Life Through Time

This groundbreaking GEMS guide plunges students into the unifying theme in life science: evolutionary change. Through the exciting concept of time travel, changes over time are captured in rotating station activities that introduce students to the concepts of adaptation, relatedness, and "deep time." Students are first introduced to the "tree of life," organism adaptations, and a class time line. In the next five sessions, students carefully observe and document change over long periods of Earth history. The highlights of these sessions are the evolving Time Travel Aquarium and Terrarium, living dioramas that change with every session to represent the organisms of the period being studied. Organism-adaptation stations, fossil findings, and continental drift also evolve over the course of the unit. Every session includes a campaign skit of "stump speeches" by vying organisms and a concluding election of the "most representative organism of the age." In the concluding session, the teacher chooses one of four options that challenge students to apply what they've learned about changes in life through time. Life through Time is one of more than 70 teacher's guides and handbooks from the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) program. GEMS guides are tested in classrooms nationwide and come with clear, step-by-step instructions, assessment suggestions, literature connections, and ideas for further investigation. GEMS units can be used as a strong support to leading science and mathematics standards for educational excellence. GEMS guides are developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, the public science education center at the University of California at Berkeley. Book jacket.