As a high school or undergraduate Biological Sciences teacher, you can use this set of computer-based tools to teach about evolutionary adaptations in animals due to climate change
Evolutionary Adaptation is the morphological or physiological adjustment of organisms to their environment to improve their chances of survival. With climate change associated altered precipitation patterns, rising sea-levels, and extreme weather events, ecosystems across the globe are being disrupted. This lesson plan includes resources that explain how climate change is affecting many animals species and how they are adapting to their changed environments.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a core topic in Biological Sciences.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
Teacher-contributed lesson plan by Dr Rajendra Phartyal and Dr Mansi Verma, Sri Venkateswara College (University of Delhi), India
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| Grade Level | High School, Undergraduate |
| Discipline | Biological Sciences |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Adaptation, Evolution, Biodiversity, Genetics, Species and Speciation, Evolutionary Adaptations, Natural Selection, Phenotypic Variations, Genetic Variations, Gene Frequency, Phenotypic Plasticity, Morphological or Physiological Traits, Epigenetic Factors |
| Climate Topic | Climate and the Biosphere |
| Location | Global |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online / offline |
| Approximate Time Required | 30-100 min |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Reading (10 min)
Use the text, ‘Adaptation’ by Encyclopedia Britannica, to introduce the topic of adaptation in living organisms. Explain the need of several species to adapt to changing environments in order to improve their chances of survival. Describe the main characteristics of evolutionary adaptations. Discuss how natural selection works on variations in the species’ populations leading to- inherited morphological or physiological changes- adaptations. Emphasize on how it differs from other favorable circumstances like useful traits and phenotypic plasticity in organisms, in order to adjust to environmental aberrations. Finally, discuss the different examples given in text like the adaptation of the peppered moth in wing coloration from the beginning of the industrial revolution, to drive in the point of evolutionary adaptations.
Video (~5 min)
Use the video, ‘Can wildlife adapt to climate change?’ by Erin Eastwood for TED-Ed, to briefly introduce your students to climate change as a driver of evolutionary adaptation in several animal species in the wild. Use the examples in the video to point out how climate change has led to disrupted ecosystems and changed environments for many animal species. Finally, emphasize on their need to adapt in order to improve their rates of survival.
Reading (15 mins)
Use the blog, ‘What Helps Animals Adapt (or Not) to Climate Change?’ by Renee Cho, Earth Institute, Columbia University to discuss the different aspects of evolutionary adaptations to climate change in animals. Explain how a warming climate forces animals to ‘move, adapt or die’. Use the text to discuss examples of organisms such as corals that show evidence of climate related adaptations. Describe the role of epigenetics in the phenotypic plasticity of several species that permits them to survive better in unfavorable conditions. Use the examples in the text to explain how this gives ‘time’ (to evolve) for several species to develop adaptations to changing environmental conditions. Also, discuss some examples where phenotypic plasticity is not an advantage. Finally, use the text to discuss how important it is to maintain large species populations and the biodiversity of Earth to allow for short time-scale evolutionary changes to adapt to a changing climate.
Optional: Teaching Module (2 sessions of 35 min each)
Use this teaching module, ‘Natural selection from the gene up: The work of Elizabeth Dahlhoff and Nathan Rank’ by the Understanding Evolution team, University of California Museum of Paleontology, to examine the research of these scientists to better understand how natural selection shapes the evolutionary process leading to adaptations in the willow leaf beetle, the subject of warming climatic conditions. Note that this teaching module addresses 3 key questions (as given in the module):
This module is designed such that one or more components may be used for your teaching. Navigate through the 12 pages of this module by using the tab in the upper right-hand corner of the webpage. Each page can be printed separately or viewed in print format. Download the student reading guide (link given at bottom of the webpage) and distribute copies to your students. Use this guide to channel your students through the different aspects of this study using an enquiry-based method (questions given in guide). Go to page 11 of the module for a list of discussion and extension questions. Use the list to encourage your students to elaborate on their understanding of evolutionary adaptations in a warming climate.
