5 Classroom Activities That Demonstrate the Theory of Evolution

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X-rays showing stages of human evolution

Nicholas Veasey/Getty Images

by

Heather Scoville

Updated July 01, 2019

Students often struggle with understanding the theory of evolution. Since the process takes a long time,
evolution is sometimes too abstract for students to grasp. Many learn concepts better through hands-on
activities to supplement lectures or discussions.

These activities can be stand-alone lab work, illustrations of topics, or stations in a group of activities
occurring at the same time:

01

of 05

Evolution 'Telephone'

A fun way to help students understand DNA mutations in evolution is the childhood game of Telephone
—with an evolution-related twist. This game has several parallels to aspects of evolution. Students will
enjoy modeling how microevolution can change a species over time.

The message sent through the "telephone" changes as it passes between the students because small
mistakes by students accumulate, much like small mutations happen in DNA. In evolution, after enough
time passes, mistakes add up to adaptations and can create new species that don't resemble the
originals.
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02

of 05

The Ideal Species

Adaptations allow species to survive environments, and the way these adaptations add up is an
important concept of evolution. In this activity, students are assigned environmental conditions and
must decide which adaptations would create "ideal" species.

Natural selection occurs when members of a species that make favorable adaptations live long enough
to pass the genes for those traits to their offspring. Members with unfavorable adaptations don't live
long enough to reproduce, so those traits eventually disappear from the gene pool. By "creating"
creatures with favorable adaptations, students can demonstrate which adaptations would ensure their
species evolve, illustrating the theory of evolution.

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03

of 05

Geologic Time Scale

For this activity students, in groups or individually, draw the geologic time scale and highlight important
events along the timeline.

Understanding the appearance of life and the process of evolution through history helps to show how
evolution changes species. For perspective on how long life has been evolving, students measure the
distance from the point where life first appeared to the appearance of humans or the present day and
calculate how many years that has taken.
04

of 05

Imprint Fossils

The fossil record provides a glimpse of what life once was like. Imprint fossils are made when organisms
leave impressions in mud, clay, or other soft material that hardens over time. These fossils can be
examined to learn how the organism lived.

The fossil record is a historical catalog of life on Earth. By examining fossils, scientists can determine how
life has changed through evolution. Making imprint fossils in class, students see how these fossils outline
the history of life.

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05

of 05

Understanding Half-Life

Half-life, a way of determining the age of substances, is the time it takes for half the atoms in a
radioactive sample to decay. For this lesson about half-life, the teacher collects pennies and small
covered boxes and has the students place 50 pennies in each box, shake the boxes for 15 seconds, and
dump the pennies onto a table. Roughly half the pennies will show tails. Remove those pennies to
illustrate that a new substance, "headsium," has been created in 15 seconds, the "half-life."

Using half-life allows scientists to date fossils, adding to the fossil record and illustrating how life has
changed over time.