Evolution: Online Lessons for Students: Lesson 5 Teacher Page

LESSON 5: Teacher Page

In this lesson, students learn about the process of human evolution by interacting with a Web activity and examining possible hominid family trees. With this hands-on approach, students become responsible for their own learning and are better able to see connections between ideas and remember what they learn.

Activity 1: Fossil Finding

Students will study four famous fossil groups and learn how scientists interpret them to explain human evolution.

	Learning Goals
	•	Understand how fossil evidence can be used to describe ancient life forms
	•	Learn about different kinds of fossil evidence
	•	Learn how paleontologists compare information from different fossil finds to learn more about ancient life forms

> Go to Activity
> Go to Notes

Activity 2: A Tree Full of Ancestors

Students will study three possible hominid family trees and examine why they are different.

	Learning Goals
	•	Learn how fossils can be used to create a family tree
	•	Learn how fossil fragments can be used to gain a better picture of an entire organism
	•	Learn how different fossil evidence can be combined to create a more complete picture of an organism

> Go to Activity
> Go to Notes

Additional Activities
We want to hear from you! Take part in an interactive poll on the inevitability of intelligent life, and make your opinion count.

View LESSON 5 Student Page


	Evolution

	Fossil

	Hominid

	Paleoanthropologist

	Phylogeny

	Assessment Rubric Guidelines for assessing students' mastery of activity.

	National Science Standards for LESSON 5

	Time to Learn! Each clock icon respresents approximately one 45-minute classroom session (not including homework).