Baleen whale evolution ngss aligned curriculum for grade 4 baleen whale evolution curriculum english spanish pdf baleen whale evolution worksheet english spanish pdf. Exploring evolution in creatures small and large 7 activity 167 feed but came out on land to rest and to give birth. Whale evolution is one of the most fascinating examples of evolution that there is. Many museums present a nice, orderly succession of fossils that supposedly show this transition from land to water. Evolution unit three what is evidence for evolution. Early evolution of whales 121 acknowledgment i thank elwyn simons for encouraging and facilitating research on early whale evolution in egypt, and for the same, less directly, in pakistan. Click back in your browser to return to the mammal sequence page. Displaying all worksheets related to fossils evidence of evolution. Investigate how whales evolved from living on land to life in. Upon completion of this lesson on whale evolution, students will be able to. The zeuglodon fossil looked different from any living whale, showing that whale species have changed over time. Whale whale has a much shorter and thicker humerus, radius, and ulna.
Odontocetes, the toothed whales, include belugas, narwhals, sperm whales, pilot whales, and beaked whales, including dolphins and porpoises. This fossil had functional hind limbs, which were probably used for grasping in reproduction. Complete parts one, two, and three to demonstrate your knowledge on how fossil evidence determines the relationships of whale ancestors and their descendants. Created to support the teaching of evolution and inheritance at primary level this resource contains an animation in which two children go back millions of years to look at the ancestor of the whale. Reconstruction of the fossil whale ambulocetus from the. However there are many problems with the idea that a land animal could turn into a water mammal. After the unexpected discovery of pakicetus, gingerich began to hunt for whales in earnest. Use the data table on page 8 to fill in the eventoed ungulates on tree a. Illustration, based on fossil remains, by mary parrish, smithsonian. Now whale evolution represents one of the best examples of macroevolution. Smithsonian education pdf fossil evidence and evolution hhmi biointeractive. Evidence of evolution background when charles darwin first proposed the idea that all new species descend from an ancestor, he performed an exhaustive amount of research to provide as much evidence as possible. Call it an unfinished story, but with a plot thats a grabber.
This powerpoint lesson is on the evidence of evolution. Investigate how whales evolved from living on land to life in the sea overview before your visit. Below is a list of notes and worksheets we have used in class. For the most part they were fullyfledged fluked cetaceans who gave birth at sea and may have been the 3. Topics include a land animal with a thick bone around its ear and the discovery of a. Once on the page, you can narrow the search even further by searching the protein database for cytb cetacea, the mammalian order to which whales belong. Pass out copies of whales in the making and whale evolution data table worksheet handouts 1. As expected, these independent lines of evidence all confirm the pattern of whale evolution that we would anticipate in the fossil record. In completing this worksheet, kids practice thinking skills and fine motor skills as they draw lines to connect the matching whales.
In fact, none of the individual animals on the evogram is the direct ancestor of any other, as far as we know. Whales, like all mammals, evolved from reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Compare and contrast fish and whales write some of the similarities and differences between fish and whales. A second animation looks at the how the skeleton of the animal changes over the same time. The readings take students from the whales early terrestrial ancestors to the aquatic mammals of today. The first thing to notice on this evogram is that hippos are the closest living relatives of whales, but they are not the ancestors of whales. Then, they will create a cartoon that illustrates and. Certainly there has been diversification within the whale kinds see what i mean about kind in point 2 below. Blue whale facts include that calves weigh up to three tons at birth and adults can be as heavy as 200 tons. What does this suggest about this animals relationship to. The molecular connection including amino acid sequences in cytochromec proteins from 20 different species pdf answer key to the molecular connection pdf external web links. Learn all about the interesting world of the whale while practicing fluency and reading comprehension skills using this helpful nonfiction reading worksheet. A timeline of the evolution of whales will be covered with this quiz worksheet.
This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and. Singers at sea 8 grade worksheets western reading with questions ela test prep nys singers at sea, lesson plans the mailbox. The great whales marine mammal institute oregon state university. The creature pakicetus was initially regarded as a primitive whale, while further analysis confirms it was a landdwelling mammal. But how do you know that what you have been told about certain fossils is really evidence of the evolution of whales from some land animal. Thats why each of them gets its own branch on the family tree. Lesson at a glance students investigate information about the development of todays whales during the last 60 million years. Evolution and inheritance national curriculum outlines.
Watch evolution in action as you leave your species fate up to chance playing our funky monkey game and trace the evolution of the whale from land to sea in our evolution unit bundle complete with a guiding powerpoint, tons of activities, graphic organizers and more. Lesson duration two 60minute periods essential questions what is a. The evolution of foraging capacity and gigantism in cetaceans pure. Fossil whales and whale evolution smithsonian national. Draw and label the cladogram that you created for the whale, fish, and cat below. Make copies of whales in the making handout and thewhale evolution data table worksheet pdf worksheet. Arrange the ancient relatives of the whale in the order that they evolved and take a photo. Students are required to work in teams of two and directed to cut out the six fossil boxes from the handout and research information about each fossil using the internet. Cite evidence when answering questions about a text.
