Dogs Decoded

PictureVariation within Species, BBC
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 outline how traits vary in a population and beneficial traits increase in the population
  • I can explain how common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of evidence 
  • I can evaluate how environmental changes can increases in the number of individuals of some species, cause the emergence of new species over time, and lead to the extinction of other species

Additional Resources