Lovejoy High School
Biology
Unit Guide: Evolution
Learning
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Goals:
Define evolution as a change over time
Summarize the modern theory of evolution
Describe the process of natural selection and its outcome
Analyze and evaluate how natural selection produces changes in
populations, not individuals
Discuss Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection
Connect natural selection to adaptation and the development of
biodiversity
Describe how fossil records support evolution
Explain how biological molecules, such as proteins and DNA, show
evidence of evolution
Explain how comparing anatomy and development of living species
provides evidence of evolution
Differentiate between gradualism and punctuated equilibrium
models of evolution
Analyze and evaluate the effects of evolutionary mechanisms on
the process of speciation; including natural selection, genetic
drifts, and gene flow.
Key Terms:
Evolution, theory, fossil, artificial selection, fitness, adaptation, survival of
the fittest, natural selection, descent with modification, common descent,
homologous structure, vestigial organ, gene pool, speciation, reproductive
isolation, behavioral isolation, geographic isolation, paleontologists, fossil
record, extinct, relative dating, convergent evolution, coevolution,
punctuated equilibrium, gradualism
Reading for Understanding:
Chapters 15, 16, 17
Activities:
Amino Acid Activity, Case of the Pesky Mosquito, Evolution of the Horse
Activity, Finch Speciation WS, Peppered Moth Graphing Activity, What a
Beak Lab