Author/Source: ENSI (via Understanding Evolution)

Overview: Students observe that the banding patterns seen on stained chromosomes from humans and chimpanzees show striking similarities. Possible evolutionary relationships are explored, as are the chromosomes and relationships of other apes.

Concepts: This lesson covers the following concepts:

• Present-day species evolved from earlier species; the relatedness of organisms is the result of common ancestry.
• All organisms, including humans, retain evidence of their evolutionary history.
• Similarities among existing organisms provide evidence for evolution.
• All life forms use the same basic DNA building blocks.
• Scientists use the similarity of DNA nucleotide sequences to infer the relatedness of taxa.

Grade Level: 9-12

Time: One to two class periods

Teacher Background: Explore these links for additional information on the topics covered in this lesson:

• Genetic Variation
• Evidence for Evolution

Teaching Tips: Recommended for more advanced students.

Lesson URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20180308144110/http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/evol.fs.html (you will need to search for the lesson title on this page)