REAL Science Odyssey: Evolution Unit Study

REAL Science Odyssey: Evolution Unit Study (eBook)

Pages: 108

Grade level:  K - 3rd

Course type: Unit Study (eBook only) 

Author: Marta Pentecost 

What is RSO Evolution Unit Study?

RSO Evolution is a 10 lesson, secular homeschool unit study. This unit study is meant for early elementary school-age children (kindergarten through third grade) and aims to introduce them to the concepts and vocabulary of one of the core theories in science. Students will learn more than fifty vocabulary terms related to evolutionary biology as we cover the following core concepts throughout the ten lessons:

Lessons 1-3: Inheritance, Variation, Natural Selection, and Common Ancestry

These first three lessons build upon one another, by explaining how babies inherit varied traits from their parents and how those variations lead to natural selection, which over a very long period of time results in the development of new species.

• A person’s or animal’s traits can be inherited by their children, and variation occurs randomly among those children.
• People or animals with the traits best adapted for survival are more likely to survive and pass on those traits to their children. This is called natural selection.
• New species evolve from other species.
• All organisms evolved from a common ancestor.

Evolutionary Timeline (Lessons 4–10)

After developing a core understanding of the principles of inheritance, variation, natural selection, and evolution, the last seven lessons take the student on a trip through the history of Earth.

• The Geologic Timescale separates the 4.6 billion years of Earth’s history into four eras:Precambrian Era (4.6 billion years ago to 542 million years ago),Paleozoic Era (542 mya to 252 mya),Mesozoic Era (252 mya to 66 mya), and Cenozoic Era (66 mya to Present Day).
• Major geologic events are discussed, including the formation of Earth, the Cambrian Explosion, and the K-Pg Extinction that killed off the dinosaurs.
• Evolution is a continuous process of adaptation, leading to gradual changes in species over time.
• Convergent evolutionary changes occur when unrelated species develop similar features in response to environmental pressures.

Each lesson contains the following features: For Your Notebook (a brief introduction to the lesson’s content), several well-defined and measurable learning outcomes, a short introduction to the procedure, a materials list, easy-to-follow instructions for one or two hands-on activities (lessons also include work on an evolutionary timeline), questions to promote discussion of the lesson’s concepts and evaluation of the student’s understanding, ideas for more lab fun, and notes to the instructor.

RSO Evolution Unit Study was written with the goal of being easy to implement at home. It is also set up with active lessons so that students have an opportunity to practice using the vocabulary while doing the activities and talking with their parents.

Who can use RSO Evolution?

RSO Evolution Unit Study is a 10-lesson unit study on evolutionary biology designed for grades K-3. It can be paired with RSO Life or used independently. You don’t need to have a science background to use this homeschool science curriculum! All materials are written with the science novice in mind, so you don’t need to do extra research in advance of the lessons.

Important Copyright Information: If you choose the eBook version of this course, you are purchasing a license to use the PDF for your own children. You may make copies for your own children, but you may not share (email, download, print and distribute, resell, etc.) this eBook or any portion of this eBook to others. Licensing is available for group, school, and co-op use. Please contact Pandia Press for details on group licensing (info@pandiapressbooks.com).