Evolution and Adaptation, KS2

Suitable for Years 4-6, March to November

Key Concepts

Similarities and differences between living things, adaptation, heredity, evolution.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify many ways trees and plants are adapted to suit their environment.
• Understand that plants pass on genetic information from one generation to the next.
• Explain how adaptation can lead to evolution.
• Ask questions about the adaptations of trees based on observations of the real world.

Activities

Changing over time - an introduction and discussion.

Plant timeline - exploring the timeline of plant evolution, discovering the featured species in our tree collection.

Sock swap - an interactive game that uses patterned, coloured socks to represent the coded genetic information passed from one generation of trees to the next.

Adaptation metaphors - an activity that explores how plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways.

Key feature queries - observing and identifying key features of specific tree species and asking questions about their adaptations for research back at school.

National Curriculum Link

Sc6/2.3 Evolution