Reconstructing Evolutionary History Using Fossils Science Games

In this series of games, your students will learn about the genetic evidence behind the theory of evolution. The Reconstructing Evolutionary History Using Fossils learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards —delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.

Scroll down for a preview of this learning objective’s games and the concepts they drive home.

Concepts Covered

Evolution is the scientific theory explaining how diverse life has developed on Earth. It happens because over time, organisms’ genomes change. Eventually, this causes them to exhibit new traits, and it can even give rise to entirely new species.

To this day, there is genetic evidence that scientists can trace back to Earth’s earliest life forms. One way they do this is with comparative anatomy, examining different organisms’ body structures for similarities.

For example, the human arms and dolphin flippers have similar bone structures, which suggests that both species have a common evolutionary ancestor. On the other hand, bird wings and insect wings work similarly but have very different structures, indicating that they did not evolve from the same species.

Another way of tracing evolution is through developmental biology. Scientists look for similarities in the way organisms grow and develop. They can also use molecular biology, comparing different organisms’ DNA sequences to find evolutionary links.

A preview of each game in the learning objective is found below.

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