Name:__________________ Pd._____ Date:_________________
Theodosius Dobzhansk, a geneticist whose work influence 20 th century research on evolutionary theory, said, “Nothing in biology makes sense, except in light of evolution.” This quote emphasizes the role of evolution as the most important unifying principal in biology. Living things might, at first, seem very diverse, but closer inspection reveals a surprising unity. This unity, or common ancestry, can be explained by evolutionary theory. With such an important theory at stake, it is essential to understand the evidence upon which it is based.
Your Task:
In this Gallery Walk you will investigate a variety of types of evidence for evolution. You will be responsible for learning about fossil evidence, structural evidence, and genetic evidence for evolution.
You will rotate through each station in groups, examining the evidence and answering the questions below. You are free to share thinking but do not copy each other’s answers. Evidence of copying will result in no credit.
Station 1: Fossil Evidence - Examine the images of fossils and read the accompanying explanations.
1.
What is a fossil?_________________________________________________________________
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2.
How do paleontologists know how old certain fossils are?________________________________
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3.
What similarities and differences do the different hominid fossils share?___________________
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4.
How is “Lucy” similar to both chimpanzees and humans? Name specific traits._______________
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5.
How does this evidence support the theory of evolution?________________________________
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6.
What are you still wondering about fossil evidence?____________________________________
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Station 2: Homologous Structures – Compare and contrast the images of embryos and forelimbs.
1.
What is a homologous structure?___________________________________________________
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2.
How the wing of a bat similar to the flipper of a whale and the arm of a human?_____________
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3.
What similarities and differences did you notice across all of the embryo examples? Name specific features_________________________________________________________________
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4.
What did the common ancestor of pitcher plants, venus fly traps, poinsettias, and cacti probably look like?_______________________________________________________________________
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5.
How does this evidence support the theory of evolution?________________________________
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6.
What are you still wondering about homologous structures?_____________________________
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Station 3: DNA Evidence – Compare the sample DNA strands. Try to predict which ones are more or less related based on their differences.
1.
Identify relatedness between the 5 species’ DNA samples. Write down your prediction before checking with Ms. Dignan for the answer. ____________________________________________
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2.
Was your prediction right or wrong?_________________________________________________
3.
Two of the species had identical DNA readings. How could this be?________________________
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4.
What can DNA tell us about a given individual?________________________________________
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5.
How does this evidence support the theory of evolution?________________________________
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6.
What are you still wondering about DNA evidence?____________________________________

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Station 5: Vestigial Traits – Look through the examples of vestigial traits in humans and whales. Think about how and why they exist.
1.
What is a vestigial trait?___________________________________________________________
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2.
Why do whales have leg bones?____________________________________________________
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3.
Why are humans still born with appendixes?__________________________________________
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4.
If organisms don’t have any use for vestigial traits, why don’t they just go away?_____________
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5.
How does this evidence support the theory of evolution?________________________________
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6.
What are you still wondering about vestigial traits?_____________________________________
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Station 5: Tracing human migration and evolution – Watch the video clip “Race: The Power of an
Illusion”. Then answer the following questions.
1.
Where did humans originate?______________________________________________________
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2.
How can examining human DNA tell us more about human migration?_____________________
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3.
In a biological sense, what is race?__________________________________________________
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4.
Why haven’t humans evolved into different species in different parts of the world?___________
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5.
How does this evidence support the theory of evolution?________________________________
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6.
What are you still wondering about race and the future of human evolution?_______________
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