OVERVIEW
This activity supports the viewing of the short HHMI film The Biology of Skin Color. Students watch the film in segments and use real data to propose hypotheses, make predictions, and justify claims with evidence.
KEY CONCEPTS
• Within a population, heritable traits that provide a survival and reproductive advantage in a particular environment are more likely than other traits to be passed on to the next generation and thus tend to become more common over time. These traits are known as adaptations.
• Human populations living in different parts of the world have different sets of evolutionary adaptations. These include wide-ranging variations in the way people look, especially with respect to skin color.
• Evidence from different disciplines can inform what makes a human trait beneficial or harmful in a particular environment.
• Evolution involves tradeoffs; a change in a gene that results in an adaptation to one aspect of the environment may be linked to a disadvantage with respect to another aspect of that same environment.
STUDENT LEARNING TARGETS
• Make predictions and propose hypotheses based on available information; and
• Use real data presented in scientific figures and information from the film to make evidence-based claims.

INSTRUCTIONS: Download the Student Handout below:

M12_Homework_SkinColor-studentHO-hhmi.pdf

Watch the video in segments, following along the handout and answering the questions.

Post your answers to the questions by number as a reply to this thread.