Unit 3 Syllabus: Evolution 2015
Chapters 22 – 26
Date
Friday
October 16
Class Discussion
Topic/Activity
Learning Targets
SIP Day – End of 1st Quarter
AP Lab 10 – data collection
Intro to Evolution
Monday
October 19
Begin AP Lab 1 – plant Fast
Plants
History of Life Webquest
Chapter 4: Carbon & the Molecular Diversity of Life (section 4.1 only)
Chapter 25: The History of Life on Earth (sections 25.1-25.5)
1. I can explain how scientific evidence of biological evolution
uses information from geographical, geological, physical,
chemical and mathematical applications.
a.
I can explain how geological evidence provides
support for models of the origin of life on Earth.
i. Earth formed approximately 4.6 billion
years ago (bya), and the environment
was too hostile for life until 3.9 bya,
while the earliest fossil evidence for life
dates to 3.5 bya. Taken together, this
evidence provides a plausible range of
dates when the origin of life could have
occurred.
b. I can explain how chemical experiments have
shown that it is possible to form complex organic
molecules from inorganic molecules in the absence
of life.
2. I can explain that there are several hypotheses about the
natural origin of life on Earth, each with supporting scientific
evidence.
a.
Primitive Earth provided inorganic precursors from
which organic molecules could have been
synthesized due to the presence of available free
energy and the absence of a significant quantity of
oxygen.
b. In turn, these molecules served as monomers or
building blocks for the formation of more complex
molecules, including amino acids and nucleotides.
c.
The joining of these monomers produced polymers
with the ability to replicate, store and transfer
information.
d. These complex reaction sets could have occurred in
solution (organic soup model) or as reactions on
solid reactive surfaces.
e. The RNA World hypothesis proposes that RNA
could have been the earliest genetic material.
3. I can explain how structural evidence supports the relatedness
of all eukaryotes.
a.
Membrane-bound organelles (mitochondria and/or
chloroplasts)
4. I can explain how molecular, morphological and genetic
information of existing and extinct organisms add to our
understanding of evolution.
a.
Fossils can be dated by a variety of methods that
provide evidence for evolution. These include the
age of the rocks where a fossil is found, the rate of
decay of isotopes including carbon-14, the
relationships within phylogenetic trees, and the
mathematical calculations that take into account
information from chemical properties and/or
geographical data.
5. I can explain speciation and extinction have occurred
throughout Earth’s history and that species extinction rates
are rapid at times of ecological stress, such as the five major
extinctions.
Assignment
(Unless otherwise noted
assignments are due the next
day class meets)
 Actively read, take
notes chapter 25
 Watch Videos:
o The origin of
Life
o Abiogenesis
 Chapter 25 one-pager
due tomorrow

Watch video:
o Crash course:
Evolutionary
Development
Tuesday
October 20
Artificial Selection
Wednesday
October 21
Darwin & Natural Selection
Chapter 22: Descent with Modification (sections 22.2-22.3 only)
1. I can explain how, according to Darwin’s theory of natural
selection, competition for limited resources results in
differential survival. Individuals with more favorable
phenotypes are more likely to survive and produce more
offspring, thus passing traits to subsequent generations.
2. I can explain how morphological homologies represent
features shared by common ancestry. Vestigial structures are
remnants of functional structures, which can be compared to
fossils and provide evidence for evolution.
3. I can explain how evolutionary fitness is measured by
reproductive success.
4. I can explain how phenotypic variations are not directed by the
environment but occur through random changes in the DNA
and through new gene combinations.
5. I can explain that an adaptation is a genetic variation that is
favored by selection and is manifested as a trait that provides
an advantage to an organism in a particular environment.
6. I can explain how environments change and act as selective
mechanism on populations, such as:
a.
Peppered moths
b. Rock pocket mice
7. I can explain how changes in genotype may affect phenotypes
that are subject to natural selection. Genetic changes that
enhance survival and reproduction can be selected by
environmental conditions, such as:
a.
Antibiotic resistance mutations
b. Pesticide resistance mutations
c.
Sickle cell disorder and heterozygous advantage
8. I can explain how selection results in evolutionary change.
9. I can explain how humans impact variation in other species,
such as:
a.
Artificial selection
b. Drug-resistant bacteria

