Purpose
Students investigate “What does it actually mean when we say ‘survival of the fittest’?” by examining how environmental pressures cause genetically diverse populations and phenotypes to change over time. A field experience at the LA Natural History Museum and interactions with museum and San Diego Zoo experts launch research into natural selection, adaptation, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Collaborative teams use peer critique to revise timelines, essays, websites, and sketched concepts before creating hanging mobiles, board games, or informational posters for nature centers. Students present their evidence-based work to peers and families at a student-led expo and reflect on how human actions affect other living things across local, national, and global ecosystems.
Learning goals
Students will explain how environmental pressures cause changes in trait frequencies over generations, using mathematical evidence to clarify what “survival of the fittest” means. They will model how genetic diversity produces varied phenotypes, supports adaptation and diversification, and influences biodiversity and ecosystem services. Teams will evaluate competing conservation solutions using evidence from the LA Natural History Museum and San Diego Zoo, then apply critique and revision to a timeline, essay, website, and public product such as a hanging mobile, board game, or nature-center poster. Through peer and family presentations, students will communicate their reasoning and reflect on how human actions affect organisms and ecosystems locally, nationally, and globally.
Products
Students will create interactive foldable notes documenting cause and effect, environmental pressures, and how genetic diversity produces varied phenotypes. Teams will use evidence from museum and zoo experts to develop a mathematical timeline and hanging mobile showing how trait frequencies change as populations adapt and diversify. Students will also co-design a biodiversity-focused board game and an informational poster or website suitable for display at a nature center. After peer critique and revision, students will present their products and an individual essay addressing “survival of the fittest” and human impacts on ecosystems at a student-led expo for peers and families.
Launch
Launch with an LA Natural History Museum field trip where student teams investigate fossil and specimen evidence through a “Trait Detective” challenge. Researchers and docents will help students identify environmental pressures, inherited variation, and cause-and-effect patterns, while a San Diego Zoo zookeeper joins virtually to connect these patterns to living populations and biodiversity. Teams will record observations in foldable notes, then create an initial sketch showing how diverse genes can produce diverse phenotypes over time. Conclude with teams defending an initial response to the question, “What does it actually mean when we say ‘survival of the fittest’?”
Exhibition
Host a student-led “Survival of the Fittest?” expo for families, peers, and invited LA Natural History Museum and San Diego Zoo partners. Teams display hanging mobiles and posters, demonstrate their board games, and guide visitors through timelines, websites, and selected essay excerpts explaining environmental pressures, trait-frequency changes, adaptation, and diversification. Visitors leave feedback and compare biodiversity solutions, while students defend their evidence and explain revisions made after peer critique. Conclude with student reflections on how human actions affect organisms and ecosystems locally, nationally, and globally.
