All living things are the result of successful adaptation.  Some of these adaptations are physical and some are behavioral. Together, these adaptations make each living thing unique.  This program will introduce the concepts of evolution, natural selection, variation and speciation with examples from the Museum's collections.

Grade Level: Elementary & Middle School

Next Generation Science Standards:

3-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• 3-LS2-1. Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.

3-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

• 3-LS3-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.

3-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• 3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
• 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Science and Engineering Practices:

• Analyzing and Interpreting Data

• Engaging in Argument from Evidence 

Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior

• LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning and Resilience

• LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits

• LS3.B: Variation of Traits

• LS4.B: Natural Selection 

Crosscutting Concepts:

• Patterns

• Cause and Effect

• Scale, Proportion and Quantity

To request this program now, CLICK HERE