Horse Evolution

AUDIENCE
Grades 10-12

STANDARDS SUPPORTED
NCCRS-Science: SC.HS.10.5.A, SC.HS.10.5.B, SC.HS.10.5.D, SC.HS.10.5.E
NGSS: HS-LS4-1, HS-LS4-2, HS-LS4-4, HS-LS4-5

PROGRAM DURATION
45 minutes

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Through group scientific investigation and data interpretation, you students will unlock the mystery of horse evolution. Using data collected from an in-class lab activity, they will join a museum educator to construct an explanation for how horses evolved on the Great Plains of North America. By analyzing the multiple lines of empirical evidence they uncovered in their in-class lab activity, your students will literally unlock a breakout box that will help them further discover and explore the non-linear evolutionary path of horses.

This two-part program includes an in-classroom lab activity and a Virtual Learning Program.     

The in-class lab activity must be completed prior to your virtual museum visit.  

PROGRAM STRUCTURE
In-Class Lab (held prior to VLP):
Using the provided program kit, in your classroom students are divided into five groups, with each group investigating a different dig site. Each dig site is responsible for gathering data from a:
·       fossil bone puzzle
·       fossil pollen
·       fossil horse teeth
Students report their findings into a Google Doc so that each team’s data is compiled in one place.

Museum Virtual Learning Program
Students will work with a Museum educator who helps them use their lab data to open the six locks on the breakout box which is present in the classroom (comes with the kit).
·       Students use tablets to reference the class Google Doc and Kahoot! Jumble learning game.
·       Each lock is opened using evidence collected during the in-class lab.
·       The final lock is opened when students discover a pop-up tree of horse evolution.
·       Inside the breakout box, students discover Ashfall Fossil Beds and the five horse genera that were found in the ash, living at the same place and time 12  million years ago. This final piece of evidence supports the explanation of evolution as a branching tree of life, with multiple genera co-existing, rather than a linear progression through time.

KIT
Contents include 1 mystery lock box and materials for 5 dig site groups, including: horse feet puzzle, fossil “pollen”, sieve, and tweezers, 3-D horse teeth, calipers, habitat cards, pop-up tree.

TEACHER FEEDBACK
“[This Virtual Learning Program] was a great way to incorporate real-world data into our unit. It was also a great way for the kids to see how evolutionary timelines are constructed with real-world evidence.” “I have already replaced examples with this horse example to make concepts easier to understand. Throughout this unit I anticipate I will say, “remember what we did with the horse activity,” all the time!” “My students struggled to figure out the locks on the box but it was good critical thinking skills for them.”

“[This Virtual Learning Program] was a great way to incorporate real-world data into our unit. It was also
a great way for the kids to see how evolutionary timelines are constructed with real-world
evidence.”

“I have already replaced examples with this horse example to make concepts easier to
understand. Throughout this unit I anticipate I will say, “remember what we did with the horse
activity,” all the time!”