘Myth Time’.
Activity continues overleaf.
Part 2 Outdoor Task: Critical Thinking entry:
a) Observation and discussion walk around the top field/Dingley Dell/flower beds, etc. Ask critical questions – lots of why and how - about ‘supernatural design’, leaf structure, complexity, etc without straying into Darwin and evolution.
b) Inform children that scientists estimate the world to be about 5.1 billion years old. Create the 'The Loo Roll Timeline'. Say, ‘Wow!’ Discuss. Take photos.
c) Un-peg two of the lines, remove their post-its and add them to the Zero end of one of the other lines so that you have one long line made up of three of the original lines. Line 1 (with it’s post-its in place) + Line 2 + Line 3 = The Age of the Universe. Now take a look at the red edge! So where would the Genesis 6,000 – 10,000 years be now!!!!? Microscopic!
Assessment and Look Forward
Q1: Did anybody notice anything odd about Day 1 and Day 4? (see below) What are your thoughts about the Genesis story in light of making the ‘Loo Roll Timeline?’ Why would an all powerful, caring and gentle God create a wasp which seeks only to burrow into the bodies of living caterpillars with the intention of eating them from the inside? What is the point of it?
For the next lesson: Ask children to bring in as many toy animals and small world vegetation as they can carry. Ask children to begin making a list in their Diaries of the types of living things they see day to day and to bring it in next lesson.
Nota bene – Those Diaries may have a use after all.
Talking with friends and family
Does science have anything to say about life on earth? Can anyone think of any really old things that have been found, in a rock or on a beach, say? Scientific evidence tells us that the earth is over 5 billion years old. Life first originated in the oceans 3.4 billion years ago. The dinosaurs died out 65 million years in the past. The first modern humans (Homo Sapiens) appeared 100,000 yrs ago but the recorded history of humans stretches back only 10,000 years in time. Find out more about these things. Talk about these things with a friend for next time. Begin making your own Evolution journal at home (It could be a combination of literacy homework and voluntary work, so there could be an incentive of some sort i.e. credits).
Lesson Resources
Writing and drawing materials. Loo rolls, tents pegs, knitting needles, long nails, post-it notes.
Teaching Support
Creation myths: http://www.magictails.com/creationlinks.html
A1: God supposedly creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn't make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day. So how could there be "the evening and the morning" on the first day if there was no sun to mark them?
Myth Time: Split the children into groups for ‘Myth Time’ on the carpet and around tables, etc. HA children read/act out their story to their group. On completion - if time allows - children move to another story teller. Further stories, including, Elephant, Zebra, Bat, can be told at the end of each day over the course of the week.
L 3-4 Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful
Success Criteria
None as such. The aim here is to inspire awe and wonder.2 Learning about classification is a bonus!3
Introduction
Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful.
Entry activity: Children place their toys and small world materials on their tables.
Entry phrase: Write the above phrase on the board and read it aloud using an dramatic voice to inject a sense of wonder. Ask the children if they can figure out what this exquisite phrase refers to. Ask: If ‘forms’ means ‘kinds of’, what do you think is being described? (The above phrase is taken from the conclusion of Darwin’s On The Origin of Species By Natural Selection, 1859).
Activity
Entry Qs: How many kinds of living organisms exist upon on the earth?4 How many have been made extinct?5
Task 1: Using toy animals, small world vegetation and large sheets of paper children to begin to make a (HUGE!) list of living organisms (use this term repeatedly throughout term). Prompt children for as wide a variety of living organisms as possible. Can children see any similarities or differences between the organisms listed/shown?
Task 2: Using toy animals, small world vegetation and large sheets of paper: How can living organisms be grouped into different things? Children use their own grouping criteria to group them. What discoveries have they made? What problems ensue? Help by providing prompts: weeds, trees, flowers, insects, micro-organisms, marine, land and air life. How far can children keep going with the groups? Would a Venn diagram help? (MA/HA maths children especially). Do any of the living things live and exist in 2 or 3 environments? (amphibians, flying insects, seabirds, otters, turtles, etc)
Outdoor Competition: Teams fill a matchbox with as many different living organisms as possible.
Assessment and Look Forward
Discuss the results. Tell me something about the lists and diagrams we have made. Help children to develop a sense of awe and wonder at the diversity of life. Finish with ‘Where do these endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful come from?’ ‘How is such diversity possible?’ Inform children that they will be learning more about the classification of living organisms during Science. For the next lesson: Ask children to bring in: a toy dinosaur, animal or doll, a box for the toy, a simple gardening tool for digging e.g. a small fork or trowel.
Darwin’s iPod: Charles Darwin loved listening to music and dancing with pretty ladies - I know, I know ... but that’s because people only ever see the photos of him as an old man – so we are going to begin a collection of music that Darwin would have on his iPod were he alive today. Who would like to be the collector of the iPod music? You will be responsible for overseeing the downloading of any requested mp3 track and recording the name of it’s contributor. To be a contributor you will have to pay its cost – via my Amazon account - which will probably be between 50-90p per track. For example, I will pay for Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful World’, price 69p. At the end of the topic we shall celebrate Darwin and have his iPod playing in the back ground whilst we do so. Collectors and contributors - in role viz. the great man - could present Charles Darwin’s ‘Galapagos Island Discs’ to parents during our class-based assembly.
Talking with friends and family
Ask children to think about these and other questions and to discuss them with their friends before the next lesson. Ask the children to wonder what they might be learning about next time?
Lesson Resources
Large sheets of paper, post-its, card for labels and drawing materials.
The scope for ICT use in every one of these lesson is enormous – interactive timelines, natural selection games, movies, etc -, but the netbooks are too small, too unreliable, and too few in number for all classes to be using simultaneously. And ‘1 between 2’ tends to cause more problems than it solves? Perhaps Jo could ad many of the links to our class web pages so kids can explore them at home?
Teaching Support
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin See also the resources I have put on the R:drive. In addition I have several books about Darwin and evolution which people may wish to borrow.
L 5/6 - Darwin’s great adventure.
Success Criteria
I know what fossils are, how they are made and what they can tell us.
I can describe what Darwin saw on his voyage aboard the Beagle and some of the difficulties he faced collecting his specimens
.
Introduction
Charles Darwin’s great adventure.
Entry question: Hold up a £10 note and ask: Who is this? What is she famous for? Turn it over and ask ‘Who is this? What is he famous for? Explain that he is probably the most important scientist who ever lived. And he’s British!
Explain that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was the first scientific theory to explain the appearance of not just some, but all living species. Darwin’s theory told us how all living things are related. It also explained the origin of new species, why some species became extinct and the reason for the great variety of life on earth, why there are so many “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful”.
Activity
Entry Qs: Who was Charles Darwin? Give children a potted history of his early life. (see below)
Display pictures of the young Darwin – he was only 25 - the map of Beagle’s journey and tell the story of the Beagle’s voyage and of the many wonderful things Darwin observed.
Talk about Darwin’s fossils finds. Do you know what fossils are? Do you know where they are found? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxDQwBZj9o8&feature=related Show fossil pictures and discuss. What are fossils? What do they tell us? What do marine fossils tell us when they are found at the top of a mountain? Describe and illustrate Darwin’s fossil finds. It may help yr6 to remind them of their ‘Mountains’ topic and mountain rock layers are formed.
Display the Homologous Structures picture. Ch work with a friend to solve the puzzle illustrated. What are the skeletons evidence of? What can be inferred from them? (Remind ch about inferring from a text).
Outdoor Task: Play at being palaeontologists and fossil hunters. Children make fossils outdoors. (A day or two later they again play at being palaeontologists and dig up another’s fossil, taking care not to damage it, just as real scientists do). Take photos.
Part 2 - Darwin’s observations caused him to think very deeply about Evolution. Evolution is about change over time. Specifically, it is about how species change over time.
Emphasise the excitement, wonder and scientific endeavour of observation in such weird and wonderful environments. What practical and/or scientific problems do you think Darwin faced?
Watch the clip and answer these questions: How did such a wide variety of living organisms first appear on the Galapagos? After arriving what did many species begin to do? http://science.discovery.com/videos/galapagos-beyond-darwin-charles-darwin.html What does ‘adapting’ mean? Can you give me an example from the clip?
How do some of the organisms survive? http://science.discovery.com/videos/galapagos-beyond-darwin-creatures-of-galapagos.html The things that help an organism survive are called ‘traits’ and they can be passed on. Most traits are inherited (but not all), a bit like passing on hair and eye colour. Show photos of a family if it helps clarification.
