Hardware Cladogram
For this project, we used items such as screws, nails, and washers to represent how evolution works. We picked a piece of hardware that represented the "common ancestor" and made a cladogram showing how this species evolved to form all the other types of hardware we had been given. After we made this cladogram, we had to classify all of our species. This involved listing the domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species of each piece of hardware. Each species name had to be unique and at least seem like it was an actual Latin species name. After we did this, we wrote a story justifying and explaining why the organisms evolved the way they did. The story, a full list of our taxonomy, and a picture of the cladogram are at the bottom of the page.
Content
Evolution: The process by which species develop and diversify
Natural Selection: The process where organisms that are better suited to their environment survive to reproduce
Artificial Selection: When humans influence breeding to develop desired traits
Adaptation: A trait change that helps an organism survive
Species: A group of organisms with similar characteristics that can interbreed and create fertile offspring
Sympatric Speciation: Species evolve from one ancestral species and coexist in the same geographic region
Allopatric Speciation: Species become isolated from each other and develop different traits
Reproductive Isolation: Two organisms live close enough to interact, but can't breed
Behavioral Isolation: A type of reproductive isolation where species don't mate because of different courting rituals
Temporal Isolation: A type of reproductive isolation where species don't mate because they breed at different times of day or have different mating seasons
Geographic Isolation: Members of a species become separated geographically and develop into two different species
Cladogram: A branching diagram showing how closely related organisms are by the amount of traits they have in common
Taxonomy: The branch of science concerned with classification
Evolution: The process by which species develop and diversify
Natural Selection: The process where organisms that are better suited to their environment survive to reproduce
Artificial Selection: When humans influence breeding to develop desired traits
Adaptation: A trait change that helps an organism survive
Species: A group of organisms with similar characteristics that can interbreed and create fertile offspring
Sympatric Speciation: Species evolve from one ancestral species and coexist in the same geographic region
Allopatric Speciation: Species become isolated from each other and develop different traits
Reproductive Isolation: Two organisms live close enough to interact, but can't breed
Behavioral Isolation: A type of reproductive isolation where species don't mate because of different courting rituals
Temporal Isolation: A type of reproductive isolation where species don't mate because they breed at different times of day or have different mating seasons
Geographic Isolation: Members of a species become separated geographically and develop into two different species
Cladogram: A branching diagram showing how closely related organisms are by the amount of traits they have in common
Taxonomy: The branch of science concerned with classification
Reflection
There were several things that went well during this project. First, we made our way through the first few stages of the project very quickly. We were done with our cladogram poster and our classifications before the suggested date to begin the next part of the project, which gave us time to work out exactly how we wanted our justification to be. This resulted in us having a story that incorporated many of the different types of speciation and showed many different reasons for adaptation. Another thing that went very well was the classification itself. We had a lot of fun grouping the pieces of hardware into different taxonomy groups and coming up with Latin-sounding species names using Google translate or adding Latin roots to normal words. This resulted in good group chemistry and an enjoyable project.
There were also some things that didn't go as well. One of them was our initial understanding of the project. We didn't know we could group similar-looking pieces of hardware into a "species", so we made each of the individual pieces its own species. This resulted in a very confusing cladogram and made classifying each and every species a daunting task. After the first day of the project, we made a new poster with hardware pieces grouped to form species, and that made classification much easier. Another thing that didn't go as well as it could have was our presentation. It went smoothly and included everything it needed to, but it seemed like the audience was bored. This is probably because we just had a picture of our cladogram up on the projector and were reading our story from our phones. Next time, we will make a video or something to go along with a project like this so it's less boring.
One thing I learned from this project was what classification and taxonomy are and how the relationships between different species can be represented on a cladogram.
There were several things that went well during this project. First, we made our way through the first few stages of the project very quickly. We were done with our cladogram poster and our classifications before the suggested date to begin the next part of the project, which gave us time to work out exactly how we wanted our justification to be. This resulted in us having a story that incorporated many of the different types of speciation and showed many different reasons for adaptation. Another thing that went very well was the classification itself. We had a lot of fun grouping the pieces of hardware into different taxonomy groups and coming up with Latin-sounding species names using Google translate or adding Latin roots to normal words. This resulted in good group chemistry and an enjoyable project.
There were also some things that didn't go as well. One of them was our initial understanding of the project. We didn't know we could group similar-looking pieces of hardware into a "species", so we made each of the individual pieces its own species. This resulted in a very confusing cladogram and made classifying each and every species a daunting task. After the first day of the project, we made a new poster with hardware pieces grouped to form species, and that made classification much easier. Another thing that didn't go as well as it could have was our presentation. It went smoothly and included everything it needed to, but it seemed like the audience was bored. This is probably because we just had a picture of our cladogram up on the projector and were reading our story from our phones. Next time, we will make a video or something to go along with a project like this so it's less boring.
One thing I learned from this project was what classification and taxonomy are and how the relationships between different species can be represented on a cladogram.
Below are our justification and taxonomy and a photo of our cladogram poster.