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Overview:
Darwin used the words "extreme imperfection" to describe the gappy nature of the fossil record - but is this really such a problem? This article delves into the topic of transitional fossils and explores what we have learned about them since Darwin's time.
This article appears at SpringerLink.Author/Source:
Evolution: Education and Outreach Grade level:
6-8 Time:
40 minutes Teaching tips:
This article is written for teachers and comes with links to additional examples, supplementary information, and classroom tips. It is also available as a pdf at http://www.springerlink.com/content/934652024q2677m1/fulltext.pdf Concepts: - Life forms of the past were in some ways very different from living forms of today, but in other ways very similar.
- Present-day life forms are descended from past life forms; all life is related.
- An organism’s features reflect its evolutionary history.
- Fossils provide evidence of past life.
- The fossil record contains organisms with transitional features.
- There are similarities and differences among fossils and living organisms.
- Scientific knowledge is open to question and revision as we come up with new ideas and discover new evidence.
- Our knowledge of the evolution of living things is always being refined as we gather more evidence.
- Scientists use fossils to learn about past life.
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