The Future is Wild

Puppet Show
Details and Guidelines
Rationale: To study evolution and earth history, students will research an organism that existed at some time during Earths history and hypothesize how the organism might evolve over time to adapt to a new environment. Teams will research abiotic and biotic factors from their time period. Next, they will predict how their creature might evolve over time based on a drastic change to the environment. Finally, teams will present their information in the form of a puppet show in class.

Driving Question: hen examining the survival of a species, why is it important to consider the abiotic and biotic factors of their environment, as well as the physical characteristics of the species!

Project Overview (objective): "tudents will research an organism that existed some time in Earth history and discuss how its physical characteristics helped it survive in its environment. Next, they will predict how their creature will evolve over time to survive in a drastically changed environment. #uring this process, students will consider how their species interacts with both abiotic and biotic factors in the environment and will create a puppet show to show this information.

Project Duration: The pro$ect will last approximately % wee&s.

Assessment: Assessment will be with a rubric. Presentation Format: 'resentations will be in the form of a puppet show performed in class.

Puppet !ow Re"uirements

#) $ %ac&grounds

- colorful, large enough to fill the background, accurate details on the backgrounds (example: no trees should be present if your time period had no trees) - 1 background for Time Period, 1 for Future n!ironment $) Re"uired Puppets ' total ( Act #: 1 abiotic factor, 1 important e!ent ()otal * $ puppets) - Act $: Food chain puppets: "un Producer #onsumer 1 #onsumer $ (one of the % li!ing puppets should be your "&'()T*+ #+ )T*+ that you are going to become experts about) ()otal * + puppets) ( Act ,: 1 partially e!ol!ed organism at $,- m.y. into the future highlighting !ariations that relate to ho/ it e!ol!ed ()otal * # puppet). ( Act +: 1 fully e!ol!ed organism at ,-- m.y. into the future (your team0s creation) ()otal * # puppet) %) -oices "pea& loudly when tal&ing for your puppets (we wont see you during the puppet show) and be engaging. *ou are highly encouraged to +get into character, and to have fun1) Resources (/rite do/n /ebsites 2 textbook pages of /here you collect information from about your time period and creature) ,) )ime Frame 3 puppet sho/ should last bet/een 4 and 1- minutes.

cript Re"uirements
(what needs to be covered in each scene) Act #) )ime Period .nvironment / Researc! %ased . cite sources a) Date Range / /hen did your time period take place5 b) Abiotic Factors / list non(living 0actors t!at e1isted / /eather, land formations, rock types, soil, atmospheric
gases, etc

c) 2mportant .vents / /hat is this time period most famous for5 3 extinctions, plant or animal de!elopment, etc Act $) Organism Overview . cite sources a) 3ommon 4ame 3 /hat is your organism called5 b) cienti0ic 4ame - /rite it in the correct format 'enus species or /enus species c) P!5sical )raits 3 /hat physical traits allo/ed the organism to sur!i!e in its en!ironment. &nclude at least $ traits. d) 6ob7 or 4ic!e 3 /hat role did this organism fulfill in the en!ironment5 e) Food 3!ain - #onstruct a food chain that includes your organism by holding the puppets in the correct order. "tart /ith the sun and include your organism and at least $ other organisms.

Act ,) $89 :illion ;ears into t!e Future Partiall5 .volved 3reature (4atural election < -ariation)

a) P!5sical -ariation: make a transitional form of your puppet that highlights ho/ it is changing o!er time to suit the changing en!ironment. xplain ho/ !ariation in the original form has allo/ed this to happen. For example, if your creature has legs and you /ant them to e!ol!e into /ings, you could say that some of the
organisms ha!e thin legs and others are more broad and flat-like legs. .. *ou may not find direct research about this and might need to imagine what the differences could be. This is perfectly fine. 0mages can be helpful.

b) 4atural election Over )ime / discuss /hy the physical !ariations discussed abo!e allo/ed some indi!iduals to sur!i!e o!er time better in the ne/ en!ironment than other indi!iduals in the same species. "ho/ your transitional puppets during this time to let us see ho/ the creature e!ol!ed.
For example: &f your future /orld has !ery little land mass, perhaps being able to fly for long distances is a huge ad!antage in sur!i!al. "o, if your researched organism has legs, you could say that o!er time, flat-like legs /ere better able to 6ump and glide through the air and therefore sur!i!ed better than those that did not ha!e this !ariation. !entually through slo/ gradual changes, the indi!iduals that e!ol!ed to be able to fully fly sur!i!ed and those that couldn0t fly did not.

Act +) 899 :illion ;ears into t!e Future Full5 .volved 3reature a) 4ew .nvironment / /hat is your ne/ en!ironment like / describe abiotic and biotic 0actors c) 2mage - /hat does your ne/ organism look like and 7895 d) 4ew 3ommon 4ame (must be appro!ed by teacher) e) 4ew cienti0ic 4ame (must be appro!ed by teacher)
:eep the same /enus, but change the species. The ne/ species name must be based in ;atin and /ord must relate to a physical feature on your futuristic creature. (format: 'enus species or /enus species). Tell us /hat this name means.

f) 6ob7 or 4ic!e 3 /hat role /ill this organism fulfill in the ( 7 en!ironment5 Act 8) .1amples o0 .vidence < .1tinction Furt!er .vidence a) Geolog5 3 7hat role does geology play in helping you de!elop your organism o!er time5 b) Fossils / 8o/ do you think fossils helped scientists understand /hat your creature used to look like5 c) 3omparative Anatom5 / 7hy is it useful to study comparati!e anatomy /hen examining an organism o!er time5 d) 3ladogram 3 8o/ can a cladogram be used to help us understand the e!olution of your creature5 d) .1tinction / 7hy did some !ariations of your original organism not sur!i!e o!er time5 Act =) 3losing Act a) 8a!e some sort of scene to end your puppet sho/. #ould include something like <Thank you so much for /atching => or could relate to your time period, etc. Think of something /ith your team to help end the sho/ on a good note.

