Unit Overview
In this unit on selection and adaptations, students discover how different environments caused land iguanas and marine iguanas to appear so different from one another. They then solve a mystery on how traits become more prominent in populations over time and complete a hands-on team challenge to gather evidence to support this idea. The unit culminates with an engineering challenge in which students design and build a product inspired by an animal or plant adaptation that humans can use.
- Lesson 1
Solve: Iguana Comparison + Peppered Moth Mystery
Choose to solve either a live video mystery on why land iguanas look so different from marine iguanas or an animated mystery on why there are so many light-winged moths now compared with 50 years ago. By the end of The Solve, students will discover that individuals with the traits that best “fit” their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, leading to that trait becoming more common. (Live Solve: 80 minutes; Animated Solve: 80 minutes)
- Lesson 2
Make: Compete in a bird beak challenge!
Students compete in a bird beak challenge to model how natural selection causes certain traits to become more or less common in a population. (220–230 mins)
- Lesson 2
Make Extension: Research and Display an Adaptation over Time
Students select a specific plant or animal trait to research and depict the process of adaptation over time in a filmstrip (200 mins)
- Lesson 3
Engineer: Build a Product from an Animal or Plant Adaptation
Building off the “Make,” learners design a product that embodies the trait they research so that humans may benefit from the function of this natural adaptation. (150 minutes)