Identifying Misconceptions on Natural Selection

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  General Lesson Plan

• Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?

  
  
  • Students will determine the meanings of the terms: natural selection, fitness, overproduction, survival of the fittest, and inherited variations.
  • Students will describe the conditions required for natural selection including overproduction of offspring, inherited variations and the struggle to survive which will result in differential reproductive success.
  • Students will determine the meaning of key terms and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific text.

   

• Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?

  
  

  Students should have prior knowledge on fitness, natural selection, overproduction of offspring, inherited variation, reading passages and have the ability to identify key words to determine the correct answers to questions. Students should have prior knowledge on the process of natural selection and be able to describe the conditions required for natural selection. Students should have prior knowledge on sexual reproduction and its importance in natural selection.

• Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?

  
  
  1. What is natural selection? (Natural selection is the gradual, non-random process by which biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers.)
  2. What is fitness? (The relative ability of an individual (or population) to survive, reproduce and propagate genes in an environment.)
  3. What makes an organism fit? (The ability to reproduce and pass on genes.)
  4. Give an example of natural selection? (finches of Galapagos islands)

   

• Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?

  
  
  1. The teacher will begin the lesson by asking the guiding questions followed by a short discussion on what natural selection fitness really mean. The teacher could ask the class to give examples of natural selection.
  2. The teacher will hand out the Inventory of Natural Selection (attached) and an answer sheet (depending on the technology the teacher has in the classroom the teacher can print bubble sheets for a computer grading program, scantrons for a scantron machine, or the students can write on their own paper.)
  3. The students will complete the inventory by reading each passage and then:
     • Highlight in green any evidence of overproduction of offspring.
     • Highlight in yellow any evidence of inherited variation.
     • Highlight in blue any evidence of struggling to survive.
     • After reading each text answer the questions that follow and mark them on your answer sheet.
  4. When they are done they can begin reading the evolution section in their textbook while waiting for all students to finish.
  5. When the students have completed the inventory the teacher can grade this using the grading system of their choice. If a computer grading system is available this should be used.
  6. After the teacher has graded all answer sheets they should be handed back to students along with the Inventory.
  7. The teacher should review questions that are widely missed and try to focus on the questions that the majority of students got incorrect where they all answered the question with the same incorrect answer.
  8. The main questions the teacher should focus on are the ones that include the term "fitness" as this is a very large misconception in this unit.
  9. The review of the questions may extend into a second class period but please allow the students to ask as many questions as possible.
  10. At the end of reviewing all questions poll the students by asking questions from the Inventory and seeing if they answer them correctly.

• Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?

  
  
  1. The teacher will begin the lesson by asking the guiding questions.
  2. The teacher should also lead a discussion on what students in the class think about the Theory of Natural Selection.
  3. After the inventory is complete, the teacher will review the answers with the students.
  4. The teacher will also review the highlighted portions of the text that correlate to the following instructions:
     • Green- evidence of overproduction of offspring
     • Yellow- evidence of inherited variation
     • Blue- evidence of struggling to survive

• Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the lesson?

  
  
  1. The students will complete the Inventory on Natural Selection (attached) on their own by answering the questions and highlighting the text.
  2. When they finish the Inventory, the teacher should give a reading assignment out of their own text book that will begin their lesson on Evolution.

• Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?

  
  
  1. At the end of the lesson, the teacher will ask questions from the Inventory and have students answer aloud in class.
  2. The teacher should then ask:
     • "What is fitness?" (The relative ability of an individual (or population) to survive, reproduce and propagate genes in an environment.)
     • "Which organism is more fit, an animal that has more offspring but dies young or an animal that has less offspring and dies at an older age?" (The organism with the most offspring.)

• Summative Assessment

  
  

  The teacher will be able to determine the students' background knowledge by looking at which questions the class as a whole answered correctly. The teacher will also be able to determine the level of any misconceptions that the students have with natural selection, reproduction, fitness, and inherited variations. If the students as a large group not only get some of the questions incorrect but they all put down the same incorrect answer then this would indicate a misconception. The teacher should discuss this with the class immediately. The teacher will then poll the class at the end of the lesson to see how much the students have learned in class.

• Formative Assessment

  
  

  The teacher will give the students an inventory on Natural Selection as a review of the topic of Evolution. The teacher will then be able to determine the background knowledge and misconceptions the students have on natural selection, reproduction and the inherited variation. In this pretest, the students will be reading a passage and answering questions based on the passage.

  Lexile level 1160

  Inventory of Natural Selection.

  Answer Key.

• Feedback to Students

  
  

  The teacher will grade this immediately with either a scantron machine or a computer grading system for immediate feedback (for example gradecam). The students will then be given their answer sheets back so the teacher can review each item with the students. The questions that the students miss should be noted and the vocabulary terms should be written down. For any vocabulary terms that the students do not show an understanding for, the teacher can provide the students with their textbook resource pages that correlate to these vocabulary terms. The teacher can also have each student make a list of vocabulary they are unsure of and then use this as a warm-up in further classes.