Timeline
Description of Project
During this project I worked on a timeline with a central focus on a modern day animal tracing it back to it's earliest days of ancestry. Thomas and I decided to make our timeline about wolves dating back to 7.2 million years ago. We researched the family tree of the modern day grey wolf and found many similarities and differences. Our primary focus of research was on when and where the wolves lived along with how and why they changed into a new species. We found that most early species of wolves were smaller than the modern wolf and lived in Eurasia with an Oceanic climate. The Oceanic climate consists of cool summers and equally cold winters. More modern species of wolves started to become larger and migrated to North America which has a colder climate. This made the wolves develop the larger layer of fur that wolves have today.
On this page below you can find more information about wolves in my slideshow along with information about science concepts and terms that were used in this project. We worked on this timeline over several days in which we learned many science concepts such mainly focusing on advantageous and disadvantageous mutations. I hope you enjoy this page of my website and explore of exciting topics on this site too.
During this project I worked on a timeline with a central focus on a modern day animal tracing it back to it's earliest days of ancestry. Thomas and I decided to make our timeline about wolves dating back to 7.2 million years ago. We researched the family tree of the modern day grey wolf and found many similarities and differences. Our primary focus of research was on when and where the wolves lived along with how and why they changed into a new species. We found that most early species of wolves were smaller than the modern wolf and lived in Eurasia with an Oceanic climate. The Oceanic climate consists of cool summers and equally cold winters. More modern species of wolves started to become larger and migrated to North America which has a colder climate. This made the wolves develop the larger layer of fur that wolves have today.
On this page below you can find more information about wolves in my slideshow along with information about science concepts and terms that were used in this project. We worked on this timeline over several days in which we learned many science concepts such mainly focusing on advantageous and disadvantageous mutations. I hope you enjoy this page of my website and explore of exciting topics on this site too.
Content
Content
Mutation: The changing of the structure of a gene, resulting in a variant form that may be transmitted to subsequent generations, caused by the alteration of single base units in DNA, or the deletion, insertion, or rearrangement of larger sections of genes or chromosomes.
Mutations push the evolution of a species by causing a change in an animal that can be advantageous or disadvantageous. In wolves the example of this would be when they crossed the Bering land bridge. One wolf had a genetic mutation that allowed them to have a thick fur coat to protect from the cold.
Adaption: Any alteration in the structure or function of an organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in its environment.
Adaptations are positive mutations that make the organism better suited for their environment. An example of an adaptation in the wolf population was the development of longer legs for quicker speed and a stronger jaw for a more powerful bite. Both of these changes are adaptions that made the modern grey wolves better suited for their environment.
Environment: The external surroundings including all of the biotic and abiotic factors that surround and affect the survival and development of an organism or population.
Animals and their environments interact and depend on each every day. Environments determine which traits become advantageous to the species which eventually determines how the animal looks and acts. The environment affected wolves when they migrated to North America which had a colder climate than Western Europe. In result the species developed a thicker fur coat to cope with the colder temperatures.
Natural Selection: The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution.
Natural selection causes evolution by killing off the weak in a population of organisms (survival of the fittest). Natural selection happened in the wolf population with the Canis Dirus and the Canis Lupus. The Dirus dominated Northern North America for thousands of years before the quicker and stronger Canis Lupus came in taking control of the food change eventually killing of the Canis Dirus.
Reproductive Isolation: Situation where different species may live in the same area, but properties of individuals prevent them from interbreeding.
Behavioral Isolation: Important evolutionary mechanism that helps members of the same species identify each other as proper mates.
Temporal Isolation: Animals can't mate because they make because they mate at different times which doesn't allow the two animals to mate (causes genetic variation/new species)
Geographic Isolation: Causes same species to separate due to barriers that could be mountains, canyons, rivers, lakes.
All these types of isolation causes a change in a species or sometimes even a new species to emerge. Isolation happens all over the world in all different environments. This can be seen in wolves when they moved across the Bering land bridge thousands of years ago. Eventually the land bridge disappeared and caused isolation of the same species of wolves. Over time the wolves became unique in their own environment which made them look and act different then their old relatives still in Europe.
Mutation: The changing of the structure of a gene, resulting in a variant form that may be transmitted to subsequent generations, caused by the alteration of single base units in DNA, or the deletion, insertion, or rearrangement of larger sections of genes or chromosomes.
Mutations push the evolution of a species by causing a change in an animal that can be advantageous or disadvantageous. In wolves the example of this would be when they crossed the Bering land bridge. One wolf had a genetic mutation that allowed them to have a thick fur coat to protect from the cold.
Adaption: Any alteration in the structure or function of an organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in its environment.
Adaptations are positive mutations that make the organism better suited for their environment. An example of an adaptation in the wolf population was the development of longer legs for quicker speed and a stronger jaw for a more powerful bite. Both of these changes are adaptions that made the modern grey wolves better suited for their environment.
Environment: The external surroundings including all of the biotic and abiotic factors that surround and affect the survival and development of an organism or population.
Animals and their environments interact and depend on each every day. Environments determine which traits become advantageous to the species which eventually determines how the animal looks and acts. The environment affected wolves when they migrated to North America which had a colder climate than Western Europe. In result the species developed a thicker fur coat to cope with the colder temperatures.
Natural Selection: The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution.
Natural selection causes evolution by killing off the weak in a population of organisms (survival of the fittest). Natural selection happened in the wolf population with the Canis Dirus and the Canis Lupus. The Dirus dominated Northern North America for thousands of years before the quicker and stronger Canis Lupus came in taking control of the food change eventually killing of the Canis Dirus.
Reproductive Isolation: Situation where different species may live in the same area, but properties of individuals prevent them from interbreeding.
Behavioral Isolation: Important evolutionary mechanism that helps members of the same species identify each other as proper mates.
Temporal Isolation: Animals can't mate because they make because they mate at different times which doesn't allow the two animals to mate (causes genetic variation/new species)
Geographic Isolation: Causes same species to separate due to barriers that could be mountains, canyons, rivers, lakes.
All these types of isolation causes a change in a species or sometimes even a new species to emerge. Isolation happens all over the world in all different environments. This can be seen in wolves when they moved across the Bering land bridge thousands of years ago. Eventually the land bridge disappeared and caused isolation of the same species of wolves. Over time the wolves became unique in their own environment which made them look and act different then their old relatives still in Europe.
Reflection
This was a great project that I really enjoyed and also learned a lot from. Two positives that came from this project were my improved knowledge in science concepts that taught me a lot about evolution and my ability to gain more experience in a leadership role. Since the groups were small I was able to take a bigger role in my group which allowed me to gain more experience in a leadership role. This will help me in the future in groups and life in general.
In this project there were also negatives that I can learn from. The two negatives in this project were my groups time management and our presentation. My timeline was good with significant research but it could have been better if my group and I used all of our time wisely. It could have also translated into a better, more prepared presentation that could have included more information and had been more interesting. These negatives need to be improved upon for future projects to better our academic experience. This was a fun project that taught me a lot about school concepts and life tools that can help in the future.
In this project there were also negatives that I can learn from. The two negatives in this project were my groups time management and our presentation. My timeline was good with significant research but it could have been better if my group and I used all of our time wisely. It could have also translated into a better, more prepared presentation that could have included more information and had been more interesting. These negatives need to be improved upon for future projects to better our academic experience. This was a fun project that taught me a lot about school concepts and life tools that can help in the future.