E X P E R I E N C E
O V E R V I E W
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Name of Project:
Rat Island - Evolution in an Island Environment
Subject/Course:
Biology - High School
Other Subject Areas:
Genetics, Ecology, Life Science, Special Education
Unit Goal for Student:
Summary of the issue,
challenge, investigation,
scenario, or problem:
The student will complete a museum exhibit for display in the school following research and development of a breed
of rat and plant which have developed over an extended time on a remote island.
The student will understand the driving forces behind natural selection and evolution and how this leads to speciation
and diversity of life.
Enduring
Understanding(s)
Populations change over time in response to environmental and situational pressures.
Essential Question(s)
How could mutations over the course of generations lead to new traits through the process of natural selection and
differential reproductive success?
Duration:
Teacher(s): Jamye Carr
1 week
Grade Level: 8th - 10th Grade
Curriculum Standards Bundle (Stage 1)
Content and Process
Standards (TEKS) to be
taught and assessed:
Highlight those targeted for
depth.
Region 10 ESC
BIOLOGY
B6- The student knows the mechanisms of genetics, including the role of nucleic acids and the principles of Mendelian Genetics. The student is expected to:
(B) recognize that components that make up the genetic code are common to all organisms;
(D) recognize that gene expression is a regulated process;
(E) identify and illustrate changes in DNA and evaluate the significance of these changes;
B7- The student knows evolutionary theory is a scientific explanation for the unity and diversity of life. The student is expected to:
(A) analyze and evaluate how evidence of common ancestry among groups is provided by the fossil record, biogeography, and homologies, including
anatomical, molecular, and developmental;
(B) analyze and evaluate scientific explanations concerning any data of sudden appearance, stasis, and sequential nature of groups in the fossil record;
(C) analyze and evaluate how natural selection produces change in populations, not individuals;
(D) analyze and evaluate how the elements of natural selection, including inherited variation, the potential of a population to produce more offspring than can
survive, and a finite supply of environmental resources, result in differential reproductive success;
(E) analyze and evaluate the relationship of natural selection to adaptation and to the development of diversity in and among species;
(F) analyze and evaluate the effects of other evolutionary mechanisms, including genetic drift, gene flow, mutation, and recombination;
B11- The student knows that biological systems work to achieve and maintain balance. The student is expected to:
(B) investigate and analyze how organisms, populations, and communities respond to external factors;
(D) describe how events and processes that occur during ecological succession can change populations and species diversity.
B12-The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an environmental system. The student is expected to:
(B) compare variations and adaptations of organisms in different ecosystems;
(C) analyze the flow of matter and energy through trophic levels using various models, including food chains, food webs, and ecological pyramids;
(D) recognize that long-term survival of species is dependent on changing resource bases that are limited;
(F) describe how environmental change can impact ecosystem stability.
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Other Required Standards
to be taught and assessed:
(i.e. CCRS, Graduate
Expectations, Local
Objectives, etc.)
CCRS- SCIENCE
I. Nature of Science: Scientific Ways of Learning and Thinking- A2, A3, D1, E1, E2
III- Foundation Skills: Scientific Applications of Communication-B1, B3, C1, D2, D2
IV. Science, Technology, and Society- C1, C2, D1
VI-Biology- C1-2, D1-4, E1, G1, G4
X- Environmental Science- A5, C1
National Science Education Standards:
Species evolve over time. Evolution is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to
mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuing selection by the environment of those offspring better able to
survive and leave offspring.
Authentic Learning
Elements to be integrated:
Check all that are targeted
in this unit.
Provide authentic context that
reflects the way the knowledge will
be used in real-life
X
Provide multiple roles and
perspectives
X Promote articulation
X
Provide authentic activities
X
Support collaborative construction of
knowledge
X Provide coaching and scaffolding
X
Provide access to expert
performances and the modeling of
processes
21st Century Skills/NETS
to be taught and assessed:
Major Products &
Performances
Provide for authentic assessment of
learning within the tasks
Creativity and Innovation (NETS 1)
X
Information, Media, or ICT Literacy (NETS 3)
Communication and Collaboration (NETS 2)
X
Life and Career Skills
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving (NETS 4)
X
Digital Citizenship, Technology Operations and
Concepts (NETS 5and 6)
X
X
Group:
Museum Exhibit detailing research and findings of group.
Individual:
Region 10 ESC
Promote reflection
Geology: The physical features of the island that make it unique and what limiting
factors it might have that would affect living things on the island.
Ecology: The abiotic and biotic factors that affect living things on the island.
Botany: Basic plant life found on the island and the traits it might have.
Zoology: Basic animals found on the island and the traits they might have.
