Handouts

Handout

A brief hands-on investigation of Class Gastropoda (snails and slugs), followed by a critical thinking exercise centered on segments of the Shape of Life. Students first examine the bodies and behavior of live slugs or snails, then use water balloons to model their unique style of locomotion, and finally tackle a series of analytical questions designed to cultivate a grasp of divergent evolution: the branching of a single ancestral form into multiple new forms for diverse new functions, niches, and habitats.

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In this hands-on activity, students study the beautiful shells not as objects of beauty but as artifacts born of an evolutionary arms race.

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​A lab dissection using oysters and supported by several Shape of Life segments: students interpret bivalve adaptations as a radical case of divergent evolution.

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Students explore the extraordinary adaptions and diversity of terrestrial arthropods through short Shape of Life videos and student-centered activities in the 5E Instructional Model.

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Handout

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Procedure

Handout

In this lesson students make a guess at what was the first animal

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In this activity students explore how animals are classified. For centuries taxonomists have been classifying the diversity of animal life based on observations and measurements of animals’ body plans. 

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View the video clips for each animal listed on the table below (see video reference to find how to access the videos on shapeoflife.org). As a group, describe the animal’s solution to its problem and sketch the solution. Read the comparable human problem and write & sketch a solution that is inspired by the animal’s solution.