Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________

1.3 Exploring Variation and Distribution in Populations

 
Activity #1: Do NOW
K= Know​: L= Learned:
Write down 3 things you now know What I observed happened in this ​Newt Video ​ was...
about rough-skinned newts:

1.__________________________ _______________________________________________________
____________________________ _______________________________________________________
2.__________________________ _______________________________________________________
____________________________ _______________________________________________________
3.__________________________ _______________________________________________________
____________________________

 
PAIR-SHARE Question​: (Using Level 2 voices, discuss with your partner)
1.One thing I learned/found interesting from this video was... 

Activity #2: Warm Up R

​ ead the paragraph below and answer the following question:
 
The Rough Skinned Newt  

Rough-skinned newts may not appear

dangerous: they are no longer than 20
centimeters (8 inches), with stubby legs
and teeth that look like tiny bumps.
However, some of these newts are the
most poisonous animals in the Pacific
Northwest. One roughskinned newt can
have enough
poison in its
body to kill
dozens of
humans!
 
 
 
 

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 Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________
Activity #3: Exploring the Natural Selection S
​ IM   
What do the Draw them out:
organisms Thornpalms ​(plants) Ostrilopes (​animals that Carnithons ​(animals that
look like? eat thornpalms) eat ostrilopes)
Turn the
populations
on and off.
 

What are the Thornpalms

different ●
Organism ●
Features? ●
Ostrilopes
●
●
●
●
●
●
Carnithons
●
●
●

Trail Level Let’s look at Thornpalms Height

Slider 1. What happens to the thornpalms when you move the slider to the left?
____________________________________________
2. What happens to the thornpalms when you move the slider to the right?
___________________________________________

Variation Draw the Histograms for the Thornpalm’s Height for the following variation levels:
Slider None:

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 Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________

Low Variation:

Medium Variation:

High Variation:

 
Activity #4:​ Histograms Video  
● What are histograms?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Activity #5: Partner S
​ IM​ Practice  
With your partner complete the following missions:
Hints:
● Move the trait-level and variation sliders
● Zoom in to the environment to observe the individual organisms.
● It is not necessary to enter Run or Analyze to complete these missions.
● Turn off organisms that you are not investigating by pressing the INCLUDE THORNPALMS /
OSTRILOPES / CARNITHONS toggles.

Mission Draw Histogram Description

Mission 1:​ Set up a thornpalm 1. Organism: circle one

population where all the thornpalms ostrilopes carnithons
thornpalms have medium thorns.
2. Feature: ​_____________________
3. Trail-Level Slider:​ ________
4. Variation Slider​: ________

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 Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________
Mission 2:​ Set up a thornpalm 1. Organism: circle one
population where the thornpalms thornpalms ostrilopes carnithons
have many different thorn sizes.
2. Feature: ​_____________________
3. Trail-Level Slider:​ ________
4. Variation Slider​: ________

Mission 3:​ Set up a thornpalm 1. Organism: circle one

population with many short thornpalms ostrilopes carnithons
thornpalms, a few medium-height
2. Feature: ​_____________________
thornpalms, and no tall
3. Trail-Level Slider:​ ________
thornpalms.
4. Variation Slider​: ________

Mission 4:​ Set up an ostrilope 1. Organism: circle one

population that has blue, green, thornpalms ostrilopes carnithons
and yellow color ostrilopes.
2. Feature: ​_____________________
3. Trail-Level Slider:​ ________
4. Variation Slider​: ________

Mission 5:​ Set up an ostrilope 1. Organism: circle one

population where all ostrilopes thornpalms ostrilopes carnithons
are blue ( one feature has high
2. Feature: ​_____________________
variation and another feature has
3. Trail-Level Slider:​ ________
no variation)
4. Variation Slider​: ________

Mission 6:​ Set up a carnithon 1. Organism: circle one

population where most of the thornpalms ostrilopes carnithons
carnithons have high levels of
2. Feature: ​_____________________
fur, but some have medium
3. Trail-Level Slider:​ ________
levels of fur.
4. Variation Slider​: ________

Mission 7:​ Set up a carnithon 1. Organism: circle one

population with the highest level thornpalms ostrilopes carnithons
of fur variation possible.
2. Feature: ​_____________________
3. Trail-Level Slider:​ ________
4. Variation Slider​: ________

Vocabulary Words 
Variation:  Generation:  Distribution:
     
   
 
 
 

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Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________
Activity #6: Key Concept 

Investigation
Question:
How can we describe a
_______________________________________________
population? _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
______________________________________________

 
Activity #7: Building Histograms Exit Ticket   
Create the following histograms for a population of 12 individuals, using 12 cubes.

