Teacher: Micah Sandys

Lesson Plan (Direct Instruction)

Subject/Grade: 9th/10th

Standard:
Strand 4 Concept 4 PO1 Identify the following components of natural selection, which can lead to speciation
Strand 4 Concept 4 PO 4 Predict how a change in an environmental factor (e.g., rainfall, habitat loss, nonnative species) can affect the number and diversity of species in an ecosystem.

Objective (Explicit):
SWBAT compare the results of the activity and relate the results to Natural Selection.
SWBAT construct a utensil that they believe would be the most appropriate for all food sources.
SWBAT explain how mutations led to the various types of utensils
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):
SWBAT sketch an utensil that would be the best for all food.
SWBAT argue which feeding utensil was the most successful for the different types of
food.
SWBAT assess the similarties between the activity and natural selection.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable, include variety of methods of checking for understanding):
Students will complete an activity/analysis sheet at the end of the class.
At the end of class the teacher will lead the class in a discussion of analysis questions
Key vocabulary:
Materials:
Natural Selection
Knives
Adaptation
Forks
Competition
Spoons
Resources
Chopsticks
Extinction
Blue Tape
Speciation
At least two different colors of beans
Survival of the fittest
Rubber Bands
Isolation
Poster board
Mutation
Smart Board timer

Instructional Input

Opening/Anticipatory Set: (state objectives, connect to previous learning, and make relevant to real life)
What are some essentials for a species to survive?
Teacher Will:
Student Will:
Brief review on the vocabulary that will be
Complete bell work
discussed.
Facilitate the anticipatory set
Lead class in review of the concept of natural
selection and the factors that lead towards a
species.

Guided Practice

Differentiation
Provide bell work in hard copy as well as on projector.
Teacher Will:
Introduce the activity

Student Will:
Follow the rules on the handout about the
activity that will be completed.

Today we are going to be doing a natural

selection activity. You will each get a cup that is
representing your stomach. Your goal is to
shovel as much food into your stomach as
possible.

Participate in each feeding session for 30

seconds.

Some ground rules no making other people

throw up aka hitting food out of their stomach.

Complete the different trials.

No using your utensil to attack the other

students
After the timer goes no eating any more and
count the amount of food you have.
The students will be given thirty seconds to
eat as much of the beans as possible. After
the 30 seconds each eating utensil must count
to see how much they had to eat.
The student with the least amount to eat has
died off.
The student with the most amount to eat will
have the best chance to reproduce therefore
the person with the least amount is now
getting the same utensil.
For instance if Person A has a Knife to eat and
Person B has a spoon to eat. If person A eats
the least in the group and person B eats the
most. Person A during the next trial will pick up
a spoon.
We will do two trials using just different types
and colors of beans.
Then reset back to your original utensil.

Count the total eaten after the 30 seconds

and record on to the worksheet.

Two trials using beans and rubber bands.

Then reset back to your original utensil.
One trial with rubber bands on one side of the
poster board and beans on the other side.

Independent Practice

Differentiation
Provide an example worksheet that is pre-filled out to show what my expectations are.

Teacher Will:
Facilitate a classroom discussion about the
analysis questions.

Student Will:
Complete the analysis questions

Differentiation
Use enough wait time to ensure students are comfortable answering.

Closure/Lesson Summary:
What would we see eventually after splitting the two types of food on different sides of the poster
board?
Over time these organisms would grow into their own species, because they have been isolation for so
long.

Bell work
What happens to a trait that is beneficial for an organism?

Analysis Questions

1. Which groups became extinct first, and why? (what tool were they
using?...what else might have contributed to their extinction?)
2. How did you decide which bean to ear? Were some easier to find than
others?
3. How does this experiment relate to naturally occurring animals, e.g.,
birds, for example?
4. What feeder do you feel was best adapted to the environment in which
it lives? Did it depend on the food supply?
5. What happens to animals that cannot compete as well with other
animals in the wild?
6. If only one species is considered the "fittest", why do we still have so
many variations among species. Why do some birds have very long
pointy beaks, while other birds have short flat beaks?
7. What happened when you put the rubber bands on one side of the
paper and beans on the other side?