MS-LS4-2 lessons
Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
The Next Generation Science Standards code MS-LS4-2 asks students to: “Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.” These Fieldbook lesson teaches it hands-on, with everyday materials, a printable teacher guide and a student sheet.
Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time Grades 6–8
- How do fossils show life has changed? 50–60 min
Teams build a rock column from printed fossil cards of early whales, from a four-legged land animal to a sea creature with tiny hind legs, and track the changes. Then they compare the bones in a human arm, a cat's leg, a whale's flipper, a bat's wing and a bird's wing, and explain what the shared pattern says about relationships.
NGSS is used as written in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, so the code MS-LS4-2 matches there. Other states word and number their own versions: see curriculum alignment for your state's codes.
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