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Chapter 2: Organisms And The Diversity Of Life |
1. Relevance of Topic
a. For many students, this chapter represents the first cogent presentation of arguments supporting the theory of evolution, and is an opportunity for the student to begin:
1. to sort out personal views
2. to understand the relative importance of the theory in an historical context
3. to construct the proper framework for their future study of biology.
b. Chapter 2 summarizes the major themes for this text and for the study of biology.
c. The incredible diversity of life is fascinating to most people; instructors could make use of examples such as these:
1. gardening, both vegetable and flower, indoor and outdoor, is an illustration of the natural desire of people to cultivate diversity in their immediate surroundings,
2. bird watching, and various collecting activities ( insects, shells, plants, etc.) demonstrate further the fascination with diversity,
3. aquarium hobbyists continue to demonstrate that humans have an intense desire to support and maintain diverse habitats and are fascinated by exotic species.
d. The history of the development of biological theories gives insight to both the process and the importance of those theories today.
e. The work of past scientific figures (e.g. Darwin, Wallace, Lyell, Lamarck, Kettlewell, Malthus, etc.) remains vital for modern biologists as a guide for today's research.
f. Current events connected to this chapter include:
1. the use of systematics to update the phylogenies of organisms of common interest (e.g. the dog, Neanderthal man, etc.)
2. the use of modern molecular techniques to re-evaluate taxonomic divisions (e.g. the kingdom Monera vs. Archaebacteria and Eubacteria)
3. many stories of forensic science where modern systematic techniques are used to analyze evidence of crime.
2. Continuity
Obviously, this chapter sets the stage for everything that follows in this text and in the study of biology. More specifically:
1. the origin of life on earth and the chemistry of life covered in early chapters are intimately connected,
2. the concepts of evolution, the fossil record, and phylogeny preface the more in-depth coverage in a later unit on the history of diversity,
3. the genetic model is the basis for several chapters on genetic mechanisms,
4. comparative anatomy will be used throughout the animal diversity chapters.
3. Demonstration Activities
Text section 2.1
1. Show pictures illustrating plant and animal diversity (including humans).
2. Show a collection of butterflies, museum specimens, etc., where a single species is represented and variation is evident (e.g. coloring, size, sexual dimorphism).
Text section 2.3
1. Show pictures of prominent persons in the history of biology.
Text section 2.4
1. Show actual bones or images of closely related organisms (e.g. skulls, leg bones).
2. Show fossilized remains of plants and animals, along with closely related living plant specimens or a long bone from a recently living animal.
3. Show Figure 2.9 (Major Events in Earth History).
Text section 2.5
1. Show a phylogenetic tree.
2. Sign into the WWW and call up the Tree of Life.
Text section 2.8
1. Bring a large DNA model to class.
2. Show pictures of karyotypes, chromosomes, DNA molecules, etc.
3. Show a diagram of transcription and liken the process to copying a tape.
Text section 2.10
1. Show a life cycle for a human being, including cell division, fertilization, and growth.
2. Show the life cycle for either a tree, a holometabolous insect (e.g. butterfly), or a marine invertebrate (e.g. Obelia), where various stages of the individual bear little resemblance to each other.
Text section 2.11
1. Show an image of a population of malnourished humans in a densely populated area.
Text section 2.12
1. Show the same collection (butterflies, etc.) of members of a single species, where variation is evident.
2. how images of closely related species (e.g. Figure 2.2), where variation is evident.
Text section 2.14
1. Project images of easily recognized members of the five kingdoms (e.g. a mushroom, a rabbit, a tree, a Paramecium, a plate of bacteria).
2. Project images of the same five kingdoms represented by organisms that are probably not familiar to the students and might be difficult to classify based on external morphology (e.g. cnidarians that look like plants).
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