Table 10 Summary of the range of different activities into which the main activities were embedded.
Lesson 1 | Variation |
Starter | PowerPoint presentation on variation (definition, examples and causes) and continuum activity to show variation within the class. |
Main | Quantitative investigation of variation within the class (eye colour, chin dimples and hand span) including mathematical processing of data and transformation into graphs. |
Plenary | Hospital baby switch scenario exercise to explore understanding of the cause of variation in traits. |
Lesson 2 | Natural selection |
Starter | PowerPoint presentation on adaptations (polar bear and cactus) and blob game to explore ideas of natural selection, selective advantage, differential survival and extinction. |
Main | One of two alternative activities based on peppered moth populations as an example of natural selection. Either: (a) Student-centred “hunting” moths activity carried out in small groups or, (b) Teacher-centred activity based around a PowerPoint presentation and scaffolded written task explaining survival of mimetic peppered moths. |
Plenary | Story board activity to show process of natural selection in an island dwelling bird population. |
Lesson 3 | Geological time |
Starter | Video introducing concept that all organisms are related to a common ancestor, using whales as an example. |
Main | Toilet roll of time activity using 200 squares of toilet roll to represent 4.6 billion years. Students order and position different cards along the timeline to show major geological events, from the formation of the earth to the present day, emphasizing their relationship to the same common ancestor. |
Plenary | Mini spiral timeline to hang in class. |
Lesson 4 | Homology and common ancestry |
Starter | PowerPoint presentation on how organisms have changed over time and are related to each other. |
Main | One of two alternative activities both based around the identification of homologous structures within related species and model making. Either: (a) extant species focusing on the pentadactyl limb in tetrapods, or (b) extinct species focusing on Trilobites. |
Plenary | Exercise on phylogenetic trees and the common ancestry of humans. |
