Name: ________________________ Date: ____________ Becoming Whales: Fossil Records (STEM 2.0) Adapted from Becoming Whales: Experiencing Discoveries of Whale Evolution by Larry Flammer, 8 October 1997 [revised Nov. 2002] Benchmark: SC.7.L.15.1 Recognize that fossil evidence is consistent with the scientific theory of evolution that living things evolved from earlier species. Background: Have you ever wondered how whales got here? What did they once look like? If, as it is widely believed by paleontologists, whales did evolve from terrestrial mammals, we should be able to find the fossil remains of early probably somewhat whale-like, but with legs of “pre-whales”, varying degrees of reduction and certain other features of varying degrees of similarity to ancestral and modern whales. In this activity, you will be investigating how paleontologists believe whales have morphed. Procedures: 1. Take the five drawings of fossils whales (either in full or partial), that lived between 55 and 34 million years ago and analyze the difference between the whales. 2. Cut up the 5 different drawings of the reconstructions of what these in the may “whales making” have looked like. 3. Use the brief information sheet titled: WHALE HUNT: SEARCHING FOR WHALE FOSSILS which includes the critical morphological (=shape or form) features that paleontologists used to identify when the species existed during the Eocene Epoch approximately 58 million years ago to complete the Whale Evolution Data Table. 4. In groups of 2-4, arrange these early in the order on the Eocene timeline in which whale “cousins” you think they may have appeared in the fossil record. Be sure to write down the evidence upon which you based your decisions.
Name: ________________________ Date: ____________ Becoming Whales: Fossil Records (STEM 2.0) Adapted from Becoming Whales: Experiencing Discoveries of Whale Evolution by Larry Flammer, 8 October 1997 [revised Nov. 2002] Benchmark: SC.7.L.15.1 Recognize that fossil evidence is consistent with the scientific theory of evolution that living things evolved from earlier species. Background: Have you ever wondered how whales got here? What did they once look like? If, as it is widely believed by paleontologists, whales did evolve from terrestrial mammals, we should be able to find the fossil remains of early “pre-whales”, probably somewhat whale-like, but with legs of varying degrees of reduction and certain other features of varying degrees of similarity to ancestral and modern whales. In this activity, you will be investigating how paleontologists believe whales have morphed. Procedures: 1. Take the five drawings of fossils whales (either in full or partial), that lived between 55 and 34 million years ago and analyze the difference between the whales. 2. Cut up the 5 different drawings of the reconstructions of what these “whales in the making” may have looked like. 3. Use the brief information sheet titled: WHALE HUNT: SEARCHING FOR WHALE FOSSILS which includes the critical morphological (=shape or form) features that paleontologists used to identify when the species existed during the Eocene Epoch approximately 58 million years ago to complete the Whale Evolution Data Table. 4. In groups of 2-4, arrange these early whale “cousins” in the order on the Eocene timeline in which you think they may have appeared in the fossil record. Be sure to write down the evidence upon which you based your decisions.
Grade_7_Essential%20Labs%202016%20Student.docx