Assessment and Look Forward
Ask children to think about what the fossil record and the Genesis account tell us about the age of the earth and all that live upon it. What do they make of the fact that both geology and the fossil record tell us that the earth is billions of years old, yet the bible says the earth was created only 6000 years ago? Which account is based on evidence and which account is simple belief? Help children to distinguish between scientific facts based upon other facts and overwhelming evidence, and stories which require only belief. A detective’s ‘Who done-it’ puzzle may help (Sherlock Holmes was incorrect: it’s inductive not deductive reasoning). For the next lesson: Ask children to bring in a yoghurt tub, tongs, pegs, ladles and anything else that can be used as a pretend bird beak. The wider the range of implements the better. We also need plastic cups cut in half, very thin milk straws (remind me to get some from Nursery and Reception waste bins!), long balloons, jelly beans, smarties, a couple of tins of fruit cocktail, soft fruits, berries, fruit juice, chick peas, peas, seeds, etc for food and at least one washing up bowl and a cereal or fruit bowl per 4 children. Ask children to bring in handfuls of the food stuff and can chuck it in a class box ready for the lesson.
Talking with friends and family
Talk about fossils. Find more clips and videos about fossils and the Galapagos Islands and watch them together. Make one at home and put a photo of it in your Journal. Draw pre-historic fossils such as Trilobites, too.
Lesson Resources
Plaster of Paris or similar. Toy dinosaurs and dolls (undressed). Digging implements. Small brushes. A cardboard box for each toy brought in. A tent peg or nail. Post-it notes.
Teaching Support
Why are there no transitional fossils? is a question a parent may ask. Here is an answer put in terms of a family photo album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QywH7F0eKj0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
This one shows evolutionary theory being used to predict which fossils should be found. Fabulous examples shown. It also explains why a croco-duck fossil (half crocodile, half duck) will never be found? (The crocoduck is a favourite line of ‘criticism’ by creationists and dim celebrities). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Dad_GhkT4&feature=autoplay&list=ULQywH7F0eKj0&index=5&playnext=1
Re: Science: Children will be learning more about the variation, adaptation and habitats of living organisms during Science. However, their intellectual journey will travel beyond the dreary diet of tautologies and soporific science found in the QCA SoW.
L 7/8 – Evolution, Natural Selection and “the struggle for survival”.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain how species change over time. I can describe/explain how inherited traits enable a species to survive.
Introduction
Natural Selection and “the struggle for survival”.
Entry joke
Two friends are in the woods when a bear starts chasing them. The first friend begins to run. The second shouts, “You can’t outrun a bear!” The first friend looks over his shoulder and replies, “I don’t have to. I only have to outrun you.”
Is there anything we can learn from this joke?
Entry Quotation
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
Display the above. Can children illustrate its meaning with an example? Polar bears? Brown hares? Cactus? Explain that organisms have adapted to survive in many different environments. The question of how they evolved (changed) was Darwin’s gift to the world.
Activity
Ask: What does ‘evolution’ describe? Recall that evolution is about change. Explain Darwin was not the first to propose that species evolve (change) but he was the first to explain it. At least the first to explain it in a way that made sense and held up to scientific evidence.
How does change occur?
Darwin's explanation is called natural selection. It is such a simple (but profound) concept that we can describe it in one sentence:
Those living things6 born with traits that give some advantage in survival and reproduction, will tend on average to leave more offspring that have those very traits.
That's it. That's why species evolve (change). That's why large amounts of time can result in large amounts of change. So what might ‘advantages’ look like? Display and explain Darwin’s finches using the picture from the Natural Selection ppt. slide. Inform children that they are about to take part in the ‘Bird Beak Struggle’.
Task 1: In groups of four, children play ‘Bird Beak Struggle’.
Ask: Some of your ‘beaks’ were more successful at obtaining food than others. Why was that? What were the advantages of having beak X? What were the disadvantages of having beak X?
Discuss each of the following very short clips so as to further develop children’s understanding of natural selection. Between clips ask e.g. How do living organisms change over time? What is natural selection? How does natural selection work? At the end of each clip children and T record key points on their white boards/note paper.
1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltyM-jU-Drs&feature=related
2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFOW6UxHRLE&NR=1
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eitxvVQp0d4&feature=related
Part 2 - Watch this speeded up clip of the evolution of life. Discuss. Re-play with pauses and ask children to provide commentary/explanations. Q&A to check for understanding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elBEeqJQEW0&feature=related What was your favourite bit? What have you learnt from it? What’s so cool about natural selection ? Is there anything difficult to understand? Is there anything you do not understand? Who can use one of the examples to explain how natural selection works?
Task 2: Children paste the above quotation into their Journal and using their previous jottings and game playing experience, etc., write a simple explanation of how natural selection works. Ch illustrate it with either a cartoon/ sketch/drawing/strip.
Provide word/phrase banks, writing frames, etc as required.
Assessment and Look Forward
Some of your ‘beaks’ were more successful at obtaining food. Why was that? What are the advantages of having beak X? (show pictures) What are the disadvantages of having beak X? Is there a food that a beak could not eat? What beak would best suit this flower/fruit/nut, etc?
Can you give me a verbal explanation of natural selection?
What is the joke about in natural selection terms?
For the next lesson: Ask children to find out everything they can about fish. Inform them that there will be a ‘snap’ fish quiz over the next few days.
Talking with friends and family
With a friend, think about natural selection and try looking the world anew. Discuss with each other yourselves what advantages there are to the characteristics and features of the living organisms that you see. Teach your parents about Natural Selection and the struggle for existence.
Play natural selection games online at http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/evolution.html and at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/evolution/what-is-evolution/natural-selection-game/the-evolution-experience.html
Don’t forget to read the small dialogue boxes between each year! (Place them on the Base web pages).
Lesson Resources
Yoghurt tubs, tongs, pegs, ladles and anything else that can be used as a pretend bird beak. The wider the range of implements the better. We also need plastic cups cut in strips long ways, very thin milk straws (remind me to get some from Nursery and Reception waste bins!), long balloons, jelly beans, smarties, berries, couple of tins of fruit cocktail, chick peas, peas, seeds, fruit juice, etc for food and at least one washing up bowl and a cereal bowl per 4 children. Mix the ingredients up and share them out between the groups.
Teaching Support
The key idea.
Individuals less suited to the environment are less likely to survive and less likely to reproduce; individuals more suited to the environment are more likely to survive and more likely to reproduce and leave their inheritable traits to future generations.
See my ‘Darwin Help Desk’ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection P.S. Just look at that albino peacock ...isn’t he beautiful!
L 9/10 - From out of the waters.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain the evolutionary and adaptive journey of fish from water to land and give examples of it.
I can paint/draw in the style of a ‘Scientific Naturalist’.
Introduction
From out of the waters.
Entry Quiz: Here is a tick box quiz. Tick the box to indicate your answers. Fish are A,B,C,D,E,F, None of the above, All of the above. Show the slide: What do these creatures all have in common?
Activity
Entry puzzle: Fish walking about on land? Fish can live in a dry African landscape? I see many of you don’t believe the answers. Prepare to be amazed!
Watch the clip: Mudskipper: A fish that lives on land http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or9NUEroVcE&feature=related
Ask: What are thoughts and observations? What problems did the mudskipper’s have to overcome? What advantages are there to being able to move about on land? What dangers do they face? What is the natural selection story here?
What do the mudskippers always do eventually? But what about the African landscape box?
Watch the clip: Evolution - When fishes started to walk on land and breathe air. How many years ago did fish leave the water? What are the two problems the lungfish had to solve? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaogWgXtVe8&NR=1 Children, observations, please! How did the lungs and legs of the mudskipper’s ancestor develop? What evidence is provided by the Coelacanth? What does the lungfish do during an African drought? What is the natural selection story here?
Ask children: What did some fish evolve into? So what would we expect to find in the fossil record between fish and amphibians such as salamanders? A fossil with characteristics of both.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOKW_7KajCU&feature=related
Creative drawing/painting Task: Children create an artist’s impression of Tiktaalik in its natural environment 375 million years ago (display Devonian era impressions to help them).
.
Assessment and Look Forward
What are gills? How do they work? What gas do fish breathe? What kinds of creatures have ankles? What did some of fish eventually evolve into? What evidence is there of that? Show and tell their pictures. Critical thinking: What influenced your composition? Please use the word composition.
For the next lesson: Ask children: Does anyone have a budgie they can bring in, in its cage? An eagle? We need live birds for next week; the more the merrier! Stuffed one’s are welcome too– ask your great-great-granddad to look in his shed for you. We also need uncooked chicken legs and wings - as many as we can get – but what we really want are chicken or turkey legs with their claws attached. Whose mum or dad can get us some?
NB: A bottle of hand soap will be useful too.
Talking with friends and family
Talk about the amazing things you have seen with your friends and family. If you have a PC at home show family members the clips you saw today. Can you find any other interesting clips or pictures? Add them to your Journal. In our Science lesson will be dissecting fish and looking closely at how they have adapted to water.
