Identifying Patterns in Observations

Resource Type
Description
This activity challenges students to identify observations that Darwin and Wallace made during their travels, as shown in the short film The Origin of Species: The Making of a Theory. Students then evaluate claims about evolution by natural selection based on these observations.
Students review a list of observations made by naturalists Charles Darwin and Alfred R. Wallace. As they watch the film, which tells the story of Darwin and Wallace’s travels, students identify who made which observation from the list. They then use these observations to support different claims about evolution by natural selection and write a paragraph to summarize how the patterns of observations made by each naturalist led them to formulate their ideas.
Student Learning Targets
- Evaluate claims about evolution by natural selection based on information and evidence presented in a film.
- Participate in a collaborative discussion of the evidence and its interpretation.
Estimated Time
Key Terms
adaptation, competition, descent, extinction, finch, fossil, reproductive success, species, variation
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.
Version History
NGSS (2013)
HS-LS4-1, HS-LS4-2, HS-LS4-4; SEP6
AP Biology (2019)
EVO-1.C, EVO-1.E, EVO-1.M; SP6
IB Biology (2016)
5.1, 5.2
AP Environmental Science (2020)
Topic(s): 2.6
Learning Objectives & Practices: ERT-2.H, SP1, SP3
IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)
3.2
Common Core (2010)
ELA.WHST.9–12.2, ELA.WHST.9–12.4
Vision and Change (2009)
CC1; DP1