Lesson Summary: Similarities and differences: Understanding homology and analogy

Lesson summary for... Similarities and differences: Understanding homology and analogy Author/Source: UC Museum of Paleontology

Overview:	This interactive investigation explains what homologies and analogies are, how to recognize them, and how they evolve.
Concepts:	This lesson covers the following concepts: Biological evolution accounts for diversity over long periods of time. Through billions of years of evolution, life forms have continued to diversify in a branching pattern, from single-celled ancestors to the diversity of life on Earth today. There is a fit between organisms and their environments, though not always a perfect fit. Not every feature of an organism is an adaptation, but features often reflect their evolutionary history. All organisms, including humans, retain evidence of their evolutionary history. Anatomical similarities of living things reflect common ancestry. Traits that are advantageous often persist in a population. Evolutionary relationships may be explored on branching cladograms.
Grade Level:	6-8
Time:	30 minutes
Teacher Background:	Explore these links for additional information on the topics covered in this lesson: Evidence for Evolution Adaptation
Teaching Tips:	This tutorial provides many interactive features and does an excellent job of explaining homologies and analogies. You may want to have your class explore the resources Examples of Analogy and Examples of Homology available in the resource database at the main Understanding Evolution Website, evolution.berkeley.edu. There is also a version of this tutorial that is appropriate for grades 9-12.