Evolution Article Summary Assignment
Working alone or with a partner, you will read, annotate and summarize a recent article on the topic of evolution. Each person/group will then
be expected to discuss the article with the class. The articles to choose from are as follows:
DeMenocal, Peter. B. “Climate Shocks.” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 48 -53. Print.
DeWaal, Frans. “One for All.” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 69 – 71. Print.
Edgar, Blake. “Powers of Two.” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 63 – 67. Print.
Fischetti, Mark. “The Networked Primate.” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 83 -85. Print.
Hawks, John. “Still Evolving (After All These Years).” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 86 – 91. Print.
Martin, Ronald , and Antonietta Quigg. “Tiny Plants That Once Ruled the Seas.” Scientific American 308.6 (2013): 40 – 45. Print.
Meyer, Axel. “Extreme Evolution.” Scientific American 312.4 (2015): 70 – 75. Print.
Stix, Gary. “The “IT” Factor.” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 72 -79. Print.
Tattersall, Ian. “If I Had a Hammer.” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 55 – 59. Print.
Wood, Bernard. “Welcome to the Family.” Scientific American 311.3 (2014): 43 – 47. Print.
Zimmer, Carl. “The Surprising Origins of Life’s Complexity.” Scientific American 309.2 (2013): 84 – 89. Print.
Rubric:
Summary of Article (1 per person)
15 points
Annotated article (1 per person attached to summary) 10 points
Discussion (each person contributes)
10 points
Total:
35 points
“Origins: How Life Began”
Working in groups of 1 to 3 you will learn how life began by exploring the following website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/originsseries-overview.html#origins-life-began . Each group will be responsible for completing 6 tasks. Upon completion, each person in the group will
write a summary of what they learned about the RNA world, ribozymes, and protocells. Each of the 6 tasks should be summarized in your own
words.
Task 1
Recreate the timeline summarizing the events.
Task 2
Summarize what is so “special” about RNA.
Task 3
Summarize the “RNA World”.
Task 4
Summarize the role of “ribozymes” in protocells.
Task 5
Summarize the role of membranes in a protocell.
Task 6
Summarize the final page of the website “putting it all together in a protocell.”
Summarizing each task is worth 5 points. Each summary will earn the individual 5 points for explaining the RNA World, 5 points for explaining
ribozymes, and 5 points for explaining protocells. Total possible points 45 points.