The Evolution Revolution
Science is exciting – almost everything about our modern life is based on humanity’s understanding of the world – what we call Science. Science is all about understanding and being able to control our world.
So why should you care? You just want to stuff around with your iPhone, chat on facebook, listen to great music and play sports. What’s that got to do with Science? Well, nothing. Not if you just want to sit there and blob, be passive and not involved, that’s your choice.
BUT…
If you want to be more involved; make it better, cooler, faster, lounder, more fun – then Science is what you want and need.
We started our study of Science this year with trying to understand how ideas about science are started – the Scientific Method, writing hypotheses, variables and control groups. This is where we start, and what you will have to be able to do as we go on. To help you remember what we did, here is the presentation I used in class:
Remember that you have to do the last one yourself, the “Lisa & Rogooti” slide.
We went on from this point to start our learning about science content (not science process, like hypothesising), by beginning to look at Evolution and Natural Selection. We’ve only just begun, to look at how it all works, and why organisms change over time. We have looked at your initial ideas about what evolution is with a quick survey:
Seeing what it is, and what it is not. You all chose a question you had a misunderstanding about, and you now must write to question and your explanation of what the correct answer is in a comment on this post. THIS IS HOMEWORK, and must be done before next week’s first lesson!
Lastly, we had a look at how Natural Selection doesn’t necessarily mean that every organism is going to become a “SUPER” organism, but that some behaviours can also become selective positives. Here is that presentation:
See you in class!
CLASS MATERIALS UPDATE
Here are the links and files you will be using in class:
Here is a video that will help you review the concept of Natural Selection if you are uncertain.
10 Examples of Natural Selection: Read all of these, and select 5 to make summary notes on. Each examples should be clearly be listing the selective pressure (what is causing a change in the environment), the population adaption (what traits were positive (naturally selected for), and the effect on the population as a whole.
Extensions these tasks are only to be explored *after* you finish your set of 5 summary notes: More information about Peppered Moths, The Mating Game, Natural Selection Simulation, Sunny Meadows simulation
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=221661&title=Natural_Selection
Explore posts in the same categories: Biology, Evolution, General Science, Natural Selection, Scientific Processes
Cyberchalky! 
February 16, 2012 at 4:16 PM
21) Big dinosaurs were common during the time of early humans.
False
Big dinosaurs were not commkon during thje time of early humans, because dinosaurs were not found from until 250 million years ago. there were life forms from the time of early humans, the creatures were bugs, fish, reptiles and birds.
February 16, 2012 at 4:24 PM
Good start, Chloe.
It would be good to see you add a little more detail – perhaps how much time there was between the extinction of dinosaurs and the development of the first humans?
February 17, 2012 at 9:54 AM
so how much do u want us to say on the question were doing then????
February 17, 2012 at 3:06 PM
About two paragraphs.
February 17, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Did most animals appear during the Cambrian Explosion?
The answer is yes, it has been said that most animal groups actually did appear in the ancient Cambrian times. Most animal were said to found in fossils after the explosion. Not only did animals appear during the Cambrian explosion it also was proof of natural selection.
February 17, 2012 at 11:09 AM
Hi Madison,
You don’t explain what the Cambrian explosion actually was. More details, please!
Mr. G
February 17, 2012 at 9:45 AM
14) Evolution simply means ” Change”-( False)
Biological evolution is not defined as simply “change” over time. It defined as any genetic change in a population that is inherited over several generations and they all can be traced back to one common ancestor. Genetic variation must be involves whenever there is evolution occur
Many livings changes over time, such as weight loss or gain but they are not considered of evolution because they are not genetic changes that can be passed on to the next offsprings.
February 17, 2012 at 11:11 AM
Good response, B2!
February 17, 2012 at 9:46 AM
16) Evolution is like a chain with each group of organisms envolving into the next ”link” in the chain
Evidence shows that evolution isn’t like a chain with each group of organisms envolving into the next ”link” in the chain,instead humans envovled from earlier species and coutinue to envolve but don’t enolve into the a new link in the chain.It is said that humans envovled from apes but apes haven’t changed since the start of evolution.Therefore we can say that we don’t enolve into a new link in the chain of evolution
Jade
February 17, 2012 at 11:15 AM
This needs a bit more work, you needs to explain why a tree would be a better analogy than a chain.
February 20, 2012 at 4:25 PM
A tree is a better analogy than a chain because each part of the growing tree represents each type of life including animals and plants and other living organisms for example the budds represent existing species and those that were produced every former year represent the large number of extinct species and limbs were divided into great branches and from the first growth of the tree the branches fall out and the various sizes can represent families and genera which had no living representatives and we now know them in fossil form
February 17, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Big dinosaurs were common during the time of early humans.
