Science by Doing Ecosystems and Change Student Guide

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Activity 2.2 Fossil evidence of evolution DOWNLOAD e-NOTEBOOK

? How do we know how old fossils are?

DARWIN What is a COLLECTED A transitional fossil? WEALTH OF EVIDENCE FROM LIVING SPECIES TO SUPPORT HIS THEORY OF EVOLUTION. HE ALSO LOOKED AT FOSSILS TO FIND OUT ABOUT PAST LIFE. ? How do fossils provide Click here to explore evidence for how fossils provide evolution? evidence for evolution.

Evolution and Heredity Student Guide Part 2 Evolution – where’s the evidence? 18 Activity 2.2 Fossil evidence of evolution Continued

Knowing whales were mammals, Darwin suggested they could have evolved from land mammals. Although he used fossil evidence to support his theory of evolution, he lacked fossil evidence for whale evolution. He was mocked for his suggestion that land mammals could become whales, but was it such a silly idea?

Fossil evidence of whale evolution

You will piece together fossil What to do: Since 1983, several missing fossil Step 5 evidence for whale evolution links in the whale evolution story Check your order against the correct gathered since Darwin's time. Step 1 have been discovered (cards order shown by your teacher. Paste Cut out the five cards. 3-5), allowing scientists to piece the correct order into your Notebook. You will be given five fossils, each together the evidence for whale with different whale-like features. The numbers on the cards represent evolution. the order that these fossils were Discussion: discovered. The fossil on card 3 was discovered What to use: in 1990. For a long time, all scientists knew 1. How close were you to the actual Each STUDENT will require: about early whales was based Step 3 order of fossils? on Archaeocete fossils (card 1), Place the card 3 fossil in its most 2. What do the fossils tell us • Science by Doing Notebook discovered in 1832. likely order of evolution, with cards 1 about the habitat of early whale Activity sheet 2.2 Fossil • and 2 (most primitive to most recent). ancestors? evidence of whale evolution In 1983, the fossil on card 2 was discovered. The fossils on cards 4 and 5 were 3. Describe two ways fossils show (download here or use e-Notebook) discovered in 1994. evidence of evolution. • scissors Step 2 • glue. Take cards 1 and 2 and use the Step 4 4. Are there still gaps in our information on them to order them Place cards 4 and 5 in the most likely knowledge of whale evolution? from most primitive to most recent order of evolution with the other (more like modern whales). cards (most primitive to most recent). MISSING LINKS Ancestor Transitional bird species Descendant feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx modern bird Palaeontologists often search for fossils that show changes between an ancestor and its later descendants. Like whale fossils, these transitional fossils show us the missing links between groups, providing strong evidence of evolution.

Evolution and Heredity Student Guide Part 2 Evolution – where’s the evidence? 19