(optional additions: Genetics or Paleontology)
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A S S E S S M E N T
Entry Event to
launch inquiry,
engage students:
(STAGE 2)
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The cargo ship, the HMS Jack Russell, set forth 250 years ago from England and was lost at sea never to be seen again. The large
cargo ship was carrying a vast quantity of exotic cheeses which made it almost impossible for the ship's crew to control the rat population
on the ship. Norwegian rats were often found in large numbers on the ship and it is believed that there was a genetically diverse
breeding population onboard.
Reports are now coming in to your lab that the location of the shipwreck has been found and that an island has been discovered with a
very interesting population of living things. As a team of biologists, you are tasked with visiting the island and recording the following
information:
Geology: The physical features of the island that make it unique and what limiting factors it might have that would affect living things on
the island.
Ecology: The abiotic and biotic factors that affect living things on the island.
Botany: Basic plant life found on the island and the traits it might have.
Zoology: Basic animals found on the island and the traits they might have.
Genetics: The dominant and recessive traits found in both animal and plant life on the island, how traits are passed on to their offspring,
and how the traits of the population can change over time.
Assessments
Formative
Assessments
(During Project)
Summative
Assessments
(End of Project)
1. Design and report on island
2. Research on the Norwegian Rat and Plant biology
3. Development of "future" island rat
4. Participation in development of museum exhibit
1. Museum exhibit rubric
2. Peer review of student partners
Resources Needed Materials:
Resources:
Reflection
Methods
(Individual,
Group, and/or
Whole Class)
Inspiration Islands Handouts, Project Rubrics, Peer Evaluation Rubrics
Whole-Class Discussion
Survey (Peer Survey)
Region 10 ESC
Focus Group
X
X
Fishbowl Discussion
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L E A R N I N G
E X P E R I E N C E S ( S T A G E 3 )
Tasks:
1. You will use the inspiration island assigned to your group to develop the physical traits of your island. This must include
climate, physical characteristics of your island, resources available, and biome type. This task must be submitted with a 1
page report of your observations of the island as well as a detailed illustration (map) of your island, clearly marking the
biotic and abiotic traits of your island.
2. You will research the physical and behavioral characteristics of the Norwegian rat and identify traits that would make it
successful or unsuccessful in your island habitat. Consider the following questions to guide your report:
a. How are traits passed down to future generations? (genetics)
b. What ways can we predict the inheritability of certain traits?
c. How could mutations lead to change in the rat over time? (protein synthesis)
d. What are some of the variations in traits that might lead to differential reproductive success?
3. Using your knowledge of plants and botany, repeat step 2 using any plant of your choice.
4. Based on your research from Task 2 and 3, with your partner you are to develop the following story:
What mutations would allow your rat to be most successful on your island? Which mutations are they likely to pass on to
their offspring? Using a medium of your choice (cartoon, animation, clay, movie, skit, story, poem, etc.) tell the story of
what happens to your population of rats over the next 1000 years. Consider the following questions as you create your
story.
How many generations of rats will be born in the next 1000 years?
What types of traits will be passed on to those generations which will make them successful?
Each group must also choose a follow up activity A. Randomly select one of the other islands to place a breeding pair of your rats onto. What traits will allow them to be
successful in this new environment? What traits will be detrimental to them in this new environment? Do you think they
will survive? Why or why not?
B. Design a theoretical fossil record history of your rat or plant and include transitional species. Which fossils are most like
the "modern" species? Where would they be located in the strata of the island?
Culminating Event - Museum Exhibit Each student group will use their research and design to create a museum exhibit detailing their rat and plant populations
and including details of their island.
Region 10 ESC
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Museum exhibit must include the following:
-Map of island including biotic and abiotic factors.
-At least one model of your current or future predicted rat species, with specific traits clearly displayed and detailed with a
descriptive label. Focus on
how the rat has changed in the time it has spent on the island
how those changes may have happened
how these changes have affected the rat’s ability to survive
-At least one model of a plant found on your island which demonstrates and has labeled
how the plant has changed in the time it has spent on the island
how those changes may have happened
how these changes have affected the plant’s ability to survive
OPTIONS FOR DIFFERENTIATION:
Special Education (Resource / Basic Biology) - Modify for vocabulary (abiotic = nonliving , biotic = living) and alternatively allow
students to choose between plants OR animal rather than completing both. Make sure students don't think that animals mutate
BECAUSE of the environment (most common misconception).
Pre/AP, GT, PBL, Academy - Include discussion or product involving the following concepts: Hardy Weinberg, Divergent,
Convergent and Co-evolution, The Founder effect, Genetic bottlenecking, Predator-Prey interactions and pressure, Population
dynamics and can also expand scope and requirements of presentation.
Options for extension: Use or spiral in during ecology – Discuss island biomes and have students create food chains or food webs
including their various plant and animal species. Spiral in genetics review and have students demonstrate punnett squares of parent
species. During nomenclature have students develop a cladogram of species on their island and produce scientific names of their
species.
Region 10 ESC
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