Lesson summary for...

Evo in the news: What has the head of a crocodile and the gills of a fish?

Author/Source: UC Museum of Paleontology
Overview:This news brief, from May 2006, reviews what is likely to be the most important fossil find of the year: Tiktaalik helps us understand how our own ancestors crawled out of the water and began to walk on dry land.
Concepts:This lesson covers the following concepts:
  • Biological evolution accounts for diversity over long periods of time.
  • Life forms of the past were in some ways very different from living forms of today, but in other ways very similar.
  • Present-day species evolved from earlier species; the relatedness of organisms is the result of common ancestry.
  • Features sometimes evolve to function in new ways.
  • The fossil record provides evidence for evolution.
  • The fossil record contains transitional forms.
  • The story of the evolution of living things is always being refined as we gather more evidence.
  • Scientists use fossils (including sequences of fossils showing gradual change over time) to learn about past life.
Grade Level:9-12
Time:15 minutes
Teacher Background:Explore these links for additional information on the topics covered in this lesson:
Teaching Tips:This article could be used to motivate discussions of transitional forms and fossil evidence. It also includes a set of discussion and extension questions, as well as links to related lessons that might be used in conjunction with this one.