Natural Selection Lesson & Activity for the Google Classroom

This Google Classroom resource is a great way for students to learn about adaptations, natural selection, and microevolution through peer interactions and technology integration.

In this lesson, students will:
-Learn that adaptations are genetic mutations/differences that are favorable to a species and their survival in their environment
-Watch a TedEd video about adaptations and natural selection
-Learn that natural selection occurs when specific traits in a species contribute to the survival of that species
-Learn that microevolution refers to the small observable changes within a species that benefit the survival of that species
-Learn that adaptations and natural selection are forms of microevolution
-Complete a TedEd lesson about the microevolution of Staphylococcus to become resistant to antibiotics
-Play a natural selection game to illustrate how certain traits contribute to an organism’s survival in an environment

NGSS Standards Covered:
LS4.B: Natural Selection
Sometimes the differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
LS4.C: Adaptation
Natural selection leads to adaptation, that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.
Adaptation also means that the distribution of traits in a population can change when conditions change.

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