Lesson Resources
Drawing materials.
Teaching Support
The above videos.
L11/12 - Reach for the skies.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain the evolution of birds.
I can point to features of modern birds and tell others about their evolutionary origins.
Introduction
Reach for the skies!
Entry Q with chicken leg: Do you remember your drawing lessons we did last year? Today we are going to learn how to how to draw birds, but firstly can anybody tell me why this chicken leg looks like this?
Activity
Entry: Share out the chicken/turkey legs and wings: Ask children to describe what they have observed about the chicken legs and wings. Is there anything unusual about it, apart from having been chopped off? What do all birds have? Feel the leg with your fingers.7 What are those bits there? Do the legs remind you of anything? Discuss.
As the children to observe the budgies/parrots that children have brought in. What do they notice about their legs, breasts, wings, etc? Do those feet have claws or talons?
Show the ppt. slide and ask ‘What is the connection between these creatures?’ Why do you think that? Explain that they are going to discover something amazing.
Watch the clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5kzxOtvCjc&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah_9qmAj5k8
Return to the ppt. question: What is the answer? What are birds?
Observe and report: Children have a close look at the budgies, parrots, eagles, etc that the children have brought in. What do they observe? Ask children to elaborate and explain with reference to what they now know.
Observational Drawing Task: Children create a naturalist’s observational drawing of the chicken/turkey leg. Ch should write a small scientific caption containing information about the evolution of birds. LA describe features of the leg with reference to dinosaurs.
Assessment and Look Forward
So why does this chicken’s leg look like this? What are wings? What is that budgie over there? What is a feather? Do bats have feathers? Was their common ancestor shown in the clips? Ask children to show and read from their observational drawings.
For the next lesson: Imagine you are a small, gentle, dear-like species surrounded by predators possessed of great speed and equipped with talons so powerful that the shock of them piercing your body will kill you in an instance. What survival trait would you like to have evolved?
Talking with friends and family
If your friend has a budgie or any other birds ask them if you can go and look at them together. Teach your family about the fabulous evolutionary history of birds. Ask your parents if you can visit the collection of birds at Cliffe Castle Museum.
Lesson Resources
Uncooked chicken/turkey legs and wings. One of each between two would be great. Live birds e.g. budgies.
Teaching Support
A great article – with pictures - http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/evolution/
L 13/14 - The return to the sea.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain how the whale evolved.
Introduction
A whale is born.
Critical thinking entry: Imagine you are a small, gentle, dear like species surrounded by predators possessed of great speed and equipped with talons so powerful that the shock of them piercing your body will kill you immediately. What survival trait would you like to have evolved? Clue: You are a land mammal.
Activity
Critical thinking entry: Watch Eagle vs. Water Chevrotain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13GQbT2ljxs&ob=av3e
In groups, what animal do you think the Chevrotain’s common ancestor may have evolved into? Whale.
What kind of animal is a Whale? Fish, Lizard or mammal? Children give reasons for their answers.
Whales are ‘Cetaceans’ and belong to the scientific order cetacea (from the Latin cetus meaning "large sea animal"). They include whales, dolphins and porpoises. Their evolution has been a mystery, but recent discoveries have lead scientists to the whales' surprising beginnings. When you look at a giraffe, or a hippo, or even a goat, you are quite possibly looking at the distant relative of the whale. These animals belong to the scientific order artiodactyla -- hoofed mammals. One branch became horses, one hippos, and one became whales. Draw an evolutionary tree on the board to help children to understand it.
If the ICT is available children can click through the Timeline here http://science.discovery.com/scientists/darwin/timeline/timeline.html and read of the Whale’s evolution. If not, display it and allow children to click through it and attempt to explain the evolutionary transitions.
Ask: What evidence is there that the Whale’s common ancestor was not a fish?
Watch Primitive whale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B24HFaUbZGY
What survival traits did the Ambulocetus possess? What does the name mean? How did it differ from a fish when swimming?
Watch: Whale evolution speeded up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cn0kf8mhS4&feature=related
Drawing Task: Inform children that they are going to draw and label a modern whale. Demo how to draw a whale. Hand out ‘Whale Evolution’ and ‘Whale Evolution 2’ and ask children to suggest which evolutionary features should be labelled on the drawing.
Assessment and Look Forward
What is a whale? What is the difference between a whale and a fish? Describe the evolution of the whale. What evidence exists for it having been a land mammal? What is the difference between a whale and a hippopotamus? Spell hippopotamus.
Talking with friends and family
Fire up your PC at home and have a look at http://science.discovery.com/scientists/darwin/timeline/timeline.html You now know that all life began in the seas and some creatures returned to it to evolve as whales. Are there any creatures that left the seas, returned to the seas and then returned back to land again?
Like whales, elephants are also very big ... how did they evolve?
Lesson Resources
Pictures of whales and their ancestors.
Teaching Support
An excellent clickable timeline for the whale. http://science.discovery.com/scientists/darwin/timeline/timeline.html An article full of interesting discussion, colourful pictures and cool videos of whale evolution. Fascinating. http://www.squidoo.com/whale-evolution
Success Criteria
L15/16 - The Origins of Humankind
Introduction
Charles Darwin wrote Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal.
Entry Thought Experiment: Imagine a world in which human beings had not yet appeared on the earth. Imagine no signs at all of human existence. No humans. Ever. Full-stop. What would it look like? In this world there would be no dogs walking about, no ginger toms, no yellow bananas and no red, blue or black roses. Now imagine the first appearance of humans. Where do you think they would have first appeared? Why there?
Do children come to the same conclusion as Darwin?
In the Descent of Man (1871) Darwin suggested that Africa was the most likely evolutionary homeland for humans because it was the continent where our closest relatives, the African Apes, could be found today.
Explain: Not so very long ago, we shared this planet with several other species of human, all of them clever, resourceful and excellent hunters, so why did only Homo sapiens – that’s us, by the way - survive?
Huge debates rage about human origins, but the broad consensus among scientists is that all the different species of human (stress the plurality) that have ever existed were descended from ape-like creatures that walked upright in Africa more than six million years ago (6 mya)
These creatures had many descendants, most of which became extinct, but the first creature we would recognise as human first appeared in Africa two million years ago.
Activity
Entry Q: Are we human beings, animals, apes or just people? Discuss.
Scientists agree that modern humans, chimpanzees, bonobo apes, gorillas and orang-utans are descended from a monkey like ancestor which lived about 35mya.
Display and label a timeline/branching diagram: Explain the diagram with reference to the following. Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens and the map from Stringer showing migration of modern humans)
About 65 mya little shrew like mammals were scampering about. Some evolved into rodents and rabbits, some into whales, dolphins and bats. One group took to the trees, evolving long limbs and grasping hands with thumbs ideal for climbing and jumping about in trees. They would have looked a lot like lemurs and bush babies (show a clip of lemurs skipping). What do you notice about the lemurs? (big forward facing eyes – stereoscopic vision, often up on two legs skipping one leg in front of the other).
35 mya the ancestors of monkeys, gorillas, chimps, apes and humans were living in Africa, South East Asia and South America. These animals had better brains and more dexterity in the hands. One group led to monkeys, marmosets and gibbons. One group of them evolved into the hominids (‘human like’) - chimpanzees, bonobo, gorillas, orang-utans and humans.
About 6 mya our ancestors (split off from the other hominids, and our brains exploded! Our brains became more and more complex as we evolved (over millions of years) into Homo ergaster, Homo hablis and then Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. (Explain the latin names).
Show: Quick clip of Homo erectus (The Londoner in the stripy shirt is author Chris Stringer from The Natural History Museum) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13874671
The Recent African Origin model (ROA)8
Use the diagrams, maps, tree, etc to simplify, describe and explain that at least two species of human, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens evolved from Homo habilis in Africa about 2 million years ago.
Homo erectus dispersed from Africa about 1.7 mya. The species spread to eastern and southeastern sub-tropical regions, where most died out but others evolved into Homo heidelbergensis and spread to places like southern Europe and then to Britain about 500,000 – 600,000 years ago.
Homo heidelbergensis then began to develop into Homo neanderthalensis around 300,000 – 400,000 years ago in Western Eurasia.
The Homo sapiens line in Africa evolved about 130,000 years ago. Homo sapiens migrated from Africa into Israel and the Middle East about 100,000 years ago, reaching Australia about 60,000 years ago.