Watch videos:
o Natural
selection 1
o Natural
selection 2
o Crash Course
Natural
Selection

Watch Videos:
o Crash course
evolution
o Evidence for
evolution
Chapter 22 one-pager
due tomorrow
Mastering Biology quiz
– chapter 22
Natural Selection – HHMI
Rock Pocket Mouse
Thursday
October 22
Friday
October 23
Monday
October 26
(Fast Plants Data)

Natural Selection Simulation

Quiz – chapter 22, 25

AP Lab 10 – data collection

Other Evidence for Evolution
(homology, analogy, vestigial
structures)
(Fast Plants Data)
Allele Freq./HWE
HWE practice
Chapter 23: The Evolution of Populations
1. I can explain how genetic variation and mutation play roles in
natural selection. A diverse gene pool is important for the
survival of a species in a changing environment.
2. I can explain that environments can be more or less stable or
fluctuating, and this affects evolutionary rate and direction;
different genetic variations can be selected in each generation.
3. I can explain that in addition to natural selection, chance and
random events can influence the evolutionary process,
especially for small populations.
4. I can explain how genetic drift is a nonselective process
occurring in small populations.
5. I can explain how reduction of genetic variation within a given
population can increase the differences between populations
of the same species.
6. I can explain how a population’s ability to respond to changes
in the environment is affected by genetic diversity. Species
and populations with little genetic diversity are at risk for
extinction.

Last day for unit 2 test
corrections!
Actively read, take
notes chapter 23
Watch video:
o Solving Hardy
Weinberg
Problems
7.
I can explain how genetic diversity allows individuals in a
population to respond differently to the same changes in
environmental conditions, such as:
a.
Not all individuals in a population in a disease
outbreak are equally affected; some may not show
symptoms, some may have mild symptoms, or
some may be naturally immune and resist the
disease.
8. I can explain how allelic variation within a population can be
modeled by the Hardy-Weinberg equations.
9. I can explain that conditions for a population or an allele to be
in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are: (1) a large population size,
(2) absence of migration, (3) no net mutations, (4) random
mating, and (5) absence of selections. These conditions are
seldom met.
10. I can explain how some phenotypic variations significantly
increase or decrease fitness of the organism and the
population.
a.
Sickle cell anemia
11. I can explain how mathematical approaches are used to
calculate change in allele frequency, providing evidence for the
occurrence of evolution in a population.
a.
Graphical analysis of allele frequencies in a
population
Tuesday
October 27
Wednesday
October 28
Thursday
October 29

Genetic Drift Activity
Watch videos:
o
o
AP Lab 2 – PTC testing
AP Lab 2: Mathematical
Modeling: Hardy Weinberg
Microevolution
Genetic Drift

(Fast Plants Data)

AP Lab 2: Mathematical
Modeling: Hardy Weinberg

Chapter 23 one-pager
due tomorrow
 Watch videos:
o Evolution
Continues
o Crash course:
When Darwin
met Mendel
Mastering Biology quiz –
chapter 23
AP Lab 2 report due
Thursday, November 5
Work on AP Lab 2 report
Friday
October 30
Quiz – chapter 23
AP Lab 10 – data collection
Monday
November 2
Work on AP Lab 10 Report
Posters
(Fast Plants Data)

