Submitted by: Susan Estes
School: J.R. Tucker High School
Summary
The Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, is known as a “Living Laboratory of Evolution”. In the 1800’s Charles Darwin closely studied the plants and animals here, and it is this study that led him to his theory of natural selection, and the publication of his famous book, On the Origin of Species. The organisms that live in the Galapagos Islands show unique adaptations to their environments. Throughout the last two centuries scientists from around the world have traveled to the Galapagos Islands to study flora and fauna of the Islands.
In this lesson students will access all of the activities components via a collaborative Google Site. In groups, students will research and study images of three similar organisms that live on three different islands to identify adaptations. They will generate ideas about how these adaptations evolved and develop an explanation for the differences between the three similar organisms. They will also make a hypothesis as to why each organism has adapted in that way. All of their findings and images will be recorded in a collaborative group document.
Next, students will create a Google Earth placemark with the name of the organism, a photo, the adaption, and reason for adaption. These placemarks will be shared with the teacher and combined into one class Google Earth file. Students will view all of the Google Earth placemarks and groups will pair up to collaborate and discuss whether or not their research supports their hypothesis.
TIPC Ratings
DEVELOPING – Students had to research similar organisms on 3 different islands of the Galapagos Islands. They had to find the organisms themselves, they were not given a list of organisms to choose from. This took some time because they had to find an organism that lived on 3 islands and they had to scrutinize the pictures to find differences in adaptation. They were looking for the adaptations for the specific habitat. In a collaborative Google document, students had to complete a table with the organism’s common name, scientific name, habitat, adaptation, and add a link for an image to the organism. They had to hypothesize why the organism had adapted as it had or if they found out that the organism did not adapt, they had to hypothesize why there was not adaptation. The pictures they found had to support or reject their hypothesis.
APPROACHING – Students were randomly selected to work in groups of three. They all logged into their Henrico Google Drive accounts to access the project in a Google Site. In Google Docs, the 3 group members collaborated on completing the table. Each group worked on their own document within the Google Site. Then they used Google Earth to create 3 placemarks on the islands they researched. In the placemark, they had to include an image of their organism, common name, scientific name, adaptation, and the reason for the adaptation. They zipped the placemarks into a .kmz file which was shared with their teacher. Then each group partnered up with another group and shared information. After reviewing each other’s work, they evaluated the validity of the findings of the group.
DEVELOPING – Students had to find an organism that lived on 3 islands and they had to scrutinize the pictures to find differences in adaptation. They were looking for the adaptations for the specific habitat. They had to hypothesize why the organism had adapted as it had or if they found out that it did not adapt, they had to hypothesize why there was not adaptation. The pictures they found had to support or reject their hypothesis. For example one group chose the sea lions and their hypothesis included an adaptation, however, after finding pictures from 3 different islands, the sea lions all looked the same, so the pictures rejected their hypothesis. Students used many different digital tools, including Google Sites, Google Docs, Google Earth, and Search engines.
DEVELOPING – Students had to find images of their organisms in 3 different habitats, analyze the pictures, and apply the concept of adaptation to complete this project. They created Google earth placemarks and shared these with their teacher and classmates. After reviewing each other’s work, students evaluated the validity of the findings of the group. This assignment also promoted the understanding of Darwin’s work as students reflected on Darwin and his contribution to evolutionary biology.
