Comparative Anatomy of the Domestic Chicken

Start Interactive

Image of a chicken skeleton from the interactive

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — General High School — AP/IB College

Saved By

34 Users

View in Spanish

Description

This interactive module traces the evolutionary history of birds by comparing the bone structures of a chicken to those of other species.

In this Click & Learn, students explore a simplified evolutionary tree of chickens starting from the last common ancestor of birds and crocodiles, which lived about 250 million years ago. Students compare the bones of a chicken to those of its dinosaur relatives at key nodes of the tree, to pinpoint some of the similarities that suggest that birds are avian dinosaurs.

The accompanying “Worksheet” guides students’ exploration of the Click & Learn.

Student Learning Targets

Explain how shared anatomical features can provide evidence for evolutionary relationships.
Construct a simple evolutionary tree based on visual observations of anatomical similarities.

Estimated Time

One 50-minute class period to complete the Click & Learn and its associated worksheet.

Key Terms

archosaur, bird, cladogram, dinosaur, evolutionary tree, paleontology

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.

Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)

PDF files meet criteria. Interactive media meets criteria. Spanish files meet criteria.

Version History

Date Published 11.10.15

Date Updated 10.03.19

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS4-1; SEP2, SEP6

AP Biology (2019)

EVO-1.M, EVO-1.N, EVO-3.B, EVO-3.C; SP1

IB Biology (2016)

5.1, 5.4

AP Environmental Science (2020)

Topic(s): 2.6
Learning Objectives & Practices: ERT-2.H, SP5

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

3.2

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9–12.4

Vision and Change (2009)

CC1, CC3; DP1, DP3