Lesson Summary: Parasites and pathogens take the leap

Lesson summary for... Parasites and pathogens take the leap Author/Source: Evolution: Education and Outreach

Overview:	Diseases like SARS, HIV, and West Nile Virus may be new to humans, but they are old news to other species. These and other emerging infectious diseases have recently added humans to the list of hosts they infect. An evolutionary perspective can help us better understand and, we hope, control this problem. This article appears at SpringerLink.
Concepts:	This lesson covers the following concepts: All organisms, including humans, retain evidence of their evolutionary history. Occupying new environments can provide new selection pressures and new opportunities, leading to speciation. As with other scientific disciplines, evolutionary biology has applications that factor into everyday life.
Grade Level:	9-12
Time:	20 minutes
Teacher Background:	Explore these links for additional information on the topics covered in this lesson: Classification/Phylogenetics Relevance
Teaching Tips:	This article comes with links to additional examples, supplementary information, and classroom tips. It is also available as a pdf at http://www.springerlink.com/content/m30241657r03072m/fulltext.pdf