Middle School Curriculum
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SEPUP Texas Edition, Science Grade 7, Evolution Unit
30-40
Have you ever wondered about the amazing variety of organisms on Earth? How did they evolve? How are they related? Just as historians study the history of humans, some scientists study the history of life on Earth. They do this by gathering evidence, making connections, creating models, and testing theories. In this unit, students will learn to interpret the many sources of evidence that exist for the evolution of life on Earth.
Content in SEPUP Texas Edition, Science Grade 7, Evolution Unit is organized into 9 activities, as follows:
| Activity Title | Activity Type | Activity Overview | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 59. | Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? | Talking it Over | Should people work to protect and save endangered species? Students discuss the plight of the Asian elephant in the context of elephant evolution and extinction. The relationship between mammoths, an extinct elephant species, and modern elephants is introduced as students consider factors that endanger the Asian elephant. |
| 60. | Hiding in the Background | Modeling | Using toothpicks of two colors, students simulate the effect of prey coloration on predation rates by birds. They investigate the effect of environment and the role of predation in the process of natural selection. |
| 61. | A Meeting of Minds | Role Play | Students role-play an imaginary meeting between Charles Darwin, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a modern-day science reporter, and a middle school student. In the role play, Darwin and Lamarck present and compare their theories on how evolution occurred. |
| 62. | Battling Beaks | Modeling | Students simulate the effect of natural selection on an imaginary forkbird species. Genetic mutations, represented by tosses of a number cube, introduce variation into the population. Differential survival and reproduction of particular types of forkbirds changes the composition of the population over time. At the close of the activity, the class discusses the role of variation in the process of natural selection. |
| 63. | Origins of Species | Reading | Variation within populations is the raw material upon which natural selection acts. Students read about how mutations provide this genetic variation. Charles Darwin’s observations of finches in the Galapagos Islands and the enormous diversity of cichlids in Lake Victoria provide examples of speciation, natural selection occurring under different conditions in different locations. |
| 64. | Family Histories | Investigation | Students draw and compare double bar graphs showing changes in the numbers of fossil families in the fish, reptile, and mammal classes over geological time. From this evidence, they can conclude that both speciation and extinction have occurred in all classes of vertebrates throughout the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras, for as long as each class has existed. The class discusses how this evidence provides further support for a branching model for evolution. |
| 65. | A Whale of a Tale | Investigation | Students investigate how fossil history provides another line of evidence for evolution. They compare the skeleton of a living whale to fossils of its extinct ancestors and use anatomical differences to arrange the skeletons in order. Students apply the theory of natural selection to whale evolution, using anatomical adaptations to infer the habitats and lifestyles of extinct species. |
| 66. | DNA: The Evidence Within | Investigation | Students reexamine classification from an evolutionary perspective. They compare DNA sequences from a number of vertebrates. |
| 67. | Birds of a Feather | Talking it Over | Students read brief case studies of the dodo bird and the pigeon. They then discuss the reasons these closely related bird species have such contrasting recent evolutionary histories. Students also reconsider the trade-offs involved in trying to re-create an extinct species, such as the dodo or the mammoth. |
A full suite of course tools is available for teachers, as follows:
Student Edition
The Student Edition guides investigations and provides related readings. It uses a variety of approaches to make science accessible for all students. SEPUP’s integrated literacy strategies help students process new science content, develop their analytical skills, make connections between related concepts, and express their knowledge orally and in writing.
eStudent Edition
Availible in both download and online access platforms.
Teacher Edition
The SEPUP Core Curriculum Teacher’s Edition takes you through each activity in the Student Edition and helps you see the development of concepts within the big picture of the units and the course you are teaching. It helps you set up the equipment from the kit, organize the classroom, conduct activities, and manage practical details, all of which enhance students’ learning environment. The Teacher’s Edition is packaged as a series of loose-leaf binders that you can personalize with annotations, rearrangements, and insertions. The Teacher’s Edition provides full support for teaching the program. Additional support resources can also found in the Teacher’s Edition.
Complete Material Package
All SEPUP materials packages are designed with teachers, students and environmental considerations in mind. Traditional laboratory style classrooms are not necessary to teach SEPUP. Materials packages include most of the items needed for the activities. They support multiple classes – typically up to five classes of 32 students (160 total students) – before consumables need to be replaced. It’s important to note that materials are consumed at various rates; therefore, it will not be necessary to replace all consumable items every year. Exclusive to SEPUP programs are the molded tray liners that keep everything in place and easy to locate – even in a hurry.
Online and Technology Tools
These include the Exam View suite of assessment tools and more than 100 web links for each of the three SEPUP 6-8 courses, to be used for basic instruction and enrichment.
| SEPUP Texas Edition, Science Grade 7, Evolution Unit | Item # | Price | Quantity |
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