For hundreds of years, humans have selectively bred species. Farmers selected crops with the best traits: tomatoes that were the most plump and full of flavor, lettuce with the largest leaves, flowers with the best color. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale all originated from a single form of wild mustard weed. Additionally, humans helped to develop modern dog breeds by breeding those with the most desirable traits. These are examples of selective breeding, a form of causing a species to change and one form of evidence for biological evolution: the change of species over time. This unit will examine the statistics of traits in a population, evidence for biological evolution, and what can influence the survival of an individual as well as a species.
Unit Question:
Are humans deciding the fate of future species?
Unit Product
Students will select a threatened or endangered species and evaluate factors influencing the likelihood of extinction as well as illustrate an understanding of the evidence for evolution.
Unit Skills
Skill 1: Asking why species change or are introduced
Skill 5: Examining trends and patterns
Skill 6: Creating explanations of species change
Skill 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Skill 8: Evaluating information sources
Unit Content
I can explain how common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of evidence
I can evaluate how changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species