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Evolution PDF
Evolution PDF
5 Evolution
Learning Outcomes
Identify evolutionary thoughts and their proponents
explain evidences of evolution
appreciate the importance of knowing how broad the possibilities of life on Earth is
Online Sources
https://www.amazon.com
https://resources.finalsite.net
https://www. sciencing.com
https://www.khanacademy.org
Let’s Investigate
Does the world and its occupants look the same today as millions of
years ago? Why do you say so?
Good job! Your response shows that you really want to learn further! In this module lesson, you are
going to answer some activities that will help you figure out whether your ideas and explanation are in
line or supported by science. Don’t forget to read the objectives and remember the skills you are
expected to learn. Enjoy being a scientist!
REMINDER
Let’s Experience Science 1. Follow the procedure
accordingly.
Activity 1 Evolutionary Thoughts Over Time 2. Write down your observation
Part A: What They Believed In on your notebook.
PROCEDURE 3. Write your final answer to the
1. Read and analyze each evolutionary thought given. question on the space provided.
2. Choose from the box the correct scientist/s that proposed the
evolutionary thought and place your answer in the space before each thought.
3. Use each item in the box once only.
PROCEDURE
1. Read and answer carefully the adapted activity about the evidences of evolution.
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1. Look again at the six embryos in their earliest stages. Describe the patterns you see. What physical
similarities exist between each of the embryos?
2. Does this suggest an evolutionary relationship? Explain how these embryos can be used as evidence of a
common ancestor between each of these six organisms.
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Homologous structures show individual variations on a common anatomical theme. These are seen in
organisms that are closely related.
1. Give an example of a homologous structure from this activity:
Analogous structures have very different anatomies but similar functions. These are seen in organisms
that are not necessarily closely related but live in similar environments and have similar adaptations.
2. Give an example of an analogous structure from this activity:
Vestigial structures are anatomical remnants that were important in the organism’s ancestors but are no
longer used in the same way.
3. Give an example of a vestigial structure from this activity:
4. Below are some vestigial structures found in humans. For each, hypothesize what its function may have
been.
For each non-human animal, encircle any amino acids that are different than the human sequence. When you
finish, record how many differences you found in the table.
2. Do any of the organisms have the same number of differences from human Cytochrome C? In situations like
this, how would you decide which is more closely related to humans?
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Let’s Explore More
Great! You have done a good job! This time, I want you to read Science
information, concepts or principles which could help you further understand the
theories of evolution and evidences. Refer to page 10 for the Module lesson
Reading Activity
4. Who are the two scientists who worked separately but end up having the same idea on how organisms
evolve? ,
5. Why did the idea that the organisms have never evolved since the beginning of time till the present dominate
the scientific community for nearly 2000 years?
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Part B. Application
Read and analyze each question. Write your answer in the space provided.
1. Why is it important for us to know about how living things evolved?
2. What values can you relate to the topic “Evolution”? Explain your answer
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1 2 3
LEARNING TARGETS Lack of Somewhat Confidently
confidence confidently
I can identify evolutionary thoughts
and their proponents
I can explain evidences of evolution
I can appreciate the importance of
knowing how broad the possibilities of
life on Earth is
4. How will you improve your understanding about the topic? Site 3 ways you can improve the things you learn
about theories of evolution and evidences.
a.
b. _
c.
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YOU MAY DETACH THIS PAGE TO SERVE AS YOUR NOTES FOR THIS TOPIC
The evolution of life on Earth has been an object of intense debate, various theories and
elaborate studies. Influenced by religion, early scientists agreed with the theory of divine
conception of life. With the development of natural sciences such as geology, anthropology and
biology, scientists developed new theories to explain the evolution of life through natural laws rather
than divine instrument.
In the 18th century, Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus based his categorization of species on the
theory of unchanging life created by God. Initially he believed that all organisms appeared on Earth
in their present form and never changed. Linnaeus studied the organisms as wholes, and
categorized them based on similarities that individuals shared. Unable to consider that organisms
might change in time, he couldn't provide an explanation for the plant hybrids that resulted from
cross-pollination processes with which he experimented. He concluded that life forms could evolve
after all, but he could not say why or how.
