Learning Activities SSI oVert
Learning Activities: The Tree of Life: Exploring Biodiversity Using Genomic and Computational Methods (SSI ToL 2018)
- Evidence of Evolution Homologous Structures
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| Download Evidence of Evolution Homologous Structures | Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images
This lesson plan uses the products of the oVERT project, at the University of Florida, in order to make the Evidence of Evolution section of the Middle School Scope and Sequence both more hands on, and more attractive to students of the technological age. Specifically, it uses the CT (Computed Tomography) scans of vertebrate forelimbs, both as 3D models and as shapefiles, to enhance and illustrate the concepts of homologous structures, and the evolution of anatomical structures as a function of their use (i.e. locomotion, grasping, and burrowing).
Grade: Middle School
Author: B. Armstrong
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019Cassondra & Bridget - Homologous Forelimbs by Blackburn Lab on Sketchfab
| Download Origin and Diversity of Armor in Girdled Lizards | Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
The girdled lizards (Cordylidae) are a family of distinctively armored lizards endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. Students examine lizards in this family to classify the lizards based on morphological characteristics. Students graph data on the percentage of osteoderm coverage in each lizard group and discover that natural selection due to predation has resulted in lightly armored lizards living in large rocks and more heavily armored lizards living in open areas. Students then compare their morphological classification to phylogenetic trees created from DNA analysis and discover that convergent evolution is responsible for differences in ostederm coverage within the Cordylidae family and in the animal kingdom.
Grade: High School
Author: J. Broo
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019
| Download That Vertebrate Ate What Exactly? | Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
Analyzing data from various sources is one of the invaluable skills any scientist must utilize to make new discoveries. During the course of this lesson, students will analyze CT scan data and observe bycatch (or an unknown discovery) captured during the scanning process of vertebrates. Using the images created from CT scans, the students will formulate ideas about what bycatch data can reveal about their lifestyle of that animal. Following the initial analysis the students will compare two separate CT scans of bycatch data and for the students to develop connections about known information of the organisms shown in the CT scans. Further extension of these first two phases will have the students will then compare the 3D pictures of the skulls, developed from CT scans of extant species of burrowing lizards, burrowing snakes and non-burrowing snake skulls. They will be tasked with relating the skull characteristics to the evolutionary history of snakes.
Grade: High School
Author: J. Horner
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019
| Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
This activity simulates analysis and identification of bird specimens based on the relationship of the natural history of bird species with the morphographic measurements and ratios compared to graphs of the same types of measurements and ratios for known examples of species for which the natural histories are given.
Grade: Middle School
Author: R. Hunter
Program: oVERT 2019
| Download What Moves You? | Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
Using various bone segments to create joints that will explain planar movement and then develop a mechanical model of different joint type that will allow certain movement in a robotic unit.
Grade: Middle School
Author: T. Iansiti
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019
| Download When Did I Lose My Legs? A Limbless Lizard Tale |
| Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
The anatomical record can lie. It's a fact of evolutionary biology. Through the use of models created by the oVert project, students will examine models of extant traditional lizards, snakes and limbless lizards. Students will classify the organisms and create cladograms based on their traits. Students will then use sequence data from these species to create phylogenies showing the relationship between these species based on the more reliable molecular record. Through the use of OneZoom, the relative timing of a common ancestor between the three groups can be determined. Based on this activity, students should be able to determine the best source in determining relatedness. This activity can easily be branched into discussions of convergence/ divergence and the principles of natural selection.
Grade: High School
Author: P. Kelly
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019
Patrick - Tree-Building and Squamates by Blackburn Lab on Sketchfab
| Download Venom: To Kill or Cure? | Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
In this case study, students will explore concepts of evolution, protein structure and function, taxonomy, and methods of scientific inquiry in a real-world way. Students will use 3D images, on-line resources, and published scientific papers to explore these topics related to venom while making inferences and evaluating their thinking related to taxonomic relationships and evolution. The case study should open lines of inquiry with additional questions that students can explore as an extension.
Grade: High School
Author: V. Ledford
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019
| Download Will You Find This Humerus? Homology Lab | Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
Students often struggle with the concept of homologous and analogous structures, especially in on-level Biology classes. This activity is designed to provide both virtual and hands-on options for teachers based on the needs and strengths of their students. Students will compare and contrast the morphology of vertebrate forelimbs, and will use this knowledge to draw conclusions about their common ancestor and descent with modification. Students will also consider adaptation and how structure is shaped by selection pressures to suit the necessary function of limbs.
Grade: High School
Author: C. McHugh-Lowther
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019
Cassondra & Bridget - Homologous Forelimbs by Blackburn Lab on Sketchfab
| Download Bird Beak Adaptations | Google Folder with Media Files | Sketchfab Digital Images |
Students will be taught basic information on evolution and adaptations prior to the beginning of this lesson. The students will navigate through different stations experiencing simulations of adaptations, manipulations of 3D examples, and making connections to the standards to formulate hypotheses about certain adaptations and how they manifest in the morphology.
Grade: Middle School
Author: M. Morales
Program: Summer Science Institute (SSI) oVert 2019