Homo sapiens entered Europe about 35, 000 years ago. They had superior tools, including throwing weapons and their behaviour was more complex because they were true language users. Two of the things they could do was make predictions about the behaviour of others and plan future actions. In other words, they were very smart. As they spread into Europe an Ice Age (30,000 year ago) and Homo sapiens’ superior technology and adaptations enabled them to replace the Neanderthals . Explain that sapiens and neanderthalensis did mate. Around 4% of our DNA is Neanderthal. And on 25 Aug 2011 scientists reported in the journal Science that it is a jolly good thing too as it has helped us to fight disease and infection, in short that 4% has been crucial to our survival!
Homo sapiens
Explain that ‘racial’ differences are regional differences. Darwin was an anti-slavery supporter and stated that different peoples were not distinct species, that we are all the same underneath our skin colour, eye differences, etc.
Task: Watch The Link dvd. Discuss Ida, how she was found, what she is and is not. Encourage lots of questions about the implications of her existence. Clarify any misunderstandings. Children each create a A3 scientific poster about Ida. The poster should include a colour picture (downloaded), labels, caption boxes and text describing her age, her discovery, how she was preserved, the secrets she has kept e.g. her last meal, her baby teeth, where she lived, etc. and how she is linked not to lemurs but to the ape-line and thus us. The poster will eventually be placed in their Journal.
Assessment and Look Forward
Relax (lovely music) and Watch: Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkM3iFn7eLc&feature=related .
Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt. 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsZjCokzpJM&feature=related
Are we chimpanzees? Who are our cousins? How did you feel after watching The Link? How do you feel about Ida? Threatened? Empathetic? Joyous? Full of wonder? Is there any reason to be frightened by the story of our origins?
Some Holy books say we are the masters of all living things and we can do what we like with them. What do you think about that? What ultimately are we all evolved from? Are we still evolving? How/what might we become?
Talking with friends and family
Talk about our amazing origins. Find out more. When did we make fire? How did cooking food help our evolution? When did that first occur? Are we still evolving? How/what might we become?
Lesson Resources
Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkM3iFn7eLc&feature=related Fabulous.
Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt. 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsZjCokzpJM&feature=related
Teaching Support
Human http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Human
Homo erectus http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Homo_erectus
Neaderthal http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Neanderthal
Cooking - 1.9 mya http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/22/cooking-origins-homo-erectus
What fossils teach us about humans http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/apr/25/fossils-human-evolution?intcmp=239
Demise of Neanderthal http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/28/neanderthals-demise-modern-human-invasion?intcmp=239
The evidence for RAO is from both skeletal finds and a powerful genetic technique for analyzing mitochondrial DNA. The key observation is that mtDNA is passed along the matrilineal line only and can thus be traced backward. While other early hominids had pushed out of Africa and into Europe and Asia, only those in Africa made the evolutionary leap to H. sapiens. These first humans then migrated into other regions, coexisting for a time with their evolutionary forefathers, before eventually surpassing them. No scientist doubts that hominids evolved in Africa. Very few now doubt RAO and the evidence for it continues to be produced at a rapid rate of knots.
If you cannot imagine millions of years try this: Non-monkey Homo appeared around 83,000 generations ago and Homo sapiens (we!) appeared about 5,300 generations ago. Our shrew like ancestor existed about 7 000,000 generations ago.
L17 - Charles Darwin and The Tree of Life
Narrated by
Sir David Attenborough
Success Criteria
I can watch a documentary with understanding and comprehension.
Introduction
Entry Q: Tell me everything you know about Evolution? Give children a potted history of David Attenborough and inform that you would like them to watch one of his most famous documentaries.
Activity
Watch the BBC documentary: Charles Darwin and The Tree of Life. It lasts for 59 mins so you may want to have a stretch or some such every fifteen - twenty minutes.
Assessment and Look Forward
Would anyone like to comment on what they have seen? Is there any part you did not understand or would like to know more about? – Ch can do the elaborating and explaining for others. Would like to see any particular part again?
Critical thinking: What do you think of the closing images? How would you describe them? Powerful, thought provoking. What the apes look like? How were they moving? What did they remind you of ? How do you feel about that? How do you think others may feel? In Darwin’s day such images would .... what?
Display a picture of an orang-utan. Inform children that Queen Victoria, on seeing an orangutan named Jenny at the London Zoo in 1842, declared the beast "frightful and painfully and disagreeably human." Why was she so repulsed by it?
“Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal”, True or false? Give reasons for your answer. Does anybody know what ‘humility’ means? Find out.
Next lesson: Find out everything you can about bacteria.
Talking with friends and family
Talk about that quotation from Darwin: “Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal”,. True or false? Give reasons for your answer. Does anybody know what ‘humility’ means? Find out.
Talk about all you have learned. Talk especially about those closing images and what they might mean for learning about us.
Lesson Resources
VLC media player on stick or PC.
Teaching Support
I have a copy of The Link which people may like to watch.
L 18 - Fit to survive?
Success Criteria
I understand we ignore evolutionary theory at our peril.
I can offer practical solutions for helping life on earth.
Introduction
Are we fit to survive?
Entry Q: Why does evolution matter now?
For the first half of geological time our ancestors were bacteria. Most creatures still are bacteria, and each one of our trillions of cells is a colony of bacteria (Richard Dawkins). Why do people study bacteria? What is an antibiotic? Remind children of their Science lessons and how there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria.
Activity
Entry Q: Why does evolution matter now?
Watch: Why Does Evolution Matter Now? Timings are in minutes and seconds. 0 - 1:12. Why does evolution Matter Now? What kinds of bacteria are there? What is one of the most deadly?
2:40 – 4:04 What happens if you don’t take your full cause of medicine? What does ‘drug resistant’ mean?
4:20 – 5:10 What dangers do modern forms of travel present? Why does evolution matter now?
7:00 – What happened when the deadly cholera bacteria hit countries with clean water?
After watching the above ask children to suggest ways of preventing the spread infections.
Ask children how they think the world is evolving? What is happening to the world? (pollution, rainforest destruction, war, etc.)
ASK : Are we destroying endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful ?
Listen and watch: Earth Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAi3VTSdTxU
Writing and drawing Task: Who or what will be fit to survive in the environments we are creating? Draw, label and add a short information box describing its evolved attributes.
Assessment and Look Forward
Why must you complete your course of medicine? What happens if you don’t complete your course of medicine? What are the dangers of being able to fly anywhere in the world?
Topic wash-up: Ask children to discuss what they liked, didn’t like about the topic. What would they like to have more or less of, etc. Complete a simple questionnaire.
Set aside time for children to show off their Journals.
For the next lesson: Unfortunately, we have finished. I hope you enjoyed it.
Talking with friends and family
Spread the word about the wonder that is the evolution of life on earth!
Ask your friend: Have we got Earth Song on Darwin’s iPod yet?
Lesson Resources
Today’s lesson is intentionally depressing. But it does offer a glimmer of hope.
Teaching Support
On a lighter note, watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah_9qmAj5k8 Which species of salamander will survive? Which will not? Why?
I hope you enjoyed teaching it!
.
Morton Lane
Crossflatts
Bingley
West Yorkshire
BD16 2EP
Tel: 01274 782070 louarmour@hotmail.com 26 August 2011
Dear Reader, Re: Darwin, Evolution and the Origins of Life
I wrote this plan (see below) as a Topic for our Yr5/6. Time constraints meant I couldn’t cover everything I wanted to cover during ‘Topic’. Other investigations that may have been included are:
Artificial Selection
Why are cows and sheep not extinct? Why are there so many kinds of dog?
Where do red, blue and black roses come from? What are yellow bananas?
Sexual Selection
Why do peacocks –and many other birds - have such beautiful plumage? A predator can find them easily, so why have they evolved that way?
A ‘festive’ example (cough): ‘Why do reindeer have antlers?’1
Do Mammals Have Emotions?
Do mammals experience fear, happiness, sadness, grief?
I hope to address these and other questions during Science.
In the meantime, here is a collection of books which you may or may not find useful:
Richard Dawkins’ book is a hardcore response to all who question evolution as scientific fact.
Chris Stringer works at the National History Museum and is often called upon by the media to explain the origins of modern humans. His The Origin of our Species is a popular and engaging read which sets out to answer all the big questions in the debate about our origins. The graphic adaptation of Origins by Keller and illustrator Nicolle Rager Fuller is a marvellous version of Darwin’s seminal work. The illustrations are drawn from Darwin’s own words, including his diaries and letters. The book is brought up to date with a graphic account of recent breakthroughs in evolutionary science. It would make a wonderful gift for teenagers and adults with an interest in evolutionary theory. I love it. The nutty looking book by Murphy is funny, informative and perfect for Yr 5/6 +. I would highly recommend it for use when planning the ‘Life’ units in the Science SoW. The final book would be enjoyed by Yr5/6 and anyone requiring a gentle introduction to Darwin and his ideas.
The first lesson is a look at the Genesis account and other creation myths, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this plan is creationism or so-called ‘intelligent’ design in disguise, it most definitely isn’t! It is a celebration of Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory.
