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So You Think The World Evolves Around You!?

Those Moving Continents

About 260 million years ago, a super continent, called Pangaea, began to break apart into what we know the modern continents to be. This caused the isolation (and separate evolution) of various groups of organisms. Since this event, the living species inhabiting these separate continents changed a lot. Organisms have learned to adapt through hiding, camouflaging, and mimicking other organism’s efforts to outfox potential predators seeking their next meal. Many of these changes can be attributed to the concept of evolution, which includes physical and behavioral changes.

1. Describe in a few sentences what you hypothesize the Earth looked like millions of years ago when the first animals where on the earth.

2. Where do you think the animals lived (air, water, land)? Why do you think that?

3. Do you think there was competition for food and shelter? Explain why or why not?

4. Could organisms find mates for reproduction? Why or why not?

Now visit http://www.tki.org.nz/r/wick_ed/science/crusty.php to see how the continents have moved since the beginning of time.

5. Based on the information you just witnessed, do you think that the movement of landmasses has stopped? What evidence makes you think that?

The link below shows a predicted animation based on all the information we currently have on how the continents should move in the future. http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es0807/es0807page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization/

What is Evolution?

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIntro.shtml

Visit and read the weblink above.

6. What is the central idea of biological evolution?

http://encarta.msn.com/

7. Use the dictionary and search for evolution. Record Definition #1 for evolution-

What is Natural Selection?

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573860/Natural_Selection.html

8. Define natural selection-

Simply put, natural selection is the effect the environment has on any organism. The effect makes some of those organisms more fit to survive than others. The organisms who are not the most fit to survive will die.

Now lets look at how two different variations of the same moth survive in different environments. In the scenario during the industrial revolution in Europe, there are dark moths (peppered) and regular white moths. Both live in the same forest. At first all the trees were lichen (light) colored. Due to the pollution from the industrial revolution, the trees became covered with soot (dark). You are the bird- not just any bird, but a bird that eats moths. In this web-based simulation you will analyze the ratio of dark and light moths in both environments (pre and post industrial revolution).

Visit the following website to access this simulation. Run the simulation for ~2 minutes in the lichen (light forest). Answer the questions when you are done.

http://www6.district125.k12.il.us/~nfischer/Moth/moth.htm

9. What was your ratio of dark moths to light moths?

10. Based on the ratio above, which moth survived better in the lichen (light) forest? Why?

11. Why did one moth survive better than the other moth?

Now run the simulation for dark moths for ~2 minutes in the soot (dark forest). Answer the questions when you are done.

http://www6.district125.k12.il.us/~nfischer/Moth/darkmoth.htm

12. What was your ratio of dark moths to light moths?

13. Based on the ratio above, which moth survived better in the sooted (dark) forest? Why?

14. Explain in a paragraph (4 sentences) how the survival of these two separate colors of moths were affected by the environment they live in. You are explaining (with an example) how natural selection works.

Adaptation

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Adaptation

15. Define adaptation-

16. Adaptation comes from Latin and means “to fit to”– what does the organism “fit to”?

17. Think back to the moths- which moth is more adapted to survive in the forest?

Darwin’s Voyage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Voyage_of_the_Beagle_map.jpg

18. Name seven countries that Darwin visited while voyaging on the HMS Beagle for almost 5 years in the 1800’s. Do this by looking at (and interpreting) the map.

Homologous Structures

Homologous structures are structures that are common because they have been inherited, with or without modification, from their common ancestor. For example, the bones that support a bat's wing are similar to those of a human arm. Go to the link below to view examples of several animal forearms. (tetrapod means animals with four limbs).

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/04/2/image_pop/l_042_01.html

19. What bones do all seven organisms have in common (they do not need to be the same size)? Hint- they are color-coded.

Convergent Evolution

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/4/l_014_01.html

20. Visit the link above and then write a definition for convergent evolution so that you understand it. Convergent Evolution-

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/4/image_pop/l_014_01.html

21. What are the four animals shown in the web link above?

Now read a short article about each of these animals and write down 2 facts about each.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558839/Armadillo.html#p1

22. Giant Armadillo -

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572531/Anteater.html#p1

http://encarta.msn.com/media_461516528/Giant_Anteater.html

23. Giant anteater -

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561096/Echidna.html

24. Spiny Anteater -

http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/pangolin

25. Giant Pangolin –

26. What do those four animals have in common even though they live in different places in the world?

You should have learned from this section that convergent evolution is when two unrelated organisms evolve similar traits as they both adapt to similar environments.

Defense Mechanisms

http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures.planetocean/defense.html

27. Describe the 3 animals on this page, and each of their defense mechanisms that help them to survive in their environment.

Camouflage

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_03.html

Watch the movie in Quicktime format. Then read the article and be able to define what camouflage and mimicry are.

28. Camouflage-

29. Mimicry-

http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/planetocean/seame.html

30. List three animals that use camouflage and describe how they use it to better survive in their environments.

http://www.greenwing.org/teachersguide/fall00activity/fall00ma.html

31. Why are some organisms NOT camouflaged?

32. What is one way that an organism WITHOUT camouflage can protect itself?

Vestigial Organs

Vestigial organs are organs that were once necessary, but through evolution and over time have become unnecessary.

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/top10_vestigial_organs.html

Read this article then go through the Top 10 Vestigial Organs by clicking on the Top Ten button on the lower middle part of the page.

33. What are the 10 vestigial traits listed on the Top 10 from the website above.

Darwin’s Moth

http://encarta.msn.com/media_461530192_761578331_-1_1/Darwin’s_Hawk_Moth.html

34. How is this moth adapted to its environment?

35. What do you think would happen to the orchid plant described in the link above if this moth did not exist?

Bioluminescence

http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/planetocean/light.html

36. Name 3 organisms that use bioluminescence and explain how each uses it to survive in their environment.

Extinction

I know this may be hard to believe, but nearly all plant and animal species that have ever lived on the earth are extinct. Take a moment to think of all the plants, mammals, insect, and bacteria that you know about. But wait- there is more- fungi, and many other living things that we have not even talked about this year. The Earth is old, very old. Many living things have come and gone. Those organisms, where all of their kind have died out are called extinct.

All extinctions have one thing in common – the organisms failure to adapt to its environment. A change in environment is the biggest cause for extinction.

http://www.firstscience.com/SITE/articles/macleod.asp

Read the first page of the article above.

37. What is another way (besides an asteroid) the environment can change to cause extinctions?

38. If the continents never would have shifted, would animals still have evolved? Explain why or why not.

Things you can do when you are done (in any order you want):

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/sex/guppy/index.html

Sexual Selection- The Game

http://www.units.muohio.edu/dragonfly/hide/hidemap.htmlx

Find the 22 animals that are hiding on the map

http://www.abc.net.au/beasts/playground/camouflage.htm

Try to figure out the best camouflage combinations in the interactive web game.

http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webunits/adaptations/zebra.html

How do zebra stripes help to hide zebras from lions and tigers?

http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/education/student/continental_puzzle.html

Try to predict where the continents will move next!

http://www.dropbears.com/l/links/beagle.htm

Take a look at what the HMS Beagle looks like (the boat Charles Darwin was on when he made his observations about Evolution)

http://www.arabianwildlife.com/archive/vol2.1/cama.htm

Visit this website and see how each of these animals uses camouflage to their advantage.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/sex/mating/

Play the dating game!