Science lesson plan · 10th grade (Year 11 in England) · 45 minutes
Evidence for evolution and how new species form
Cells, genetics and evolution
CCSS NGSS.HS-LS4-1CCSS NGSS.SEP 7England: GCSE Combined Science: Inheritance, variation and evolution
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Evidence for evolution and how new species form.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Natural selection and resistance
Leads to: Read cladograms and shared derived traits
Materials: Microscope images or slides, Cell diagrams, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Natural selection and resistance). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Why should patients finish a course of antibiotics? (Because antibiotics kill viruses / To kill all the bacteria, so resistant ones are less likely to survive and spread / To make the antibiotic taste better / To make their immune system weaker) → To kill all the bacteria, so resistant ones are less likely to survive and spreadPrompt: Stopping early can leave the toughest bacteria alive.
- A population of 100 bacteria contains 2% that are resistant to an antibiotic. The antibiotic kills all the others. How many bacteria survive? → 2Prompt: Only the resistant ones survive.
- What is selective breeding? (humans choosing parents with useful characteristics to breed / cloning one plant / feeding animals more food / animals choosing their own mates in the wild) → humans choosing parents with useful characteristics to breedPrompt: Farmers have done this for thousands of years.
Hook · 5 min
- Show a microscope image of cells and ask what students think they are looking at.
- Share the objective: Evidence for evolution and how new species form. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Approximate % difference between human DNA and other primates: chimpanzee 1.2 %, orangutan 3.1 %, rhesus macaque 7 %. Which primate shares the most recent common ancestor with humans?
- Step 1: The smallest difference is 1.2 %.
- Step 2: So the answer is: chimpanzee
- Answer: chimpanzee
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Approximate % difference between human DNA and other primates: orangutan 3.1 %, chimpanzee 1.2 %, rhesus macaque 7 %. Which primate shares the most recent common ancestor with humans? (orangutan / rhesus macaque / chimpanzee) → chimpanzeePrompt: Fewer DNA differences means less time since the two lines split.
- Which scientist developed the theory of evolution by natural selection at the same time as Darwin? (Jean-Baptiste Lamarck / Gregor Mendel / Alfred Russel Wallace / Isaac Newton) → Alfred Russel WallacePrompt: He studied animals in South-East Asia.
You do: independent practice · 10 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Approximate % difference between human DNA and other primates: orangutan 3.1 %, rhesus macaque 7 %, chimpanzee 1.2 %. Which primate shares the most recent common ancestor with humans? (rhesus macaque / chimpanzee / orangutan) → chimpanzeePrompt: Fewer DNA differences means less time since the two lines split.
- Bacteria that resist the antibiotic used against them appear within years. Why is this evidence for evolution? (It shows bacteria never mutate / We can watch natural selection change a population in real time / Bacteria choose to become resistant / Antibiotics create the resistance gene on purpose) → We can watch natural selection change a population in real timePrompt: Bacteria reproduce very quickly.
Watch out for
- Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
- Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Natural selection and resistance.
- Use concrete materials: microscope images or slides.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Read cladograms and shared derived traits.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-10.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder