| Middle School
- "Species with certain traits are more likely
than others to survive and have offspring in particular
environments. When an environment changes, the advantage
or disadvantage of the species’ characteristics
can change. Extinction of a species occurs when the
environment changes and the characteristics of a species
are insufficient to allow survival."
- How
Species Become Extinct?
This is a PDF lesson on the main factors explaining
why animals become extinct.
- Strange
Science - Rocky Road to Modern Biology
What you can see in this site: Goof Gallery
A collection of mistakes made by early scientists
and artists when trying to represent extinct (and
sometimes living) organisms. Timeline
A chronology of some important events in the history
of paleontology and biology. Biographies
Biographies of some of the people whose work has
led to what we know today. References,
resources you can use to learn more, acknowledgments.
- "Similarities among organisms are found in anatomical
features, which can be used to infer the degree of
relatedness among organisms. In classifying organisms,
biologists consider details of internal and external
structures to be more important than behavior or general
appearance."
- Classification
of Living Things
This site is a teacher resource that covers
the classification of living things as it relates
to the principles of taxonomy with a focus on
human classification categories. Web expeditions,
an audio glossary and related sites enhances this
site.
-
Classify That
This lesson is centered around a, "Classifying
Critters," website that introduces them to different
vertebrates and helps the students see why scientists
have classified them into different categories.
This would be a general introductory lesson to
classifying organisms.
- Classifying
Critters
Outstanding
- Students match critters based on physical features
using multiple choice format. In addition
to pictures, the site describes many characteristics
of living things. Other activities include
classification of plants and flowers.
- Charles
Darwin Foundation Research Site
"The Charles Darwin Foundation exists to provide
knowledge and support to ensure the conservation
of the environment and biodiversity of the Galapagos
Archipelago through scientific research and complementary
actions."
- Darwin
and Natural Selection
Darwin's finches, peppered moths, Gregor Mendel,
theory of evolution, and other background information
are available in this web site.Hot links to related
sites are present.
- Galapagos
Islands
Take a tour of the Galapagos Islands. This
site includes articles about the islands, the
geological history of the islands, Darwin's travels,
photography, and a multitude of other information.
Grades 6-12 would find this appropriate.
- Galapagos
Science
Students will: Learn about Charles Darwin’s
voyage on the HMS Beagle and his visit to the
Galápagos Islands. Become eco-tourists
on a “new exploration” of the Galápagos
Islands. Click through an interactive map of the
Galápagos Islands to read actual and fictional
journal entries from a fellow eco-tourist.
Use what they know about the Galápagos
Islands to explain which entries were correctly
written about the Galápagos Islands and
which entries are “false.”.
- Human
Evolution
This interactive site allows students to
trace the evolution of humans by looking at pictures
and descriptions of the most primitive hominid
(Ardipithecus ramidus) all the way up to modern
Homo Sapiens. There are informational links
related to Lucy, Taung Child, and fossilized footprints.
- Kidport
Students are given a quiz using classification
skills (vertebrates, invertebrates, animal kingdoms).
Once in the main site, teachers select appropriate
grade level and quiz type.
- The
Dawn of Animal Life Exhibit
An exhibit that explains the dawn of animal life
on earth.
- The
Rise and Fall of the Mammoths
It is important to distinguish between evolution,
the historical changes in life forms that are
well substantiated and generally accepted as fact
by scientists, and natural selection, the proposed
mechanism for these changes. Students should first
be familiar with the evidence of evolution so
that they will have an informed basis for judging
different explanations (and forming their own
ideas). This lesson will help students to examine
the evidence for evolution using the woolly mammoth
and related species, of which there happens to
be a sizable fossil record. By exposing students
to the diversity and apparent relatedness of various
mammoth species, this lesson will help to prepare
students to understand natural selection as a
proposed mechanism for evolution.
- The
Tree of Life
An example of the tree of life cladogram
is presented with a link giving instructions on
how to read it. Each group on the cladogram is
a link providing information about that group.
This is an easy to read site for students.
- Tree
of Life Web Project
- The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative
effort of biologists from around the world.
On more than 4000 World Wide Web pages, the
project provides information about the diversity
of organisms on Earth, their evolutionary history
(phylogeny), and characteristics.
- Understanding
Evolution
- Understanding Evolution is a non-commercial,
education website, teaching the science and
history of evolutionary biology. This site helps
you understand what evolution is, how it works,
how it factors into your life, how research
in evolutionary biology is performed, and how
ideas in this area have changed over time.
- Walking
With Prehistoric Beasts
Outstanding
- A Discovery Channel site featuring a prehistoric
zoo with great pictures and explanations of mammals
that ruled the planet after dinosaurs. Students
can build a "beast" from fossil bones (three difficulty
levels), hide a "beast" using color schemes, patterns,
and habitats, and manipulate an interactive map
to chart continent movement, vegetation, mammal
habitat, and ocean currents from 65 million years
ago to present day.
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