I believe Darwin’s “dangerous idea” is one of the most important topics we’ll ever teach our kids. I hope you enjoy teaching it.
Kind regards,
Lou Armour
Darwin, Evolution and the Origins of Life
L 1/2 - All Things Bright And Beautiful
Success Criteria
I can write a creation myth.
Intro
Entry song: Sing the first verse of All Things Bright And Beautiful.
What is the hymn about? Why do you think it was written? Does anybody know of any other songs, rhymes, etc that describe the rich diversity of life found on earth?
Show: How God created the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_QcEudi87I&feature=related What is the little girl attempting to explain? Where did she get the explanation from? Display the relevant Genesis passage as a timetable.
What do you think about the Genesis story as an explanation of life? Are there any oddities about the Genesis account? How old do you think the world is according to Genesis? (Creationists believe the world is only 6000 -10,000 years old).
Activity
Entry question: All cultures have creation myths. Do you know of any? Greek, Egyptian, Norse? Rudyard Kipling? How many creation myths do you think there are? Is there any reason why any one story should be the ‘correct’ one?
Part 1Story Telling Task
Show the clips, complete with a brief discussion of their story features/structure between each. Record the features, etc on the board for later use.
How elephant got his trunk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbIHqJ5p_cQ
How Zebra got her stripes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ6RVuip82s&feature=related Why Bat flies at night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8HDpCUi1po&feature=related LA - Referring to the board prompts and pictures children plan and write their own story book from ONE of Elephant, Zebra and Baboon, Koala or Bat.
MA/HA – + those LA who wish to do so - work in pairs and write an original and creative story for ONE of the following:
How Tiger got her stripes How Peacock got his feathers
How Leopard got his spots How Kangaroo got her pouch
How Tortoise got his shell How bear got her stumpy tail
Encourage children to act out their story as a means of composing it and telling it. Inform HA children that they will be telling their story during ‘Myth Time’.
Activity continues overleaf.
Part 2 Outdoor Task: Critical Thinking entry:
a) Observation and discussion walk around the top field/Dingley Dell/flower beds, etc. Ask critical questions – lots of why and how - about ‘supernatural design’, leaf structure, complexity, etc without straying into Darwin and evolution.
b) Inform children that scientists estimate the world to be about 5.1 billion years old. Create the 'The Loo Roll Timeline'. Say, ‘Wow!’ Discuss. Take photos.
c) Un-peg two of the lines, remove their post-its and add them to the Zero end of one of the other lines so that you have one long line made up of three of the original lines. Line 1 (with it’s post-its in place) + Line 2 + Line 3 = The Age of the Universe. Now take a look at the red edge! So where would the Genesis 6,000 – 10,000 years be now!!!!? Microscopic!
Assessment and Look Forward
Q1: Did anybody notice anything odd about Day 1 and Day 4? (see below) What are your thoughts about the Genesis story in light of making the ‘Loo Roll Timeline?’ Why would an all powerful, caring and gentle God create a wasp which seeks only to burrow into the bodies of living caterpillars with the intention of eating them from the inside? What is the point of it?
For the next lesson: Ask children to bring in as many toy animals and small world vegetation as they can carry. Ask children to begin making a list in their Diaries of the types of living things they see day to day and to bring it in next lesson.
Nota bene – Those Diaries may have a use after all.
Talking with friends and family
Does science have anything to say about life on earth? Can anyone think of any really old things that have been found, in a rock or on a beach, say? Scientific evidence tells us that the earth is over 5 billion years old. Life first originated in the oceans 3.4 billion years ago. The dinosaurs died out 65 million years in the past. The first modern humans (Homo Sapiens) appeared 100,000 yrs ago but the recorded history of humans stretches back only 10,000 years in time. Find out more about these things. Talk about these things with a friend for next time. Begin making your own Evolution journal at home (It could be a combination of literacy homework and voluntary work, so there could be an incentive of some sort i.e. credits).
Lesson Resources
Writing and drawing materials. Loo rolls, tents pegs, knitting needles, long nails, post-it notes.
Teaching Support
Creation myths: http://www.magictails.com/creationlinks.html
A1: God supposedly creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn't make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day. So how could there be "the evening and the morning" on the first day if there was no sun to mark them?
Myth Time: Split the children into groups for ‘Myth Time’ on the carpet and around tables, etc. HA children read/act out their story to their group. On completion - if time allows - children move to another story teller. Further stories, including, Elephant, Zebra, Bat, can be told at the end of each day over the course of the week.
L 3-4 Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful
Success Criteria
None as such. The aim here is to inspire awe and wonder.2 Learning about classification is a bonus!3
Introduction
Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful.
Entry activity: Children place their toys and small world materials on their tables.
Entry phrase: Write the above phrase on the board and read it aloud using an dramatic voice to inject a sense of wonder. Ask the children if they can figure out what this exquisite phrase refers to. Ask: If ‘forms’ means ‘kinds of’, what do you think is being described? (The above phrase is taken from the conclusion of Darwin’s On The Origin of Species By Natural Selection, 1859).
Activity
Entry Qs: How many kinds of living organisms exist upon on the earth?4 How many have been made extinct?5
Task 1: Using toy animals, small world vegetation and large sheets of paper children to begin to make a (HUGE!) list of living organisms (use this term repeatedly throughout term). Prompt children for as wide a variety of living organisms as possible. Can children see any similarities or differences between the organisms listed/shown?
Task 2: Using toy animals, small world vegetation and large sheets of paper: How can living organisms be grouped into different things? Children use their own grouping criteria to group them. What discoveries have they made? What problems ensue? Help by providing prompts: weeds, trees, flowers, insects, micro-organisms, marine, land and air life. How far can children keep going with the groups? Would a Venn diagram help? (MA/HA maths children especially). Do any of the living things live and exist in 2 or 3 environments? (amphibians, flying insects, seabirds, otters, turtles, etc)
Outdoor Competition: Teams fill a matchbox with as many different living organisms as possible.
Assessment and Look Forward
Discuss the results. Tell me something about the lists and diagrams we have made. Help children to develop a sense of awe and wonder at the diversity of life. Finish with ‘Where do these endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful come from?’ ‘How is such diversity possible?’ Inform children that they will be learning more about the classification of living organisms during Science. For the next lesson: Ask children to bring in: a toy dinosaur, animal or doll, a box for the toy, a simple gardening tool for digging e.g. a small fork or trowel.
Darwin’s iPod: Charles Darwin loved listening to music and dancing with pretty ladies - I know, I know ... but that’s because people only ever see the photos of him as an old man – so we are going to begin a collection of music that Darwin would have on his iPod were he alive today. Who would like to be the collector of the iPod music? You will be responsible for overseeing the downloading of any requested mp3 track and recording the name of it’s contributor. To be a contributor you will have to pay its cost – via my Amazon account - which will probably be between 50-90p per track. For example, I will pay for Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful World’, price 69p. At the end of the topic we shall celebrate Darwin and have his iPod playing in the back ground whilst we do so. Collectors and contributors - in role viz. the great man - could present Charles Darwin’s ‘Galapagos Island Discs’ to parents during our class-based assembly.
Talking with friends and family
Ask children to think about these and other questions and to discuss them with their friends before the next lesson. Ask the children to wonder what they might be learning about next time?
Lesson Resources
Large sheets of paper, post-its, card for labels and drawing materials.
The scope for ICT use in every one of these lesson is enormous – interactive timelines, natural selection games, movies, etc -, but the netbooks are too small, too unreliable, and too few in number for all classes to be using simultaneously. And ‘1 between 2’ tends to cause more problems than it solves? Perhaps Jo could ad many of the links to our class web pages so kids can explore them at home?
Teaching Support
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin See also the resources I have put on the R:drive. In addition I have several books about Darwin and evolution which people may wish to borrow.
L 5/6 - Darwin’s great adventure.
Success Criteria
I know what fossils are, how they are made and what they can tell us.
I can describe what Darwin saw on his voyage aboard the Beagle and some of the difficulties he faced collecting his specimens
.
Introduction
Charles Darwin’s great adventure.
Entry question: Hold up a £10 note and ask: Who is this? What is she famous for? Turn it over and ask ‘Who is this? What is he famous for? Explain that he is probably the most important scientist who ever lived. And he’s British!
Explain that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was the first scientific theory to explain the appearance of not just some, but all living species. Darwin’s theory told us how all living things are related. It also explained the origin of new species, why some species became extinct and the reason for the great variety of life on earth, why there are so many “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful”.
Activity
Entry Qs: Who was Charles Darwin? Give children a potted history of his early life. (see below)
Display pictures of the young Darwin – he was only 25 - the map of Beagle’s journey and tell the story of the Beagle’s voyage and of the many wonderful things Darwin observed.
