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Adaptation and Climate Change (HS)

The lesson will introduce students to the evolutionary mechanisms underlying adaptation to climate (natural selection, gene-flow, drift, and mutation). Following this lesson students will be able to answer the question: how do organisms adapt to environmental change? and make linkages between genotypic and phenotypic variation. The lesson will include two group activities and one hands-on activity.

objectives

• Identify traits plants may have evolved to adapt and persist within their native environment
• Link genotype to phenotype by extracting DNA from different varieties of fruits or vegetables with varying
phenotypes (ie: different types of onions)
• Quantify change in allele frequencies and associated phenotypic variation across generations in response to natural selection and genetic drift
• Relate knowledge gained to anthropogenic climate change

Topic(s)

Biology

type

High school lesson

9-12

Grade(s): 

time needed

Three to four 50-minute class periods (depending on introduction/extension options)

author

Jill Hamilton, Jessi Kjemhus

national next gen standards

• HS-LS4-2 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity- Construct an explanation based on evidence that the
process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in
number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual
reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that
are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
• HS-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity- Apply concepts of statistics and probability to
support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in
proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
• HS-LS4-4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity-Construct an explanation based on evidence for how
natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

north dakota standards

• Performance Standard HS-LS3-3 Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and
distribution of expressed traits in a population.
• Performance Standard HS-LS4-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of biological evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, 2 and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
• Performance Standard HS-LS4-4 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
• Performance Standard HS-LS4-5 Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental
conditions may result in increases in the number of individuals of some species, the emergence of new species over time, and the extinction of other species.

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