Evidence of evolution background when charles darwin first proposed the idea that all new species descend from an ancestor, he performed an. The fossil evidence for evolution pbs learningmedia. Evidence of evolution answers in gray background when charles darwin first proposed the idea that all new species descend from an ancestor, he performed an exhaustive amount of research to provide as much evidence as possible. The evolution of whales the origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. Using the worksheet, students will observe features and gather evidence to support the claim that the ancestors of. Originally mistaken for dinosaur fossils, whale bones uncovered in recent years have told us much about the behemoth sea creatures. If you missed class on tuesday, march 29, do this packet instead. Conclusion assessment questions included in the slide show. Whale fossils are large, and they are relatively easy to.
What characteristics do terrestrial mammals and aquatic mammals. Please use this page to print extra copies of worksheets andor notes you have misplaced or missed due to absence. The theory of evolution worksheets opening image daniel korzeniewski, 2010. These creatures could still bend their flippers at the elbow, and their nostrils had transitioned only partially up the snout to the top of the head. Fossil whales and whale evolution smithsonian national museum.
Regulating evolution article from scientific american may 2008. Fossil whales and whale evolution early whale, llanocetus, that cruised the ancient seas 35 million years ago. Students will observe features and gather evidence to support the claim that the ancestors of presentday. What characteristics do terrestrial mammals and aquatic mammals share. Whales do not have the pelvis that land mammals do. Keith interviews chad, the blue whale kenai fjords national park narwhals nunavut and confederation. Today, the major pieces of evidence for this theory can be broken down into the fossil record, embryology. Cetacea the evolution of whales pelvic bone vestigial structure there are approximately 40 species of whales, excluding dolphins and porpoises.
Marine biodiversity activity worksheetwhale evolution. Fossils evidence of evolution worksheets lesson worksheets. Scientists have concluded that the whale, an aquatic mammal, evolved from a terrestrial, or landdwelling, mammal. Its the tale of an ancient land mammal making its way back to the sea, becoming the forerunner of todays whales. Introduction to natural selection simulating the process of natural selection lab natural selection study. The fossil, which he called zeuglodon, revealed two key details. Find the animal with the fewest traits in this case, the fewest transposons in common with the others. Evolution critics even focused on whales as a means to criticize evolutionary theory. Now students explore whale evolution by completing an interactive activity by wgbh. Browse whale evolution resources on teachers pay teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources. This clicker case uses this fascinating story of historical irony as a backdrop to the study of whale evolution.
Marine biodiversity activity worksheetwhale evolution instructions. The children observe and discuss the changes that happened as this animal evolved over many generations. Distribute the worksheets to the students beforehand. Worksheets are evidence of evolution answers in gray background fossils, evidence for evolution cloze work, work evolution of species, using fossil evidence to investigate whale evolution, evidence for evolution stations answerkey, work what are fossils, pdf new fossils, g4 u4 l1 lesson 1 where did the whales come from. Whales are thought by evolutionists to have evolved from land mammals. Thus, over hundreds of millions they left the sea, grew legs, grew fur, and evolved lungs.
The readings take students from the whale s early terrestrial ancestors to the aquatic mammals of today. Within the evolution domain, students are expected to understand how traits change over time, and how this affects adaptation and survival of a species. The theory of whale evolution national oceanic and. English spanish pdf learn about the properties of minerals, how a mineral is defined, and the differences between minerals and rocks. Illustrate and describe prehistoric animals in the whale family. The goal of this presentation is to teach the evolutionary history of modernday whales. Students are required to work in teams of two and directed to cut out the six fossil boxes from the handout and research information about each fossil. This lesson plan is a tool for helping students learn about the evolution of whales. Pass out copies of whales in the making and whale evolution data table worksheet handouts. Head of whale, dark grey back and sides, white ventral area. Whale evolution 1 whale evolution cetaceans,orwhalesagroupwhichincludestheanimals commonly known as dolphins and porpoises, are interesting from an evolutionary perspective because they are so different from their ancestors. To illustrate this approach, i will present the evidence from multiple fields for the origin of the whales from terrestrial mammals.
Whale evolution by 68 middle school science teachers. Ocean animalthemed worksheets, reading response and writing activities, word study sheets, and math practice pages make fun teaching tools. Discuss as a group what students learned about whale evolution overall, taking care to elicit the descriptions that students wrote on their notes sheets. Then they returned to the sea, lost their legs and fur, but kept their lungs. Evidence of evolutionanswers in gray background fossils. Get teaching resources about fossil whales and whale evolution. Worksheets are evidence of evolution answers in gray background fossils, evidence for evolution cloze work, work evolution of species, using fossil evidence to investigate whale evolution, evidence for evolution stations answerkey, work what are fossils, pdf new fossils, g4 u4 l1 lesson 1 where. They are the biggest animals to have ever lived on earth. Be sure to include all three parts with your submission. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company. Microevolution and the genetics of populations lesson 10.
Perimeter poem write a poem around the perimeter outer edges of the whale. Plus there are awards, incentives, bookmarks, and multipurpose templates. Even with the 1996 discovery of parts of the pelvis, the evidence still indicates that this creature was a landdwelling animal. Finally, use the timeline to complete a data table on patterns of anatomical structures in the organisms. Flippers and whiskers food webs going batty great white sharks how does sonar work. The ancestors of whales were furcovered land mammals that rarely entered the water, whereas whales today. Students will discuss what makes a whale a mammal and read about the placement of whales in the tree of life. Reptiles including dinosaurs have teeth with one root. Preschoolers will have a whale of time comparing details such as stripes and polka dots as they match the twin whales. Investigate how whales evolved from living on land to life. Whales activities, worksheets, printables, and lesson plans.