Competences

• a)Interpret key evolutionary events in Earth’s history and assess their significance in shaping modern biodiversity;
• b)Critically review biochemical and genetic evidence to determine the evolutionary relatedness between organisms;
• c)Synthesize evolutionary theory with modern genetic research to explain the adaptation of species to changing environments;
• d)Engage with scientific literature on how the evolution of life on earth is derived from a common ancestor;
• e)Review the connection between fossil record and lineages;
• f)Use theoretical models and real-world examples to explain the diversity of life, the process of natural selection and evolutionary mechanisms;
• g)Produce teaching materials and assessment tasks that engage students in evolutionary theory, natural selection, and speciation;
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Knowledge

• a)Summarise the theory of evolution by natural selection in relation to its role in shaping biodiversity over time;
• b)Describe the evidence supporting evolutionary theory, including fossil records and observed evolutionary processes in nature;
• c)Describe key mechanisms of evolutionary change (mutation, migration, drift, extinction, selection);
• d)Illustrate that the present-day complex species developed from earlier, distinctly different simpler species;
• e)Consolidate understanding of cladistics, systematics, molecular evolution, and phylogeny;
• f)Model sexual selection, kin selection, speciation mechanisms, adaptive radiation and rates of evolution to illustrate evolutionary processes;
• g)Differentiate between assessments used to gauge understanding of phylogenetics, fossil evidence, and evolutionary mechanisms.
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Skills

• a)Investigate the evolution of life on earth from a common ancestor that first appeared billions of years ago;
• b)Apply evolutionary principles to real-world biological scenarios to evaluate the biological significance of evolution;
• c)Construct phylogenetic trees using morphological and molecular data to infer evolutionary relationships;
• d)Examine the evolutionary relationships of major plant and animal groups;
• e)Interpret links between evolution and genetic mutations and recombination of genes during meiosis;
• f)Critically analyse the significance of variation that exists in all species;
• g)Design resources and assessment strategies that develop student reasoning around adaptation, genetic change, and evolutionary history.
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