Talk about Darwin’s fossils finds. Do you know what fossils are? Do you know where they are found? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxDQwBZj9o8&feature=related Show fossil pictures and discuss. What are fossils? What do they tell us? What do marine fossils tell us when they are found at the top of a mountain? Describe and illustrate Darwin’s fossil finds. It may help yr6 to remind them of their ‘Mountains’ topic and mountain rock layers are formed.
Display the Homologous Structures picture. Ch work with a friend to solve the puzzle illustrated. What are the skeletons evidence of? What can be inferred from them? (Remind ch about inferring from a text).
Outdoor Task: Play at being palaeontologists and fossil hunters. Children make fossils outdoors. (A day or two later they again play at being palaeontologists and dig up another’s fossil, taking care not to damage it, just as real scientists do). Take photos.
Part 2 - Darwin’s observations caused him to think very deeply about Evolution. Evolution is about change over time. Specifically, it is about how species change over time.
Emphasise the excitement, wonder and scientific endeavour of observation in such weird and wonderful environments. What practical and/or scientific problems do you think Darwin faced?
Watch the clip and answer these questions: How did such a wide variety of living organisms first appear on the Galapagos? After arriving what did many species begin to do? http://science.discovery.com/videos/galapagos-beyond-darwin-charles-darwin.html What does ‘adapting’ mean? Can you give me an example from the clip?
How do some of the organisms survive? http://science.discovery.com/videos/galapagos-beyond-darwin-creatures-of-galapagos.html The things that help an organism survive are called ‘traits’ and they can be passed on. Most traits are inherited (but not all), a bit like passing on hair and eye colour. Show photos of a family if it helps clarification.
Assessment and Look Forward
Ask children to think about what the fossil record and the Genesis account tell us about the age of the earth and all that live upon it. What do they make of the fact that both geology and the fossil record tell us that the earth is billions of years old, yet the bible says the earth was created only 6000 years ago? Which account is based on evidence and which account is simple belief? Help children to distinguish between scientific facts based upon other facts and overwhelming evidence, and stories which require only belief. A detective’s ‘Who done-it’ puzzle may help (Sherlock Holmes was incorrect: it’s inductive not deductive reasoning). For the next lesson: Ask children to bring in a yoghurt tub, tongs, pegs, ladles and anything else that can be used as a pretend bird beak. The wider the range of implements the better. We also need plastic cups cut in half, very thin milk straws (remind me to get some from Nursery and Reception waste bins!), long balloons, jelly beans, smarties, a couple of tins of fruit cocktail, soft fruits, berries, fruit juice, chick peas, peas, seeds, etc for food and at least one washing up bowl and a cereal or fruit bowl per 4 children. Ask children to bring in handfuls of the food stuff and can chuck it in a class box ready for the lesson.
Talking with friends and family
Talk about fossils. Find more clips and videos about fossils and the Galapagos Islands and watch them together. Make one at home and put a photo of it in your Journal. Draw pre-historic fossils such as Trilobites, too.
Lesson Resources
Plaster of Paris or similar. Toy dinosaurs and dolls (undressed). Digging implements. Small brushes. A cardboard box for each toy brought in. A tent peg or nail. Post-it notes.
Teaching Support
Why are there no transitional fossils? is a question a parent may ask. Here is an answer put in terms of a family photo album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QywH7F0eKj0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
This one shows evolutionary theory being used to predict which fossils should be found. Fabulous examples shown. It also explains why a croco-duck fossil (half crocodile, half duck) will never be found? (The crocoduck is a favourite line of ‘criticism’ by creationists and dim celebrities). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Dad_GhkT4&feature=autoplay&list=ULQywH7F0eKj0&index=5&playnext=1
Re: Science: Children will be learning more about the variation, adaptation and habitats of living organisms during Science. However, their intellectual journey will travel beyond the dreary diet of tautologies and soporific science found in the QCA SoW.
L 7/8 – Evolution, Natural Selection and “the struggle for survival”.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain how species change over time. I can describe/explain how inherited traits enable a species to survive.
Introduction
Natural Selection and “the struggle for survival”.
Entry joke
Two friends are in the woods when a bear starts chasing them. The first friend begins to run. The second shouts, “You can’t outrun a bear!” The first friend looks over his shoulder and replies, “I don’t have to. I only have to outrun you.”
Is there anything we can learn from this joke?
Entry Quotation
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
Display the above. Can children illustrate its meaning with an example? Polar bears? Brown hares? Cactus? Explain that organisms have adapted to survive in many different environments. The question of how they evolved (changed) was Darwin’s gift to the world.
Activity
Ask: What does ‘evolution’ describe? Recall that evolution is about change. Explain Darwin was not the first to propose that species evolve (change) but he was the first to explain it. At least the first to explain it in a way that made sense and held up to scientific evidence.
How does change occur?
Darwin's explanation is called natural selection. It is such a simple (but profound) concept that we can describe it in one sentence:
Those living things6 born with traits that give some advantage in survival and reproduction, will tend on average to leave more offspring that have those very traits.
That's it. That's why species evolve (change). That's why large amounts of time can result in large amounts of change. So what might ‘advantages’ look like? Display and explain Darwin’s finches using the picture from the Natural Selection ppt. slide. Inform children that they are about to take part in the ‘Bird Beak Struggle’.
Task 1: In groups of four, children play ‘Bird Beak Struggle’.
Ask: Some of your ‘beaks’ were more successful at obtaining food than others. Why was that? What were the advantages of having beak X? What were the disadvantages of having beak X?
Discuss each of the following very short clips so as to further develop children’s understanding of natural selection. Between clips ask e.g. How do living organisms change over time? What is natural selection? How does natural selection work? At the end of each clip children and T record key points on their white boards/note paper.
1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltyM-jU-Drs&feature=related
2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFOW6UxHRLE&NR=1
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eitxvVQp0d4&feature=related
Part 2 - Watch this speeded up clip of the evolution of life. Discuss. Re-play with pauses and ask children to provide commentary/explanations. Q&A to check for understanding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elBEeqJQEW0&feature=related What was your favourite bit? What have you learnt from it? What’s so cool about natural selection ? Is there anything difficult to understand? Is there anything you do not understand? Who can use one of the examples to explain how natural selection works?
Task 2: Children paste the above quotation into their Journal and using their previous jottings and game playing experience, etc., write a simple explanation of how natural selection works. Ch illustrate it with either a cartoon/ sketch/drawing/strip.
Provide word/phrase banks, writing frames, etc as required.
Assessment and Look Forward
Some of your ‘beaks’ were more successful at obtaining food. Why was that? What are the advantages of having beak X? (show pictures) What are the disadvantages of having beak X? Is there a food that a beak could not eat? What beak would best suit this flower/fruit/nut, etc?
Can you give me a verbal explanation of natural selection?
What is the joke about in natural selection terms?
For the next lesson: Ask children to find out everything they can about fish. Inform them that there will be a ‘snap’ fish quiz over the next few days.
Talking with friends and family
With a friend, think about natural selection and try looking the world anew. Discuss with each other yourselves what advantages there are to the characteristics and features of the living organisms that you see. Teach your parents about Natural Selection and the struggle for existence.
Play natural selection games online at http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/evolution.html and at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/evolution/what-is-evolution/natural-selection-game/the-evolution-experience.html
Don’t forget to read the small dialogue boxes between each year! (Place them on the Base web pages).
Lesson Resources
Yoghurt tubs, tongs, pegs, ladles and anything else that can be used as a pretend bird beak. The wider the range of implements the better. We also need plastic cups cut in strips long ways, very thin milk straws (remind me to get some from Nursery and Reception waste bins!), long balloons, jelly beans, smarties, berries, couple of tins of fruit cocktail, chick peas, peas, seeds, fruit juice, etc for food and at least one washing up bowl and a cereal bowl per 4 children. Mix the ingredients up and share them out between the groups.
Teaching Support
The key idea.
Individuals less suited to the environment are less likely to survive and less likely to reproduce; individuals more suited to the environment are more likely to survive and more likely to reproduce and leave their inheritable traits to future generations.
See my ‘Darwin Help Desk’ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection P.S. Just look at that albino peacock ...isn’t he beautiful!
L 9/10 - From out of the waters.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain the evolutionary and adaptive journey of fish from water to land and give examples of it.
I can paint/draw in the style of a ‘Scientific Naturalist’.
Introduction
From out of the waters.
Entry Quiz: Here is a tick box quiz. Tick the box to indicate your answers. Fish are A,B,C,D,E,F, None of the above, All of the above. Show the slide: What do these creatures all have in common?
Activity
Entry puzzle: Fish walking about on land? Fish can live in a dry African landscape? I see many of you don’t believe the answers. Prepare to be amazed!
