Year 8 Evolution: Journey of Knowledge - PowerPoint Presentation

1. Year 8 Evolution: Journey of KnowledgeContext and Introduction to UnitIn this unit pupils will learn about evolution and how species have evolved from three billion years ago through the process of Natural Selection. Pupils will learn about the importance of biodiversity is ensuring the human population survives.Prior knowledgeKS2 NC – Pupils should recognise that living things have changed over time and that’s fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago. Pupils should identify animals and plants adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution.CORE KNOWLEDGENatural selection is the process by which species change over time in response to environmental changes and competition for resources. Stages of natural selection:1 – Organisms in a species show variation caused by differences in their genes (mutation).2 – The organism with the characteristic best suited to the environment survive and reproduce – survival of the fittest.3 – Genes from successful organisms are passed to the offspring in the next generation.4 - The process is repeated many times. Over time this can lead to the development of a new species.A mutation is caused by a change in the DNA.Extinction is when there are no more individuals of a species alive. Factors that may lead to extinction include new diseases, new predators, increased competition for resources or a catastrophic event such as an asteroid collision or massive volcanic eruption.Changes in the environment may leave individuals within a species, and some entire species, less well adapted to compete successfully and reproduce, which in turn may lead to extinction Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms. It is measured as the differences between individuals of the same species, or the number of different species in an ecosystem.Evolution is the theory that living organisms evolved through Natural selection from three billion years ago. Fossils provide evidence of evolution.ABOVE AND BEYONDGene banks store genetic samples from different species. In the future they could be used for research, or to produce new individuals. Examples include seed banks, cryobanks, tissue banks and pollen banks.The importance of maintaining biodiversity and the use of gene banks to preserve hereditary material. VOCABULARYPopulationNatural selectionExtinctBiodiversityCompetitionEvolutionPersonal DevelopmentLink to modern day humans and how we have evolved from cave men, why is evolution important?Literacy FocusDisciplinary reading task – magazine article on Charles Darwin.Numeracy focusDo pupils understand three billion years ago?WHERE NEXT?KS4 – Biology Paper 2 – Inheritance and variation, Evolution and Ecology.The bigger picture:Fossils provide evidence to support evolution through Natural Selection. Charles Darwin was a Naturalist who produced the Origin of species.Career link – Archaeologist.

2. Year 8 Evolution: Assessment PlanMAPs – Pupils will complete the following two WOW zone tasks (guidance and mark schemes can be found within the lesson resources):1.Evolution quiz.Summative assessment – The knowledge from this unit will be tested as part of a 1 hour P2S exam which will combine the Biology, Chemistry and Physics curriculum covered so far. Assessment StepsEmergingDevelopingSecuringMasteringPupils have basic knowledge of evolution:Species are extinct if there are no living examples.Fossils provide examples of extinct organisms.Organisms have evolved over time.Pupils must be have an understanding of and be able to recall the basics of evolution:Extinction is when there are no more individuals of a species alive. Factors that may lead to extinction include new diseases, new predators, increased competition for resources or a catastrophic event such as an asteroid collision or massive volcanic eruption.Evolution is how organisms have changed over time.Pupils must be able to recall the following content:Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms. It is measured as the differences between individuals of the same species, or the number of different species in an ecosystem.Evolution is the theory that living organisms evolved through Natural selection from three billion years ago. Changes in the environment may leave individuals within a species, and some entire species, less adapted to compete successfully and reproduce, which in turn may lead to extinction.Natural selection is the process by which species change over time in response to environmental changes and competition for resources. Stages of natural selection:1 – Organisms in a species show variation caused by differences in their genes (mutation).2 – The organism with the characteristic best suited to the environment survive and reproduce – survival of the fittest.3 – Genes from successful organisms are passed to the offspring in the next generation.4 - The process is repeated many times. Over time this can lead to the development of a new species.A mutation is caused by a change in the DNA.Pupils should be able to recall all the content in the knowledge journey and demonstrate application through the following:Gene banks store genetic samples from different species. In the future they could be used for research, or to produce new individuals. Examples include seed banks, cryobanks, tissue banks and pollen banks.Pupils should also be able to use all Tier 3 vocabulary on the knowledge journey independently and in context.