Station 1 Explain how scientists use each item below to determine the evolutionary relationships among organisms. 1. Structural similarities: 2. Breeding behavior: 3. Geographical distribution: 4. Chromosome comparisons: 5. Biochemistry: Use the cladogram to answer the questions. 6. What five probable ancestors of the modern bird (robin) are shown on the cladogram? 7. Which dinosaur is probably the most recent common ancestor of Velociraptor and Archaeopteryx? 8. Which traits shown on the cladogram are shared by Archaeopteryx and modern birds?
Use the fanlike phylogenetic diagram to answer the questions. 9. How does the fanlike diagram differ from a cladogram? 10. Which group of plants evolved most recently? 11. To which group are starfishes more closely related, arthropods or jellyfishes? 12. Which group of animals includes the fewest species? 13. About how long ago did plants evolve? Circle the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. 14. Organisms that do not have a nucleus bounded by a membrane are a. multicellular. b. eukaryotes. c. protists. d. prokaryotes. 15. Fungi obtain food by a. photosynthesis. b. chemosynthesis. c. endocytosis. d. absorbing nutrients from organic materials. 16. Animals are a. autotrophs. b. heterotrophs. c. prokaryotes. d. stationary.
Station 2 In this station your group will be creating a dichotomous key for the sea shells displayed on the lab bench. The name of each specimen is included, but you need to create a dichotomous key for someone as though they do not know any of the names and have never seen these shells before. Here are some helpful hints before you begin: 1. Always start by deciding on the similarities between the different shells. 2. Remember that dichotomous keys always have two possible options for each statement or question. 3. Slowly narrow down the descriptions until you can identify all of the shells 4. Look at the example dichotomous key (this is the key for the organisms you looked at yesterday on the computers). 5. Follow the format from the example key. 6. The sheet of loose leaf is for any ideas your group might want to write down. 7. Write your dichotomous key on bottom and back side of this sheet. 8. Direct questions at the teacher if your group is having difficulties.
Station 3 For each item in Column A, write the letter of the matching item in Column B. Column A Grouping objects or information based on similarities Naming system that gives each organism a two-word name Developed the first system of classification Branch of biology that groups and names organisms Designed a system of classifying organisms based on their physical and structural similarities Consists of a group of similar species Column B a. Aristotle b. Linnaeus c. genus d. classification e. taxonomy f. binomial nomenclature Determine if the statement is true. If it is not, rewrite the italicized part to make it true. 7. The scientific name of a species consists of a family name and a descriptive name. 8. The scientific name of modern humans is Homo sapiens. 9. Latin is the language of scientific names. 10. The scientific names of organisms can be misleading. 11. Taxonomists try to identify the evolutionary relationships among organisms. 12. Similarities between living species and extinct species cannot be used to determine their relationship to each other. 13. Classification can be useful in identifying the characteristics of an unknown organism. 14. In a scientific name, the species is written with a capital and the genus with a lower case. 15. Taxonomy is a fairly new branch of biology
Examine the table showing the classification of four organisms. Then answer the questions. 16. Which taxon includes the most specific characteristics? 17. Which taxon includes the broadest characteristics? 18. Which taxon includes more species, an order or a family? 19. Which taxon includes only organisms that can successfully interbreed? 20. If two organisms belong to the same family, what other taxonomic groups do the organisms have in common. 21. Which two organisms in the chart are most closely related? Explain. 22. To which taxa do all four organisms belong? 23. Which class does not include animals that have hair or fur? 24. What is the order, family, and genus of a human? 25. Using the information in the chart, what can you conclude about the classification taxa of an organism with the scientific name Rana temporaria?
Station 4 In this station your group will be assigned 3-4 insects from the list (with pictures). Through use of the pictures, your group will use the dichotomous key to determine the correct order (taxon) of each insect. When you get to this station, put up your hands so that the teacher can assign you a few insects. Even if you think you know the common name of the insect, you may not be 100% correct, so make sure you use the dichotomous key properly Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Is what you will be determining Insect 1: Figure Insect 2: Figure Insect 3: Figure Insect 4: Figure