Sciencemathmasters.weebly.com



Main ActivityLesson Plan: Adaptation of Species Over TimeReferences: Biology. Miller and Levine. Pearson. 2012.Marine Biology. 8th edition. Castro and Huber. 2010.Length: 3 class days (150 min.)Lesson: The purpose of this activity is to learn how populations change over time to adapt to different ecosystems. The students will demonstrate advantageous adaptations to five Florida plant species after the topography of Florida is changed by a mountain range. There will be both wet and dry ecosystems. Teacher set up is simple. Colored pencils, present day Florida contour map, graph paper, bio sheets on five Florida plant species, and student handout are all the supplies needed. Students will be placed in groups of five.After the introduction by the teacher (read background, read procedure steps, and answer any student generated questions), students will create a New Florida contour map based on the mountain-forming scenario. Students will create two new subspecies of a given plant species each with three new adaptations with advantages noted. A population vs. time graph will be created to show population change over time. Each group of students will present to the class their map, new subspecies, and advantages.In the end, the students will understand divergent evolution, advantages of adaptation, and cause and effect with the changed topography of New Florida over 100 million years.Student Handout: Adaptation of Species Over TimeBackground: Present day Florida is very flat land. The highest point is Britton Hill (345 feet) located in the Florida Panhandle, and the lowest point is below sea level in the Everglades. Currently, there are seven different ecosystems found in Florida, all at low elevations. They are sand dunes, marshes, swamps, pine flatwoods, prairies, scrub, and hardwood hammocks. All of these ecosystems have plants. This activity will use plant species to show evolutionary changes over time. Bio fact sheets will be given to each group. In this activity, a New Florida will be created when a large mountain range is formed, stretching from north in Tallahassee to south in Miami. This mountain range splits New Florida into east and west sides. Plant species will have to adapt to their newly formed ecosystems in order to survive. Hint #1…Mountain climates near water will have a wet side and a dry side. Hint #2…The Gulf Stream Current rides the Atlantic Ocean side of North America and the resulting trade winds will blow east to west. Procedure:Using the present day Florida contour map, discuss within your group where you want to place the mountain range. Create a new map of New Florida. Make sure your group includes the new rainfall information resulting from the formation of the new mountain range.Read over your assigned plant’s bio fact sheet. After 100 million years, your New Florida has developed. Brainstorm in your group how your assigned plant will change in its new environments of east side and west side of the mountain range.Create two new subspecies of your assigned plant. The new subspecies will need the following in their new bio fact sheets:new scientific namesthree new adaptations eachdrawings of the new subspecies showing new adaptationsexplanations of the advantages of these new adaptationsCreate a population vs. time graph using intervals of 10 million years. There should be three plants shown on the graph: present day plant, subspecies #1 plant, and subspecies #2 plant.Groups will present to the class their activity results using the document camera. Presentations will be 5 minutes long. Students will take notes on each group’s presentations using the designated handout. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download