Actively read, take
notes chapter 24

Watch video:
o Speciation
and
Extinction
Present AP Lab 10 Report
Posters
Tuesday
November 3
Strawfish Lab
Speciation – Mechanisms
Ring Species – Salamanders
Chapter 24: The Origin of Species
1. I can explain how speciation may occur when two populations
become reproductively isolated from each other.
a.
Speciation results in the diversity of life forms.
Species can be separated by a geographic
barrier such as an ocean or a mountain range,
or various pre-and post-zygotic mechanisms
can maintain reproductive isolation and
prevent gene flow.
b. New species arise from reproductive isolation
over time, which can involve scales of
hundreds of thousands or even millions of
years, or speciation can occur rapidly through
mechanisms such as polyploidy in plants.
2. I can explain that speciation rates can vary, especially when
3.
4.
Wednesday
November 4
adaptive radiation occurs when new habitats become
available.
I can explain how scientific evidence supports the idea that
evolution has occurred in all species.
I can explain how scientific evidence supports the idea that
evolution continues to occur, such as:
a.
Chemical resistance (antibiotic resistance)
b. Emergent diseases
c.
Observed directional phenotypic change in a
population (Darwin’s finches)
(Fast Plants Data)

Allopatric vs. Sympatric
Speciation

Webquest
Thursday
November 5
* 5 Hour Day*

(Fast Plants Data)
Chapter 24 one-pager
due tomorrow
Watch videos:
o Speciation
o Crash Course
Speciation
Mastering Biology quiz
– chapter 24
Quiz – chapter 24
Speciation – Adaptive
Radiation
Friday
November 6
* 5 Hour Day*
Monday
November 9
Pollenpeepers Activity
TESTING??
(Fast Plants Data)
Phylogeny & Systematics
Tree of Life
Chapter 26: Phylogeny & the Tree of Life (sections 26.1-26.3, 26.6)
1. I can explain how biochemical and genetic similarities, in
particular DNA nucleotide and protein sequences, provide
evidence for evolution and ancestry.
2. I can explain how phylogenetic trees and cladograms are
graphical representations (models) of evolutionary history that
can be tested.
a.
Phylogenetic trees and cladograms can represent
traits that are either derived or lost due to
evolution, such as:
i. Number of heart chambers in animals
ii. Opposable thumbs
iii. Absence of legs in some sea mammals
b. Phylogenetic trees and cladograms illustrate
speciation that has occurred, in that relatedness of
any two groups on the tree is shown by how
recently two groups had a common ancestor.
c.
Phylogenetic trees and cladograms can be
constructed from morphological similarities of
living or fossil species, and from DNA and protein
sequence similarities, by employing computer
programs that have sophisticated ways of
measuring and representing relatedness among
organisms.
d. Phylogenetic trees and cladograms are dynamic (ie,
phylogenetic trees and cladograms are constantly
being revised), based on the biological data used,
new mathematical and computational ideas, and
current and emerging knowledge.
3. I can explain how molecular and genetic evidence from extant
and extinct organisms indicates that all organisms on Earth
share a common ancestral origin of life, such as:
a.
Scientific evidence includes molecular building
blocks that are common to all life forms.
b. Scientific evidence includes a common genetic
code.
4. I can explain how mathematical models and simulations can be
used to illustrate and support evolutionary concepts.
a.
Analysis of sequence data sets
b. Analysis of phylogenetic trees
c.
Construction of phylogenetic trees based on
sequence data

Actively read, take
notes chapter 26
Tuesday
November 10
Constructing Phylogenies


Cladogram practice
Watch videos:
Bozeman videos:
o Phylogenetics
o Cladograms
OR

Crash Course
o Taxonomy- Life's
Filing System:
Biology #19
o Comparative
Anatomy in
Animals
Wednesday
November 11
(Fast Plants Data)
Cladogram Lab
Thursday
November 12
AP Lab 3: BLAST
Friday
November 13
Quiz – chapter 26

Mastering Biology quiz –
chapter 26

See Unit 4 syllabus for
assignment
AP Lab 1: Artificial Selection
continues into Unit 4
AP Lab 3: BLAST
Monday
November 16
Tuesday
November 17
(Fast Plants Data)
Review
Unit 3 Test