Histogram 1: ​Color a Histogram 2: ​Make a 3: ​Make a histogram with

histogram with ​no variation​. histogram with ​low variation​: high variation.
there are very few traits
present in this population.

How can histograms help you describe a population? Explain your answer.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________ 
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Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________
1.3 Independent Tasks 
Activity #8: Histogram Notes  
1. Go to ​Study Jams - Histograms  
2. Complete the steps online and write
down the notes/tables/graphs for each
section

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Now click on and complete the ​WATCH OUT!​ And ​TRY IT!​ Activities
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Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________
Activity #9: Histogram Practice  
Look at the image below (color version on class website) and answer the questions below: 

 
1. Which histogram shows a population that’s all one color? (circle one)
Histogram A   Histogram B   Histogram C   Histogram D
I know this because ​ ______________________________________________________________
2. Which histogram shows a population with a lot of variation? (circle one)
Histogram A   Histogram B   Histogram C   Histogram D
I know this because ​ ______________________________________________________________

3. Which histogram shows a population with mostly yellow ostrilopes and some variation? (circle one)
Histogram A   Histogram B   Histogram C   Histogram D
I know this because ​ ______________________________________________________________

4. Which histogram shows the same variation as Histogram B but a different distribution of traits?
(circle one) Histogram A   Histogram B   Histogram C   Histogram D
I know this because ​ ______________________________________________________________

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Name: ______________________________ Period: ___________ Date: _______________
Activity #10: ​Read It! ​“Poison vs Venom” 

The terms are often used interchangeably, but​ ‘venom’ and ‘poison’ ​are not the CATCH Annotate CFS
same thing. True, they’re both a toxic substance that can potentially harm or kill ❏ Highlight one keypoint from
you, but the ​main differen​ce lies in the way they are delivered to the unfortunate each paragraph.
victim. ❏ Circle 1-2 unknown/vocab
Poiso​n is a toxin that gets into the body words from each paragraph
via swallowing, inhaling or absorption through ❏ Ask 1 question OR make 1
the skin. Poisonous animals tend to be more connection
passive-aggressive—they often won’t actively ❏ Answer ​Thinking Questions
attack their prey, but release their toxins as a
1. What is the main difference
result of being eaten, touched or disturbed. For
example, a cane toad, which secretes toxins between venom and poison?.
from glands on each shoulder, is a poisonous _______________________________
animal. It has to be ingested or licked to cause harm. Poison ivy is an example of a
_______________________________
poisonous plant—touching it can result in an itchy and sometimes painful rash.
​Venom​ is a specialised type of poison that has ______________________________
evolved for a specific purpose. It is actively injected via 2. ​What is poison? How do poisonous
a bite or sting. Because venom has a mixture of small animals behave?
and large molecules, it needs a wound to be able to
_______________________________
enter the body, and to be effective must find its way into
the bloodstream. For this reason, venomous animals _______________________________
are more active in defending themselves. For example, _______________________________
taipan snake, which injects venom through syringe-like
3. Based on this reading, give an
teeth, is a venomous animal. So are jellyfish, which inject venom into skin using
example of an animal that is
venom-filled harpoon-like structures that shoot out from cells along their tentacles
poisonous.
when touched.
_______________________________
Occasionally an animal can be both venomous and poisonous. The
blue-ringed octopus, for example, is venomous when it bites with its beak but it is _______________________________
poisonous if it is swallowed. This is because it has a myriad of toxins in it, with the 4.​What is venom? How do venomous
most potent (tetrodotoxin) able to be absorbed due to its very small size.
animals behave?
Both poison and venom are designed to be effective if delivered in the
correct way. But what would happen if you drank venom (rather than having it _______________________________
injected)? While there have not been many people willing to submit to this _______________________________
experiment, it is ​theoretically​ possible to swallow venom and not notice any effects ______________________________
(unless of course you had cuts in your mouth, in which case it could enter your
5.Based on this reading, give an
bloodstream). This is because the acids in your stomach would break down the
example of an animal that is
venom like any other protein before it could reach your bloodstream—at least,
venomous.
that's the theory.Regardless of whether it’s ingested or injected, the safest option
_______________________________
is to be aware of potential poisonous and venomous creatures in your area, and
_______________________________
try and avoid them.
_______________________________

Activity #11: Go back and finish all of: 

● Packet 1.1 Goal Setting and Natural Selection Pre Assessment ​(packet from last Wednesday)
● Packet 1.2 The mystery of the Poisonous Newts ​(packet from last Thursday/Friday)
Done early?: W​ ork on an Achieve Article/iReady/DreamBox/Moby Max 
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