Introduction

Lesson four will explore the theory of evolution, making it clearer by example - the evolution of families.

The Task

The task here deals with understanding the theory of evolution and exploring the ideas in other contexts. You will first discuss what evolution is. Using the resource named below (under resources), you will attempt to answer the following questions:
  1. What is evolution?
  2. How do organisms evolve?
  3. What do scientists and philosophers believe about evolution?
  4. How has life on earth evolved?
After completing this very short WebQuest, you will then discuss what evolution is amongst yourselves. After this discussion, the entire class will come to a consensus on the definition of evolution. We will then focus on the problem of family characteristics that have survived over time. This can be done by comparing a family from the past to today's modern day family. You will learn about your own families in your technology classes. The information you gather from your genealogy searches will be utilized in this lesson. The end result is two different lists of characteristics to use for comparison. By comparing, the students will also reinforce this skill learned in lesson two

Resources

Evolution
Information students gather in technology class (click here to view lesson)

The Process

The process is researching on the WWW, students working together to find information, sharing and comparing that information and arriving at a final list of actual characteristics of families that are the same today as 100, 200, even 300 years ago.
  1. You will identify what is different/similar on their lists.
  2. You will highlight the differences/similarities to make them easy to read
  3. The next task is to create a chart that will show all the information and how it relates to each other

Conclusion

At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to explain what evolution means to them and use the idea of evolution to explain the changes that have taken place in the family over the years.

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Lesson

Last updated April 28, 1996. Return to the Unit Outline Page