The early humans that were first developed through the course of evolution were not around at the time of dinosaurs because of the difference in the time that they evolved. There may have been traces of other creatures at the time of the dinoasurs that would have later developed into humans but at the stage of dinosaurs humans were yet to evolve. Dinosaurs were first alive around about 230 million years ago where as humans only first developed around 400,000 and 250,000 years ago so as you can see the dinosaurs and humans were worlds apart.
February 17, 2012 at 1:56 PM
Excellent answer, Wendy.
February 17, 2012 at 9:49 AM
21) Big dinosaurs were common during the time of early humans.
False
Big dinosaurs were not common during the time of early humans, because dinosaurs were not found from until 250 million years ago.The cause of the dinosuars extinction has not be proven yet, but people say that that an asteroid hit the earth in the gulf of mexico which was around 9 miles wide. There were life forms from the time of early humans, they were bugs, fish and reptiles.The first human-like primates did not apper till up until 3.6 million years ago, so they had to face saber-toother tiger, cave lions and mommoths, scientists say big dionsaurs were long gone before man first apperaed.
February 17, 2012 at 9:50 AM
well after the extinction of dinosaurs, the development of the first humans could of happend a few years after the big bang.
February 17, 2012 at 1:57 PM
Brooke, this answer makes no sense. You must try again after doing some more reading.
February 17, 2012 at 9:51 AM
14) Evolution simply means ‘change’.
true.
animals or plants which do less well than others tend to decline acting on naturally occuring changes lead to all living things coming over millions of years from an original common ancestor, which was presumably a single celled organism.
February 17, 2012 at 3:05 PM
The correct answer is false; you’ll need to rethink and resubmit.
February 17, 2012 at 10:10 AM
6) Evolution was first proposed and explained by Charles Darwin.
false
The idea that one type of animal could be a descendent from another first came from ancient greeks such as Anaximander and Empedocles. In contrast Aristotle of the middle ages understand all natural, not only living things, as being imperfect actualisation’s of different fixed natural possibilities, known as “forms”, “ideas” or “species”.
Unfortunately the majority of the population dissmissed this idea as crazy and ridiculous until Charles Darwin sailed to the Galapagos islands and found proof.
February 17, 2012 at 3:08 PM
Well done; concise & clear
February 17, 2012 at 10:11 AM
23) According to evolution, new species usually result from major mutations in a single generation.
My example for this question is going to be inbreeding:
Inbreeding has been around since the early humans, it is when your mother and father have children and those children, (boy and girl) get together with their parents or each other and have children, trying to keep the perfect gene pool, inbreeding is most common in royal families, they want to keep the gene pool fresh, where in actual fact, it is only creating mutations.
It creates a whole new species when you think about it, because the gene pool changes due to the same blood and DNA mixing.
February 17, 2012 at 10:14 AM
Evolution is also known as ”Natural Selection”.
False.
Natural Selection is a part of Evolution. It is a process by which living organisms best suited to an environment tend to survive and produce more offsprings in comparison with the less adapted that tend to be eliminated. As a result, the genetic characteristics of the population change over time, thus accounting for the process of evolution. In other words, natural selection is the ‘how’ of evolution and a key mechanism of it.
February 17, 2012 at 3:07 PM
Excellent answer.
February 17, 2012 at 3:12 PM
Good start, but even mutations from inbreeding don’t result in an entire new species. It would be good to see you expand on your answer, including examples of inbreeding degeneracy and a definition of a species.
February 20, 2012 at 10:14 PM
‘EVOLUTION IS JUST A THEORY’ – False
Evolution is not just a theory; it is proven that evolution is real. Evolution is basically the process of new species arising from earlier species by an amassed change. Fossils are the remainders of once living organisms. But not all fossils lived on Earth at the same time. This means that the various species evolved from earlier ones so, several living organisms have common ancestors.
Science uses the word theory for a substantiated, well-supported and well-documented explanation for its observations. Theories cannot be changed into laws because theory is the explanation for reality. The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection is our best explanation for the fact of evolution.
February 21, 2012 at 4:45 PM
“most animals appeared during the cambrian explosion” true. the cambrian explosion was a short period of time about 545 million years ago. the cambrian explosion was an explosion that led to the appearence of a huge number of multi-celled organisms in a farely short period of time, about 5 to 10 million years. these multi-celled creatures became the main animal groups we know today.
March 1, 2012 at 8:13 PM
A very simple answer, Erin. Good to keep it straight forward, but I’d like to see a little more detail in future efforts.
February 23, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Did most animals appear in the cambrian explosion.
Yes! the cambrian explosion or cambrian radiation was a rapid form of evolution which took millian of years which is like seconds for evolution but a main animal arrived before then 580 million years ago called the phyla appeared but they coul only see blurry forms of lights thanks to light sensitive patches but were primitive and mostly scuttle or swim untill the first amphibians evolved the frst eyes.
(sorry i am using my mum email because i dont have one.)
February 23, 2012 at 7:04 PM
Hi Mitch,
Good effort on this one; it would be good to see you actually give some dates for the Cambrian Explosion to make it better.