Use the tools and the concepts learned so far to discuss and determine answers to the following questions:
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Reading; ‘Ten Species That Are Evolving Due to the Changing Climate’ | A Smithsonian Magazine report by Helen Thompson that talks about ten species that are evolving due to a changing climate
This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Reading: ‘Adaptation’ | By Encyclopedia Britannica. |
| 2 | Video ‘Can wildlife adapt to climate change?’ | By Erin Eastwood for TED-Ed. |
| 3 | Reading ‘What Helps Animals Adapt (or Not) to Climate Change?’ | Blog by Renee Cho, Earth Institute, Columbia University. |
| 4 | Teaching Module ‘Natural selection from the gene up: The work of Elizabeth Dahlhoff and Nathan Rank’ | By the Understanding Evolution team, University of California Museum of Paleontology. |
| 5 | Additional Resources | Helen Thompson, Smithsonian Magazine. |
| 6 | Images | African Butterfly Photo: Charlesjsharp American Pika Photo: Aditthe Stargazer via Flickr. |
| Grade Level | High School, Undergraduate |
| Discipline | Biological Sciences |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Evolutionary Adaptations, Natural Selection, Phenotypic Variations, Genetic Variations, Gene Frequency, Phenotypic Plasticity, Morphological or Physiological Traits, Epigenetic Factors |
| Climate Topic | Climate and the Biosphere |
| Location | Global |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online / offline |
| Approximate Time Required | 30-100 min |
| Share | |
| Download The Resource |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Reading (10 min)
Use the text, ‘Adaptation’ by Encyclopedia Britannica, to introduce the topic of adaptation in living organisms. Explain the need of several species to adapt to changing environments in order to improve their chances of survival. Describe the main characteristics of evolutionary adaptations. Discuss how natural selection works on variations in the species’ populations leading to- inherited morphological or physiological changes- adaptations. Emphasize on how it differs from other favorable circumstances like useful traits and phenotypic plasticity in organisms, in order to adjust to environmental aberrations. Finally, discuss the different examples given in text like the adaptation of the peppered moth in wing coloration from the beginning of the industrial revolution, to drive in the point of evolutionary adaptations.
Video (~5 min)
Use the video, ‘Can wildlife adapt to climate change?’ by Erin Eastwood for TED-Ed, to briefly introduce your students to climate change as a driver of evolutionary adaptation in several animal species in the wild. Use the examples in the video to point out how climate change has led to disrupted ecosystems and changed environments for many animal species. Finally, emphasize on their need to adapt in order to improve their rates of survival.
Reading (15 mins)
Use the blog, ‘What Helps Animals Adapt (or Not) to Climate Change?’ by Renee Cho, Earth Institute, Columbia University to discuss the different aspects of evolutionary adaptations to climate change in animals. Explain how a warming climate forces animals to ‘move, adapt or die’. Use the text to discuss examples of organisms such as corals that show evidence of climate related adaptations. Describe the role of epigenetics in the phenotypic plasticity of several species that permits them to survive better in unfavorable conditions. Use the examples in the text to explain how this gives ‘time’ (to evolve) for several species to develop adaptations to changing environmental conditions. Also, discuss some examples where phenotypic plasticity is not an advantage. Finally, use the text to discuss how important it is to maintain large species populations and the biodiversity of Earth to allow for short time-scale evolutionary changes to adapt to a changing climate.
Optional: Teaching Module (2 sessions of 35 min each)
Use this teaching module, ‘Natural selection from the gene up: The work of Elizabeth Dahlhoff and Nathan Rank’ by the Understanding Evolution team, University of California Museum of Paleontology, to examine the research of these scientists to better understand how natural selection shapes the evolutionary process leading to adaptations in the willow leaf beetle, the subject of warming climatic conditions. Note that this teaching module addresses 3 key questions (as given in the module):
This module is designed such that one or more components may be used for your teaching. Navigate through the 12 pages of this module by using the tab in the upper right-hand corner of the webpage. Each page can be printed separately or viewed in print format. Download the student reading guide (link given at bottom of the webpage) and distribute copies to your students. Use this guide to channel your students through the different aspects of this study using an enquiry-based method (questions given in guide). Go to page 11 of the module for a list of discussion and extension questions. Use the list to encourage your students to elaborate on their understanding of evolutionary adaptations in a warming climate.
Use the tools and the concepts learned so far to discuss and determine answers to the following questions:
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Reading; ‘Ten Species That Are Evolving Due to the Changing Climate’ | A Smithsonian Magazine report by Helen Thompson that talks about ten species that are evolving due to a changing climate
This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Classroom/Laboratory Activity; ‘Animal Adaptations for Survival’ | A middle school level classroom activity by Vanderbilt University, USA, to explain the role of certain adaptations for survival in animals.
This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Reading; ‘Adaptation’ | By Encyclopedia Britannica. |
| 2 | Video; ‘Can wildlife adapt to climate change?’ | By Erin Eastwood for TED-Ed. |
| 3 | Reading; ‘What Helps Animals Adapt (or Not) to Climate Change?’ | Blog by Renee Cho, Earth Institute, Columbia University. |
| 4 | Teaching Module; ‘Natural selection from the gene up: The work of Elizabeth Dahlhoff and Nathan Rank’ | By the Understanding Evolution team, University of California Museum of Paleontology. |
| 5 | Additional Resources | Helen Thompson, Smithsonian Magazine, Vanderbilt University |
