For Lab 8, you will complete two exercises:

Please review the Biology Laboratory Safety guidelines before you begin each laboratory investigation. Look at SCB115-Syllabus.pdf for accessibility and other policies.

Exercise 12 – Evolution

• Learning Objectives
• Lab Readings
• Videos
• Lab Activity
• Quiz

Learning Objectives

After completing this lab, the students will be able to:

• Define natural selection, adaptation, and genetic diversity.
• Describe how genetic variation allows a population to survive during environmental changes.
• Explain how natural selection controls the genetic diversity found in populations.

Lab Readings

Read the following materials before you begin the experiment.

1. Evolution 101 (University of California Museum of Paleontology) 

• Introduction 
• Patterns 
• Mechanisms 
• Microevolution 
• Speciation 
• Macroevolution
• The big issues

2. Evolution (Boundless Biology at Lumen Learning) 

Evolution and the Origin of Species 

• Understanding Evolution 
• Formation of New Species 
• Hybrid Zones and Rates of Speciation 
• Evolution of Genomes
• Evidence of Evolution

The Evolution of Populations 

• Population Evolution 
• Population Genetics
•  Adaptive Evolution 

3. Module 12: Theory of Evolution (Lumen Learning) 

• Why It Matters: Theory of Evolution
• Introduction to Charles Darwin 
• Darwin and Descent with Modification 
• Darwin and the Theory of Evolution 
• Introduction to Evidence for Evolution 
• Physical Evidence 
• Biological Evidence 
• Misconceptions of Evolution
• Introduction to Mutations and Evolution 
• Population Genetics 
• Selective and Environmental Pressures 
• Genetic Variation and Drift 

• Introduction to Phylogenetic Trees 
• Scientific Classification 
• Structure of Phylogenetic Trees 
• Limitations of Phylogenetic Trees 
• The Taxonomic Classification System 
• Putting It Together: Theory of Evolution

Videos

1. View this Evolution Continues video or on YouTube https://youtu.be/fCu1RVq40QI before you start the lab activity.
   

Lab Activity

This interactive module allows students to examine fossils of early humans and compare them to modern primates. Please follow the instructions below to begin the experiment.

• Click this Great Transitions Interactive: Human Origins link, or https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/human-origins
• then click “Launch interactive” button to start.
• Click “press to begin” button.
• begin to explore by clicking each characteristic you see in the table.

Quiz