Focus 3oncepts
1ll members of the group must &now the answers to all of the following 2uestions3
1. The ?ri!ing @uestion: 7hen examining the sur!i!al of a species, /hy is it important to consider the abiotic and biotic factors of their en!ironment, as /ell as the physical characteristics of the species5 $. 7hy is physical !ariation important for the sur!i!al of a species5 (/hy is it good to not all look exactly the same5) %. 7hy is it important to ha!e different types of organisms li!ing in an en!ironment5 1. ,. 7ho is #harles ?ar/in and /hy is he important5 ?escribe /hat <natural selection> is.

A. ?escribe the connection bet/een organisms0 physical traits and /here they sur!i!e best. 4. 7hat is <comparati!e anatomy> and /hat role does it play in the study of e!olution5 B. 7hat is a cladogram and /hy is it useful5

C. 7hat does the term Dadaptation> mean5 1-. )ccording to e!idence from geologic layers and radioacti!e dating, approximately ho/ old is arth5 )pproximately ho/ long has life existed on this planet5 11. 8o/ ha!e fossils pro!ided e!idence for ho/ life and en!ironmental conditions ha!e changed o!er time5 1$. 7hat are some ma6or e!ents that ha!e taken place in arth 8istory (kno/ at least 1 important plant de!elopment, one important animal de!elopment, and one ma6or en!ironmental e!ent)

Possible .nvironmental 3onditions 899 :illion ;ears in t!e Future:

1. 'lobal /arming has drastically increased air temperature and has caused the sea le!els to greatly rise, reducing land masses completely. $. The sun has burned out and it is no/ !ery cold and completely dark on earthE Fery little liGuid /ater remains. %. ) large comet has passed by the earth and shifts its axis, causing the arth to ha!e extremely hot and cold areas. 1. )n increase in lightening storms leads to freGuent forest fires. ,. )n in!asi!e plant species is consuming all plants on arth, spreading to co!er !ast areas of the globe. A. )n ice age occurs causing the globe to become !ery cold and icy. 4. B. Heteor strikes cause freGuent tsunamis and continual rain. *nusual tectonic plate shifts cause the arth to ha!e constant earthGuakes. areas of hot la!a. 1-. )s the moon becomes larger o!er time, /ater from arth is pulled a/ay due to gra!ity causing extreme ocean tides (/ater le!els fluctuate on the shore 1-- ft per day). 11. Pollution le!els in the atmosphere and the oceans rises to an extremely unhealthy le!el, making the atmosphere and oceans toxic.

C. ) shift in the tectonic plates has led to extremely acti!e !olcanoes all o!er the earth, causing many !ast

3ali0ornia tate 3ontent tandards: .volution:

%. Iiological e!olution accounts for the di!ersity of species de!eloped through gradual processes o!er many generations. )s a basis for understanding this concept: a. "tudents kno/ both genetic !ariation and en!ironmental factors are causes of e!olution and di!ersity of organisms. b. "tudents kno/ the reasoning used by #harles ?ar/in in reaching his conclusion that natural selection is the mechanism of e!olution. c. "tudents kno/ ho/ independent lines of e!idence from geology, fossils, and comparati!e anatomy pro!ide the bases for the theory of e!olution. d. "tudents kno/ ho/ to construct a simple branching diagram to classify li!ing groups of organisms by shared deri!ed characteristics and ho/ to expand the diagram to include fossil organisms. e. "tudents kno/ that extinction of a species occurs /hen the en!ironment changes and the adapti!e characteristics of a species are insufficient for its sur!i!al. .art! and >i0e ?istor5 (.art! ciences) 1. !idence from rocks allo/s us to understand the e!olution of life on arth. )s a basis for understanding this concept: a. "tudents kno/ arth processes today are similar to those that occurred in the past and slo/ geologic processes ha!e large cumulati!e effects o!er long periods of time. b. "tudents kno/ the history of life on arth has been disrupted by ma6or catastrophic e!ents, such as ma6or !olcanic eruptions or the impacts of asteroids. c. "tudents kno/ that the rock cycle includes the formation of ne/ sediment and rocks and that rocks are often found in layers, /ith the oldest generally on the bottom. d. "tudents kno/ that e!idence from geologic layers and radioacti!e dating indicates arth is approximately 1.A billion years old and that life on this planet has existed for more than % billion years. e. "tudents kno/ fossils pro!ide e!idence of ho/ life and en!ironmental conditions ha!e changed. f. "tudents kno/ ho/ mo!ements of arth0s continental and oceanic plates through time, /ith associated changes in climate and geographic connections, ha!e affected the past and present distribution of organisms. g. "tudents kno/ ho/ to explain significant de!elopments and extinctions of plant and animal life on the geologic time scale.