Anthony B. Wight
Materials:
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Video: “The Children of Eve.” NOVA, 1990, 55 minutes.
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Glossary (adapt from video, as appropriate)
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Visual aids—model or overhead transparency of a cell, DNA
Educational viewing goals:
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1. Review Sarich and Wilson’s experiment that caused them to hypothesize that hominid and ape lines split only 4-6 million years ago.
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2. Recount arguments for and against existence of a steady molecular clock.
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3. List two theories that explain why bipedalism evolved.
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4. Discuss why some evolutionists believe that the Neanderthals could not have evolved into the Cro-Magnons.
Discussion: Almost 20 years ago, Vince Sarich and Allan Wilson challenged the traditionally accepted date of 15-29 million years ago for the divergence of human and ape lines. Have the class discuss the experiments that support Sarich and Wilson’s more recent divergence date of 4-6 million years ago. What are the arguments for and against their steady clock? What is the Sarich and Wilson theory of evolution? What is their critics’ theory?
Suggested activity: Invite a molecular biologist to visit your class to discuss what he or she does on a daily basis. Ask the speaker to bring some common tools used in his or her field of work. Where does the scientist expect his or her area of research to lead?
Follow-up: Divide students into groups and assign each one of the recent news magazine articles listed below. The group’s task is to read and discuss the article among themselves and construct a concept map to present to the class summarizing key themes in their article.
Recommended reading
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1. Shreeve, J. “Argument Over a Woman.” In
Discover
, v.11, no.8 (Aug. 1990): 52-59.
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2. Gould, S.J. “Where We First Stood.” In
Discover
, v.7, no.5 (May 1986): 52.
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3. Pfeiffer, J. “Cro-Magnon Hunters Were Really Us, Working out Strategies for Survival.” In
Smithsonian
(Oct. 1986): 75.
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4. “The Search for Adam and Eve.” In
Newsweek
, (Jan. 11, 1988): 46-52.