Watch the clip: Mudskipper: A fish that lives on land http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or9NUEroVcE&feature=related
Ask: What are thoughts and observations? What problems did the mudskipper’s have to overcome? What advantages are there to being able to move about on land? What dangers do they face? What is the natural selection story here?
What do the mudskippers always do eventually? But what about the African landscape box?
Watch the clip: Evolution - When fishes started to walk on land and breathe air. How many years ago did fish leave the water? What are the two problems the lungfish had to solve? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaogWgXtVe8&NR=1 Children, observations, please! How did the lungs and legs of the mudskipper’s ancestor develop? What evidence is provided by the Coelacanth? What does the lungfish do during an African drought? What is the natural selection story here?
Ask children: What did some fish evolve into? So what would we expect to find in the fossil record between fish and amphibians such as salamanders? A fossil with characteristics of both.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOKW_7KajCU&feature=related
Creative drawing/painting Task: Children create an artist’s impression of Tiktaalik in its natural environment 375 million years ago (display Devonian era impressions to help them).
.
Assessment and Look Forward
What are gills? How do they work? What gas do fish breathe? What kinds of creatures have ankles? What did some of fish eventually evolve into? What evidence is there of that? Show and tell their pictures. Critical thinking: What influenced your composition? Please use the word composition.
For the next lesson: Ask children: Does anyone have a budgie they can bring in, in its cage? An eagle? We need live birds for next week; the more the merrier! Stuffed one’s are welcome too– ask your great-great-granddad to look in his shed for you. We also need uncooked chicken legs and wings - as many as we can get – but what we really want are chicken or turkey legs with their claws attached. Whose mum or dad can get us some?
NB: A bottle of hand soap will be useful too.
Talking with friends and family
Talk about the amazing things you have seen with your friends and family. If you have a PC at home show family members the clips you saw today. Can you find any other interesting clips or pictures? Add them to your Journal. In our Science lesson will be dissecting fish and looking closely at how they have adapted to water.
Lesson Resources
Drawing materials.
Teaching Support
The above videos.
L11/12 - Reach for the skies.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain the evolution of birds.
I can point to features of modern birds and tell others about their evolutionary origins.
Introduction
Reach for the skies!
Entry Q with chicken leg: Do you remember your drawing lessons we did last year? Today we are going to learn how to how to draw birds, but firstly can anybody tell me why this chicken leg looks like this?
Activity
Entry: Share out the chicken/turkey legs and wings: Ask children to describe what they have observed about the chicken legs and wings. Is there anything unusual about it, apart from having been chopped off? What do all birds have? Feel the leg with your fingers.7 What are those bits there? Do the legs remind you of anything? Discuss.
As the children to observe the budgies/parrots that children have brought in. What do they notice about their legs, breasts, wings, etc? Do those feet have claws or talons?
Show the ppt. slide and ask ‘What is the connection between these creatures?’ Why do you think that? Explain that they are going to discover something amazing.
Watch the clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5kzxOtvCjc&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah_9qmAj5k8
Return to the ppt. question: What is the answer? What are birds?
Observe and report: Children have a close look at the budgies, parrots, eagles, etc that the children have brought in. What do they observe? Ask children to elaborate and explain with reference to what they now know.
Observational Drawing Task: Children create a naturalist’s observational drawing of the chicken/turkey leg. Ch should write a small scientific caption containing information about the evolution of birds. LA describe features of the leg with reference to dinosaurs.
Assessment and Look Forward
So why does this chicken’s leg look like this? What are wings? What is that budgie over there? What is a feather? Do bats have feathers? Was their common ancestor shown in the clips? Ask children to show and read from their observational drawings.
For the next lesson: Imagine you are a small, gentle, dear-like species surrounded by predators possessed of great speed and equipped with talons so powerful that the shock of them piercing your body will kill you in an instance. What survival trait would you like to have evolved?
Talking with friends and family
If your friend has a budgie or any other birds ask them if you can go and look at them together. Teach your family about the fabulous evolutionary history of birds. Ask your parents if you can visit the collection of birds at Cliffe Castle Museum.
Lesson Resources
Uncooked chicken/turkey legs and wings. One of each between two would be great. Live birds e.g. budgies.
Teaching Support
A great article – with pictures - http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/evolution/
L 13/14 - The return to the sea.
Success Criteria
I can describe/explain how the whale evolved.
Introduction
A whale is born.
Critical thinking entry: Imagine you are a small, gentle, dear like species surrounded by predators possessed of great speed and equipped with talons so powerful that the shock of them piercing your body will kill you immediately. What survival trait would you like to have evolved? Clue: You are a land mammal.
Activity
Critical thinking entry: Watch Eagle vs. Water Chevrotain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13GQbT2ljxs&ob=av3e
In groups, what animal do you think the Chevrotain’s common ancestor may have evolved into? Whale.
What kind of animal is a Whale? Fish, Lizard or mammal? Children give reasons for their answers.
Whales are ‘Cetaceans’ and belong to the scientific order cetacea (from the Latin cetus meaning "large sea animal"). They include whales, dolphins and porpoises. Their evolution has been a mystery, but recent discoveries have lead scientists to the whales' surprising beginnings. When you look at a giraffe, or a hippo, or even a goat, you are quite possibly looking at the distant relative of the whale. These animals belong to the scientific order artiodactyla -- hoofed mammals. One branch became horses, one hippos, and one became whales. Draw an evolutionary tree on the board to help children to understand it.
If the ICT is available children can click through the Timeline here http://science.discovery.com/scientists/darwin/timeline/timeline.html and read of the Whale’s evolution. If not, display it and allow children to click through it and attempt to explain the evolutionary transitions.
Ask: What evidence is there that the Whale’s common ancestor was not a fish?
Watch Primitive whale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B24HFaUbZGY
What survival traits did the Ambulocetus possess? What does the name mean? How did it differ from a fish when swimming?
Watch: Whale evolution speeded up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cn0kf8mhS4&feature=related
Drawing Task: Inform children that they are going to draw and label a modern whale. Demo how to draw a whale. Hand out ‘Whale Evolution’ and ‘Whale Evolution 2’ and ask children to suggest which evolutionary features should be labelled on the drawing.
Assessment and Look Forward
What is a whale? What is the difference between a whale and a fish? Describe the evolution of the whale. What evidence exists for it having been a land mammal? What is the difference between a whale and a hippopotamus? Spell hippopotamus.
Talking with friends and family
Fire up your PC at home and have a look at http://science.discovery.com/scientists/darwin/timeline/timeline.html You now know that all life began in the seas and some creatures returned to it to evolve as whales. Are there any creatures that left the seas, returned to the seas and then returned back to land again?
Like whales, elephants are also very big ... how did they evolve?
Lesson Resources
Pictures of whales and their ancestors.
Teaching Support
An excellent clickable timeline for the whale. http://science.discovery.com/scientists/darwin/timeline/timeline.html An article full of interesting discussion, colourful pictures and cool videos of whale evolution. Fascinating. http://www.squidoo.com/whale-evolution
Success Criteria
L15/16 - The Origins of Humankind
Introduction
Charles Darwin wrote Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal.
Entry Thought Experiment: Imagine a world in which human beings had not yet appeared on the earth. Imagine no signs at all of human existence. No humans. Ever. Full-stop. What would it look like? In this world there would be no dogs walking about, no ginger toms, no yellow bananas and no red, blue or black roses. Now imagine the first appearance of humans. Where do you think they would have first appeared? Why there?
Do children come to the same conclusion as Darwin?
In the Descent of Man (1871) Darwin suggested that Africa was the most likely evolutionary homeland for humans because it was the continent where our closest relatives, the African Apes, could be found today.
Explain: Not so very long ago, we shared this planet with several other species of human, all of them clever, resourceful and excellent hunters, so why did only Homo sapiens – that’s us, by the way - survive?
Huge debates rage about human origins, but the broad consensus among scientists is that all the different species of human (stress the plurality) that have ever existed were descended from ape-like creatures that walked upright in Africa more than six million years ago (6 mya)
These creatures had many descendants, most of which became extinct, but the first creature we would recognise as human first appeared in Africa two million years ago.
Activity
Entry Q: Are we human beings, animals, apes or just people? Discuss.
Scientists agree that modern humans, chimpanzees, bonobo apes, gorillas and orang-utans are descended from a monkey like ancestor which lived about 35mya.
Display and label a timeline/branching diagram: Explain the diagram with reference to the following. Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens and the map from Stringer showing migration of modern humans)
About 65 mya little shrew like mammals were scampering about. Some evolved into rodents and rabbits, some into whales, dolphins and bats. One group took to the trees, evolving long limbs and grasping hands with thumbs ideal for climbing and jumping about in trees. They would have looked a lot like lemurs and bush babies (show a clip of lemurs skipping). What do you notice about the lemurs? (big forward facing eyes – stereoscopic vision, often up on two legs skipping one leg in front of the other).