Evolutionism
In the late 18th century, naturalist George Louis Leclerc suggested that life on Earth was 75,000
years old and that men had descended from apes. Another step in evolution theory was taken by
Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather, who said the Earth was millions of years old and
that species did evolve, even if he could not explain how. Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, the first
evolutionist to publicly defend his ideas, believed that organisms had evolved constantly, from
inanimate to animate organisms and on to humans. His theory was that evolution was based on a
continuous chain of inherited characteristics passed from parents to offspring that had evolved with
each generation until it produced the ultimate, perfect species: humans.
In the early 19th century, French scientist Georges Cuvier explained evolution through violent
catastrophic events or "revolutions" that had contributed to extinction of old species and the
development of species to replace them in the newly created environment. He based his theory on
the discovery in the same place of fossils of different species. Cuvier's theory was challenged by
the English geologist Charles Lyell, developer of the uniformitarianism theory. He said evolution had
been influenced by slow changes since the beginning of time in the shape of the terrestrial surface
that could not be perceived by the human eye.
Natural Selection
The mid-19th century was marked by a new theory, that of Charles Darwin, who based his theory of
evolution on the concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest. According to his study “On
the Origin of Species,” published in 1859, the process of natural selection enables individuals with
the most suitable characteristics in a species not only to survive, but also to transmit those
characteristics to their offspring, producing evolutionary changes in the species over time as less
suitable traits disappear and more suitable traits endure. Darwin also believed that nature produces
a larger-than-necessary number of individuals of a species to allow natural selection to take place.
Survival of the fittest represents nature's preservation instinct to ensure that only the strongest and
most well-suited individuals survive and propagate in a constantly changing environment.
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Fossils provide solid evidence that organisms from the past are not the same as those found today; they show
a progression of evolution. Scientists calculate the age of fossils and categorize them to determine when the
organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the
evolution of form over millions of years. For example, scientists have recovered highly-detailed records showing
the evolution of humans and horses. The whale flipper shares a similar morphology to appendages of birds and
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mammals, indicating that these species share a common ancestor. Over time, evolution led to changes in the
shapes and sizes of these bones in different species, but they have maintained the same overall layout.
Scientists call these synonymous parts homologous structures.
Comparative anatomy is the study of the similarities and differences in the structures of different species
Similar body parts may be homologous structures or analogous structures. Both provide evidence
for evolution.
Homologous structures are structures that are similar in related organisms because they were inherited from a
common ancestor. These structures may or may not have the same function in the descendants. They all have
the same basic pattern of bones, although they now have different functions. All of these mammals inherited this
basic bone pattern from a common ancestor.
Analogous structures are structures that are similar in unrelated organisms. The structures are similar because
they evolved to do the same job, not because they were inherited from a common ancestor. For example, the
wings of bats and birds, shown in the figure that follows, look similar on the outside and have the same function.
However, wings evolved independently in the two groups of animals. This is apparent when you compare the
pattern of bones inside the wings.
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Structures that have no apparent function and appear to be residual parts from a past ancestor are called
vestigial structures. Examples of vestigial structures include the human appendix, the pelvic bone of a snake,
and the wings of flightless birds.
Embryology, the study of the development of the anatomy of an organism to its adult form, provides evidence
for evolution as embryo formation in widely-divergent groups of organisms tends to be conserved. Structures
that are absent in the adults of some groups often appear in their embryonic forms, disappearing by the time the
adult or juvenile form is reached. For example, all vertebrate embryos, including humans, exhibit gill slits and
tails at some point in their early development. These disappear in the adults of terrestrial groups, but are
maintained in adults of aquatic groups, such as fish and some amphibians. Great ape embryos, including
humans, have a tail structure during their development that is lost by birth.
Biogeography
The geographic distribution of organisms on the planet follows patterns that are best explained by evolution in
conjunction with the movement of tectonic plates over geological time. Broad groups that evolved before the
breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea (about 200 million years ago) are distributed worldwide. Groups that
evolved since the breakup appear uniquely in regions of the planet, such as the unique flora and fauna of northern
continents that formed from the supercontinent Laurasia compared to that of the southern continents that formed
from the supercontinent Gondwana. The great diversification of marsupials in Australia and the absence of other
mammals reflect Australia’s long isolation. Australia has an abundance of endemic species (those found
nowhere else) which is typical of islands whose isolation by expanses of water prevents species
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from migrating. Over time, these species diverge evolutionarily into new species that look very different from
their ancestors that may exist on the mainland. The marsupials of Australia, the finches on the Galápagos, and
many species on the Hawaiian Islands are all unique to their one point of origin, yet they display distant
relationships to ancestral species on mainlands.
Molecular Biology