Science of Evolution

Journey across nearly four billion years of Earth's history to uncover the story of life's greatest transformations. From the earliest oceans to the rise of mammals, students will investigate how changing climates, shifting continents, mass extinctions, and evolutionary innovations shaped the diversity of life we see today.

Students will think like evolutionary biologists and paleontologists, using fossils, anatomy, and geological evidence to reconstruct the past. Along the way, we'll trace one of evolution's most remarkable stories: how vertebrates evolved from aquatic fish into land-dwelling, air-breathing, temperature-regulating animals, and why innovations such as jaws, limbs, feathers, and fur emerged when they did.

By identifying patterns across eras, students will develop a richer understanding of evolution as an ongoing process driven by adaptation, environmental change, and natural selection.

Student Outcomes: 

• Analyze evolutionary adaptations by explaining how key vertebrate traits (such as limbs, the amniotic egg, endothermy, feathers, and fur) evolved in response to changing environments.
• Interpret Earth's geologic history by connecting major eras, climate shifts, extinction events, and representative organisms to the broader story of life's evolution.
• Use scientific evidence to explain patterns by analyzing fossils, anatomical features, and the geologic record to support claims about how and why life on Earth has changed over time.