35 mya the ancestors of monkeys, gorillas, chimps, apes and humans were living in Africa, South East Asia and South America. These animals had better brains and more dexterity in the hands. One group led to monkeys, marmosets and gibbons. One group of them evolved into the hominids (‘human like’) - chimpanzees, bonobo, gorillas, orang-utans and humans.
About 6 mya our ancestors (split off from the other hominids, and our brains exploded! Our brains became more and more complex as we evolved (over millions of years) into Homo ergaster, Homo hablis and then Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. (Explain the latin names).
Show: Quick clip of Homo erectus (The Londoner in the stripy shirt is author Chris Stringer from The Natural History Museum) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13874671
The Recent African Origin model (ROA)8
Use the diagrams, maps, tree, etc to simplify, describe and explain that at least two species of human, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens evolved from Homo habilis in Africa about 2 million years ago.
Homo erectus dispersed from Africa about 1.7 mya. The species spread to eastern and southeastern sub-tropical regions, where most died out but others evolved into Homo heidelbergensis and spread to places like southern Europe and then to Britain about 500,000 – 600,000 years ago.
Homo heidelbergensis then began to develop into Homo neanderthalensis around 300,000 – 400,000 years ago in Western Eurasia.
The Homo sapiens line in Africa evolved about 130,000 years ago. Homo sapiens migrated from Africa into Israel and the Middle East about 100,000 years ago, reaching Australia about 60,000 years ago.
Homo sapiens entered Europe about 35, 000 years ago. They had superior tools, including throwing weapons and their behaviour was more complex because they were true language users. Two of the things they could do was make predictions about the behaviour of others and plan future actions. In other words, they were very smart. As they spread into Europe an Ice Age (30,000 year ago) and Homo sapiens’ superior technology and adaptations enabled them to replace the Neanderthals . Explain that sapiens and neanderthalensis did mate. Around 4% of our DNA is Neanderthal. And on 25 Aug 2011 scientists reported in the journal Science that it is a jolly good thing too as it has helped us to fight disease and infection, in short that 4% has been crucial to our survival!
Homo sapiens
Explain that ‘racial’ differences are regional differences. Darwin was an anti-slavery supporter and stated that different peoples were not distinct species, that we are all the same underneath our skin colour, eye differences, etc.
Task: Watch The Link dvd. Discuss Ida, how she was found, what she is and is not. Encourage lots of questions about the implications of her existence. Clarify any misunderstandings. Children each create a A3 scientific poster about Ida. The poster should include a colour picture (downloaded), labels, caption boxes and text describing her age, her discovery, how she was preserved, the secrets she has kept e.g. her last meal, her baby teeth, where she lived, etc. and how she is linked not to lemurs but to the ape-line and thus us. The poster will eventually be placed in their Journal.
Assessment and Look Forward
Relax (lovely music) and Watch: Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkM3iFn7eLc&feature=related .
Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt. 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsZjCokzpJM&feature=related
Are we chimpanzees? Who are our cousins? How did you feel after watching The Link? How do you feel about Ida? Threatened? Empathetic? Joyous? Full of wonder? Is there any reason to be frightened by the story of our origins?
Some Holy books say we are the masters of all living things and we can do what we like with them. What do you think about that? What ultimately are we all evolved from? Are we still evolving? How/what might we become?
Talking with friends and family
Talk about our amazing origins. Find out more. When did we make fire? How did cooking food help our evolution? When did that first occur? Are we still evolving? How/what might we become?
Lesson Resources
Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkM3iFn7eLc&feature=related Fabulous.
Evidence for Evolution - Hominid Fossils Pt. 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsZjCokzpJM&feature=related
Teaching Support
Human http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Human
Homo erectus http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Homo_erectus
Neaderthal http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Neanderthal
Cooking - 1.9 mya http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/22/cooking-origins-homo-erectus
What fossils teach us about humans http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/apr/25/fossils-human-evolution?intcmp=239
Demise of Neanderthal http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/28/neanderthals-demise-modern-human-invasion?intcmp=239
The evidence for RAO is from both skeletal finds and a powerful genetic technique for analyzing mitochondrial DNA. The key observation is that mtDNA is passed along the matrilineal line only and can thus be traced backward. While other early hominids had pushed out of Africa and into Europe and Asia, only those in Africa made the evolutionary leap to H. sapiens. These first humans then migrated into other regions, coexisting for a time with their evolutionary forefathers, before eventually surpassing them. No scientist doubts that hominids evolved in Africa. Very few now doubt RAO and the evidence for it continues to be produced at a rapid rate of knots.
If you cannot imagine millions of years try this: Non-monkey Homo appeared around 83,000 generations ago and Homo sapiens (we!) appeared about 5,300 generations ago. Our shrew like ancestor existed about 7 000,000 generations ago.
L17 - Charles Darwin and The Tree of Life
Narrated by
Sir David Attenborough
Success Criteria
I can watch a documentary with understanding and comprehension.
Introduction
Entry Q: Tell me everything you know about Evolution? Give children a potted history of David Attenborough and inform that you would like them to watch one of his most famous documentaries.
Activity
Watch the BBC documentary: Charles Darwin and The Tree of Life. It lasts for 59 mins so you may want to have a stretch or some such every fifteen - twenty minutes.
Assessment and Look Forward
Would anyone like to comment on what they have seen? Is there any part you did not understand or would like to know more about? – Ch can do the elaborating and explaining for others. Would like to see any particular part again?
Critical thinking: What do you think of the closing images? How would you describe them? Powerful, thought provoking. What the apes look like? How were they moving? What did they remind you of ? How do you feel about that? How do you think others may feel? In Darwin’s day such images would .... what?
Display a picture of an orang-utan. Inform children that Queen Victoria, on seeing an orangutan named Jenny at the London Zoo in 1842, declared the beast "frightful and painfully and disagreeably human." Why was she so repulsed by it?
“Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal”, True or false? Give reasons for your answer. Does anybody know what ‘humility’ means? Find out.
Next lesson: Find out everything you can about bacteria.
Talking with friends and family
Talk about that quotation from Darwin: “Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal”,. True or false? Give reasons for your answer. Does anybody know what ‘humility’ means? Find out.
Talk about all you have learned. Talk especially about those closing images and what they might mean for learning about us.
Lesson Resources
VLC media player on stick or PC.
Teaching Support
I have a copy of The Link which people may like to watch.
L 18 - Fit to survive?
Success Criteria
I understand we ignore evolutionary theory at our peril.
I can offer practical solutions for helping life on earth.
Introduction
Are we fit to survive?
Entry Q: Why does evolution matter now?
For the first half of geological time our ancestors were bacteria. Most creatures still are bacteria, and each one of our trillions of cells is a colony of bacteria (Richard Dawkins). Why do people study bacteria? What is an antibiotic? Remind children of their Science lessons and how there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria.
Activity
Entry Q: Why does evolution matter now?
Watch: Why Does Evolution Matter Now? Timings are in minutes and seconds. 0 - 1:12. Why does evolution Matter Now? What kinds of bacteria are there? What is one of the most deadly?
2:40 – 4:04 What happens if you don’t take your full cause of medicine? What does ‘drug resistant’ mean?
4:20 – 5:10 What dangers do modern forms of travel present? Why does evolution matter now?
7:00 – What happened when the deadly cholera bacteria hit countries with clean water?
After watching the above ask children to suggest ways of preventing the spread infections.
Ask children how they think the world is evolving? What is happening to the world? (pollution, rainforest destruction, war, etc.)
ASK : Are we destroying endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful ?
Listen and watch: Earth Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAi3VTSdTxU
Writing and drawing Task: Who or what will be fit to survive in the environments we are creating? Draw, label and add a short information box describing its evolved attributes.
Assessment and Look Forward
Why must you complete your course of medicine? What happens if you don’t complete your course of medicine? What are the dangers of being able to fly anywhere in the world?
Topic wash-up: Ask children to discuss what they liked, didn’t like about the topic. What would they like to have more or less of, etc. Complete a simple questionnaire.
Set aside time for children to show off their Journals.
For the next lesson: Unfortunately, we have finished. I hope you enjoyed it.
Talking with friends and family
Spread the word about the wonder that is the evolution of life on earth!
Ask your friend: Have we got Earth Song on Darwin’s iPod yet?
Lesson Resources
Today’s lesson is intentionally depressing. But it does offer a glimmer of hope.
Teaching Support
On a lighter note, watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah_9qmAj5k8 Which species of salamander will survive? Which will not? Why?
I hope you enjoyed teaching it!
.
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