Grade Level: 8 Title of Unit: Natural Selection and Adaptations Stage 1 - Desired Results Understandings: Essential Questions: Students will understand How does genetic variation among organisms in a that… species affect survival and reproduction? the role of variation in natural selection and how this leads How does the environment influence genetic traits in to speciation. populations over multiple generations? the use of the practices (grade appropriate) of analyzing graphical displays; using mathematical models; and gathering, reading, and communicating information. the crosscutting concept of cause and effect is central to this topic. Knowledge: Skills: Students will Students will be able know… to… the collection of fossils and their placement in analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record chronological order (e.g., through the location of the that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth sedimentary layers in which they are found or through under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in radioactive dating) is known as the fossil record. It the past. documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth. anatomical similarities and differences among modern (MS-LS4-1) organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to anatomical similarities and differences between various infer evolutionary relationships. organisms living today and between them and organisms analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of in the fossil record, enable the reconstruction of similarities in the embryological development across multiple evolutionary history and the inference of lines of species to identify relationships not evident in the fully evolutionary descent. (MS-LS4-2) formed anatomy. comparison of the embryological development of different construct an explanation based on evidence that describes species also reveals similarities that show relationships how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some probability of surviving and reproducing in not evident in the fully-formed anatomy. (MS-LS4-3) individuals’ a specific environment. natural selection leads to the predominance of certain use mathematical representations to support explanations of traits in a population, and the suppression of others. how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time. adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is analyze data from the fossil record to describe evidence of one important process by which species change over time the history of life on Earth and construct explanations for
Grade Level: 8 Title of Unit: Natural Selection and Adaptations Stage 1 - Desired Results Understandings: Students will understand that… the role of variation in natural selection and how this leads to speciation. the use of the practices (grade appropriate) of analyzing graphical displays; using mathematical models; and gathering, reading, and communicating information. the crosscutting concept of cause and effect is central to this topic. Essential Questions: How does genetic variation among organisms in a species affect survival and reproduction? How does the environment influence genetic traits in populations over multiple generations? Knowledge: Students will know… the collection of fossils and their placement in chronological order (e.g., through the location of the sedimentary layers in which they are found or through radioactive dating) is known as the fossil record. It documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth. (MS-LS4-1) anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record, enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent. (MS-LS4-2) comparison of the embryological development of different species also reveals similarities that show relationships not evident in the fully-formed anatomy. (MS-LS4-3) natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others. adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time Skills: Students will be able to… analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships. analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy. construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment. use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time. analyze data from the fossil record to describe evidence of the history of life on Earth and construct explanations for
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