# Only the Strong Survive

## Objectives and Goals

- Evaluate claims and evidence that changes in the environment can affect a population’s survival strategies and the fitness of a species.
- Analyze evidence to predict how changes in a population’s genes can alter its reproduction and survival and lead to differentiation.
- Explain how selection pressures and adaptations can affect extinction or increase the Earth’s biodiversity.

## Essential Question(s)

- How does natural selection contribute to the expansion of some species and the decline of others?

## Lesson Format

This lesson is designed to take approximately 2–3 days, or 150 minutes, and can be completed entirely online. Depending on the format of your course, you will either complete the lesson while following along with your instructor or complete the lesson on your own. Types of interactive activities include a discussion board, a lab simulation, research, presentation of work, and an end-of-lesson summary.

This week, you will complete the following coursework:

- Activity 1: Survival of the Fittest (appx. 18 minutes total)

- Watch the “Moose Fight” video. (appx. 3 minutes)
- Answer the three prompts in the discussion board. (appx. 10 minutes)
- Watch the “Evolution of Dogs” video. (appx. 2 minutes)
- Return to the discussion post and answer the final prompt. (appx. 3 minutes)

- Initial responses to all three prompts due mm/dd/yyyy.
- Peer responses due mm/dd/yyyy.

- Final response due mm/dd/yyyy.

- Activity 2: Mind Map Introduction and Peppered Moth Lab (appx. 30 minutes total)

- Read the instructions on the Mind Map Brainstorming Document. (appx. 5 minutes)
- Complete the lab and submit the data sheet with your analysis and data tables by mm/dd/yyyy. (appx. 25 minutes)

- Activity 3: Mind Map Brainstorming (appx. 22 minutes total)

- Select an article and a video from the Choice Board. (appx. 20 minutes)
- Submit the brainstorming document by mm/dd/yyyy. (appx. 2 minutes)

- Activity 4: Mind Map Creation (appx. 40–60 minutes total)

- Mind Map due mm/dd/yyyy.

- Activity 5: How I Know It (appx. 20 minutes total)

- Post in Padlet due mm/dd/yyyy.

- Peer responses due mm/dd/yyyy.

Total Estimated Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Researched Best Practices

Send weekly announcements based on an established pacing guide as a way to encourage students to follow the recommended schedule. It also sets the standard teachers use to measure student progress. Teachers commonly make small adjustments to the pacing guide to account for events unique to their building (Borup & Stimson, 2019).

Virtual courses require more time and commitment than traditional face-to-face courses. Therefore, it is recommended that students dedicate between 6–10 hours per week for each course. A schedule is useful to track when assignments are due. Goal setting also is useful in time management (Lee & Figueroa, 2012).

Procedure

- All of the activities are designed to be completed within Canvas.