SCIENCE IN CONTEXT DATABASE
Search for your animal here. Scroll down your animal's results page to identify the part on evolution.
Other possible searches:
'evolution' '___your animal___'
'adaptations' '___your animal___'
'fossil' '___your animal___'
Please email Mr McCullough or Ms Cross for the password.
Tree of Life: Animal Classification
Catalyst:
What is the taxonomy of your animal? (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order Family, Genus, Species)
Encyclopedia of Life: What is a bird?
Contains detail on habitat, features, behaviour and evolution from dinosaurs.
REPTILES
Encyclopedia of Life: What is a Reptile?
AMPHIBIANS
Encyclopedia of Life: Amphibians
The Society for Marine Mammology - Facts Sheets on Mammals
Information on Prehistoric Animals
The Australian Museum - Extinct Australian Mammals
Click on the link to expand the list.
CRUSTACEANS
What information is scientifically inaccurate
in this movie trailer?
Continental Drift (Greatest Discoveries in Earth Science series) 2:20 min.
http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/greatest-discoveries/videos/earth-science.htm
Select the second video – not the one that plays automatically. Historical background and understanding of ‘continental drift’.
National Geographic: Continental Drift (1:30) http://www.natgeoeducationvideo.com/film/1042/continental-drift
An educational explanation of continental drift.
Extra
Video Animation of Continental Drift (1:20) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSdlQ8x7cuk
A silent animation of the movement of the continents and also a prediction for the next 250 million years.
Natural Selection 2:08 (Very good) http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/greatest-discoveries/videos/100-greatest-discoveries-shorts-natural-selection.htm
Make sure the Natural Selection one is playing, not the other first one.
How does evolution really work? http://www.neok12.com/php/watch.php?v=zX4a534167637b736e544f55&t=Natural-Selection
This might be a bit too technical? Please check.
Natural Selection (10:35 min) http://www.dnatube.com/video/11928/Natural-Selection-and-Adaptation
An in-depth look at the Pocket Mouse as an example of adaptation and natural selection. Some good points are made about Natural Selection towards the end.
Strange Islands (2011): Pacific Islands. 49 mins. (Located in Library Catalogue - VTV)
Looks at the effect that isolation has on the evolution of animals. Summary: Flightless parrots, burrowing bats, giant skinks and kangaroos in trees. On the isolated islands of the South Pacific, the wildlife has evolved in extraordinary ways. But island living can carry a high price, for, when new species arrive, all hell breaks loose. And there lies a puzzle; why do animals perfectly adapted to island life simply give up the ghost? The answer is revealed by the remarkable stories of some unlikely animals that survived on tiny islands off the coast of New Zealand. And the human history of the region is further evidence that, however idyllic it may appear, life on a South Pacific island may never be very far from catastrophe.
Charles Darwin Game: http://science.discovery.com/games-and-interactives/charles-darwin-game.htm
After studying evolution, can you answer:
Which Came First? The Chicken or The Egg?
The Wonders of Life (3.41min)
Diversity of Life on Earth (6.16 min)
History of Life on Earth (BBC)
Scroll down to find timelines and information about what existed during the time periods.
National Geographic Prehistory Timeline
Melbourne Museum: Timeline
AUSTRALIA
Search Terms to Use in Google:
Fill in the blank with your animal's name.
evolutionary history of ______________ E.g. evolutionary history of giraffes
prehistoric ___________ E.g. prehistoric giraffes
natural history ______________ E.g. natural history giraffes
common ancestor of ______________ E.g. common ancestor of giraffes
When you find an example of your prehistoric animal, answer the following questions:
1. How long ago did your prehistoric animal live? What was the time period and the era called?
Use the Geological Timeline Scale, or see below for more charts.
2. How is the prehistoric version of your animal different from the current form your animal takes? E.g. size? shapes?, etc.
3. What did the environment look like then? What was the habitat like? What threats were there to your prehistoric animal?
4. Can you discover a connection between these animals and their environment? How do these features help the prehistoric animal adapt to the prehistoric environment?
Different ways to represent the Geographical Time Scale:
Lines of Evidence: The Science of Evolution
Task: Find at least TWO different types of evidence for the evolution of your animal.
The Hidden Beauty of Pollination: After talking about the importance of bees and pollination Louie shows some time-lapse footage that is breath-taking.
The Story of Life in Photographs: National Geographic Photographer Frans Lanting presents The LIFE Project, a poetic collection of photographs that tell the story of our planet, from its eruptive beginnings to its present diversity.
My Wish: The Encyclopedia of Life
E.O. Wilson (Harvard University) talks at length about his life, however, at 14:00 mins into his talk, he wonderfully outlines the importance of diversity and preserving nature. As a side note, Wilson's wish came true and this is the online encyclopedia we have listed at the top of the LibGuides page.
Facts about Human Evolution: A very fast and comprehensive verview of human evolution by Hank Green.
