Understanding Evolution: your one-stop source for information on evolution
Search | Glossary | Home
Resource library Teaching materials Evolution 101

Teaching materials:
Teaching materials database

Found 5 resources for the concept: An organism’s fitness depends on both its survival and its reproduction

imageEvo in the news: Genetic variation helps rescue endangered panthers
In the 1990s, scientists predicted that the Florida panther would be extinct within 20 years and, in 1995, formulated a bold plan to save them. This news brief of December 2010 reports on the success of that plan which gave the panther a second lease on life by the infusion of genetic variation.

Audience: 13-16

Source: UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type: Evo in the News article

imageEvo in the news: Gender-biased bacteria throw off an evolutionary balance
The percentage of southwestern whiteflies infected with Rickettsia bacteria has skyrocketed; but this is not a boon for local farmers, as the bacterium actively helps the pest spread. This news brief examines how evolutionary theory accounts for this and how we might turn it in our favor.

Audience: 13-16

Source: UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type: Evo in the News article

imageStudying Living Organisms: Estimation of Population Growth by Counting Offspring: Seed Multiplication
This simple activity allows students to discover or reason through a portion of Darwin's theory of natural selection. Students use seeds from common fruits (e.g. apple seeds) to hypothesize/calculate the reproductive rate of a population, realize that such large populations do not exist, and conclude that organisms face a constant struggle to survive.

Audience: 13-16

Source: Access Excellence

Resource type: Classroom activity

imageThe Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaption
This 10-minute film describes the research of Dr. Michael Nachman and colleagues, whose work in the field and in the lab has documented and quantified physical and genetic evolutionary changes in rock pocket mouse populations.

Audience: 13-16

Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Resource type: Video

imageMate choice and fitness consequences
Students read a 2005 paper on the fitness consequences of mate choice alongside an interactive guide that asks the reader to answer key questions about each section of the article.

Audience: 13-16

Source: UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type: Annotated journal article

Search here:

Grade(s):   K-2     3-5     6-8     9-12     13-16        Topics: 
Keyword(s):    Types:       Sort by:       


 

Teachers' lounges 9-12 Undergrad 6-8 3-5 K-2

All-level resources
Guide to Evo 101

Conceptual framework

Teaching resource database

Image library

Dealing with objections to evolution

Correcting misconceptions


Home | About | Copyright | Credits | Contact | Subscribe | Translations

Read how others have recognized the Understanding Evolution website.