February 24, 2012 at 1:43 PM
Most of the major groups of animals suddenly appeared during the Cambrian explosion. This is true.
The Cambrian explosion was around 530 million years ago. Most of the major group’s animals appeared at this time in the fossil record. It is called the Cambrian explosion because of the short period of time it took for the diverse range of creatures to appear. It was not an actual explosion. The Cambrian period was approximately 40 million years long. Before the Cambrian explosion, most animals were thought to be soft bodied. Afterwards animals began appearing with shells and hard skeletons. Most started appearing in the ocean first, and the hard skeletons and shells were for protection against the harsh world and each other. The temperature was changing drastically through this period of time.
February 27, 2012 at 4:57 PM
did most animals appear during the ‘ Cambrian explosion’?
yes, the Cambrian explosion was a time period almost 542mya were a lot of change and adaption happened with new life forms appearing and new evolution into the creation of the eye. During these periods most of the different groups of animals were formed. This was shown through the fossils left behind after the great explosion.
March 1, 2012 at 8:12 PM
Short but to the point Asela.
February 28, 2012 at 12:22 PM
Evolution simply means change.
Evolution is the gradual change in a species’ genetic make-up that allows it to adapt to its surroundings better than others. Individuals with this beneficial mutation will have a better chance of surviving to pass on their genes. This is known as “survival of the fittest”. Evolution is change in humans, animals, plants etc., due to natural selection. Evolution happens when there is a genetic mutation. We get 50% of our genetic characteristics from each parent. These then combine during meiosis but with some alteration. This changes how the genes are expressed.Evolution is about small changes over millions of years. Proof for evolution can be found in the fossil record and in comparative embryology. For example, dolphin foetuses grow limbs that vanish after a few months development. This tells us they once were land mammals.Evolution simply means change. Consider the giraffe, they are tall because they have adapted to feed on leaf shoots high in the canopy. Their antecedents would not have been so tall but perhaps one individual was born slightly taller than the others. It would have been able to feed better and ground more robust, attracting a good mate. His progeny would have intertied this “taller” gene. Eventually there would have been more “tall” giraffes than short ones who would not have been able to compete for food, and the short ones would die off.Many people believe that before there were humans they were monkeys, and gradually changed over the years to become less hairy and developed different body types. It was known for a long time – several centuries – that man and the apes were related. At heart, their anatomy is similar, despite many superficial differences.
casey alexander
February 29, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Excellent work, Casey.
February 28, 2012 at 4:08 PM
21) Big dinosaurs were common during the time of early humans.
(false)
Big dinosaurs were not common during the time of early humans. That’s because the big dinosaurs were not around or found until about 250 million years ago. Why the dinosaurs were extincted, we don’t know at this point, but some people say that it’s because they had competition between the dinosaurs and the mammals, but that’s just a theory. And the first human-like primate didn’t appear until 3.6 million years ago so that question is false.
February 29, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Good response Laura – though the theory about competition between mammals and dinosaurs is indeed false, as we saw during the EVOLVE movie.
March 1, 2012 at 6:39 AM
Some genuinely choice blog posts on this website , saved to fav.
March 2, 2012 at 4:17 PM
This isn’t related to the blog but Im confused on what to put in the graphs,do you do frog colour 1 ,frog colour 2, and offspring
and the results for etheir the forest or pond or something else ?
jade
March 3, 2012 at 6:36 PM
Hi Jade,
You need to draw three lines on the graph; one for each frog color. Each lines should show how many frogs of that colour are alive each year.
March 3, 2012 at 8:05 PM
What do you mean by frogs alive each year ?
March 4, 2012 at 11:31 AM
You recorded a number of surviving frogs each year. For example, you may have started with 10 red frogs, but the next year it was 8, then 5 then 4 then 2 then none. Plot these points on a graph (at year 0, put a point at height 10, and then at year 1, plot a point at height 8, etc). Connect these points to make a line.
Repeat this process for each colour and that is your graph.
March 5, 2012 at 10:06 AM
evolution is like a chain, with each group of organisms evolving into the next ‘link’ in the chain. this is false. evolution is somehting that it gradual. Nothing can completely evolve from oe thing to another in just one generation.
For example, if humans did not used to have eyes. they would not have had babies who suddenly had a complete set of eyes. It would happen gradually, maybe with the next generation being light sensative. Over time, new generations will have the ability so see more and more untill a complete set of eyes has been developed.
Bethany Russell
March 5, 2012 at 1:46 PM
Hi Bethany, this is half of a good answer. Perhaps you could also explain why we tend to use a tree as an analogy, not a chain?
March 13, 2012 at 3:58 PM
Hi Mr G
With the work you assigned today i have done a basic aim,materials and discussion and I wasn’t sure what to include in the discussion and with the genectics do we write it based on the activity sheet and that the parents aren’t happy with their gender of the to be born child