Activities

1. Define evidence.
   
   
2. Define observation.
   
   
3. Define variable.

4. Explain why fossils are important evidence in understanding evolution. Provide an example to support your answer.

5. Your teacher shows you a picture of a small log cabin. The cabin is old and in disrepair. The roof is collapsing and the door is wide open. All of the glass in the windows is gone. The cabin is surrounded by weeds, small to medium size shrubs, and deciduous trees. Based on this description develop three observations and two inferences.
   
   
6. Red tail hawks hunt rodents for food. A disease kills all of the rodents in Bedford County Pennsylvania. Hypothesize what will happen to the red hawk population as well as other populations in that area.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. Evidence provides support for or against something.
   
   
2. Observation is the act of noticing or perceiving.
   
   
3. A variable is any factor that can be changed in an experiment.
   
   
4. Answers may include, but are not limited to:
   Fossils offer evidence about the Earth’s past by giving scientists a record of the different species that lived long ago. By comparing ancient species to current species scientist are able to determine the ancestry of organisms and the patterns of evolution. For example, the Archaeopteryx fossils have provided scientists with evidence that birds have retained ancestral dinosaur features.

5. Acceptable responses might include, but not be limited to:
   1. Observations – The cabin is falling apart. The roof is collapsing. There is no glass in the windows. The door is not shut. The yard is in need of attention.
   2. Inferences – The cabin was abandoned many years ago. There are spiders and snakes living in the cabin.  The cabin and the land that it sits on are for sale and no one has bought it yet. Hermits live in the cabin. Secondary succession is occurring.
      
      
6. Answers may resemble, but are not limited to:
   If all of the rodents in Bedford County Pennsylvania died the red tail hawk population in that area would decrease in size. Some of the birds would emigrate to other parts of Pennsylvania where there were still rodents to hunt while others would remain and compete for rabbits, small reptiles, and other small animals includes cats and dogs. Other populations that eat rodents, like snakes, would also decrease in size and compete with the red tail hawks for the food sources they had in common. Other populations, like grasshoppers which are a food source for rodents, would increase and if not controlled, could create an even greater imbalance in the ecosystem by eating overeating plants that other consumers rely on for food.