Comparing Primates in relation to humans PDF

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this is comparing primates to humans studying the similarities and differences between them...

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Name ____________________________________________ Comparing Primates.2014

Date ______________

Activity: Comparing Primates - From Gorillas to Humans

Goal: To identify the changes that occurred among primates, from gorillas to humans.

Background Information: About 6 million years ago, the primates known as hominoids which include gorillas and chimpanzees gave rise to a small group of species now considered to be the closest relatives to humans. This small group of species is called hominids. Hominids, which include humans and closely related primates, are members of the human family known as Hominidae. Although these early hominids were not yet humans, they did take evolutionary paths that distinguish them from other hominoids. During their evolution, many changes have occurred to the basic skeleton of these hominids. In this activity, you will identify some changes that have occurred among early hominoids and the hominids of today.

Materials: metric ruler, drawings of hominid jaws and fingers, calculators, drawings of different jaws, drawings of different fingers

Procedure: 1. What I Know: Write two sentences describing what you already know about how humans have changed over time. (You can use your experience with the activity Digging for Differences and your observations of the hominid skulls as examples.)

2. Observations: A. Jaw Index: Using the drawings of the hominid jaws to make measurements of the jaw index. 1. Measure the width of the jaw by measuring the length of the line between the back molars. Your measurements will be in centimeters (cm). 2. Measure the length of the jaw by measuring the line from the back of the mouth to the front teeth. Record these measurements for the human, Austalopithecus, and the gorilla on the data table. 3. To measure the jaw index, multiply the jaw width by 100 and then dividing by the length of the jaw. This is the jaw index. Find the jaw index for each of the hominoids on the data table. Jaw Index = Jaw Width X 100 Jaw Length Data Table: Hominoids Human

Width of Jaw (cm)

Length of Jaw(cm)

Jaw Index

Australopithecus Gorilla

B. Thumb Index: Using the drawings of the hominid fingers to make measurements of the thumb index. 1. Measure the length of the thumb and the length of the index finger. Record these measurements on your data table for each of the hominids. 2. To measure the thumb index, multiply the thumb length by 100. Divide by the index finger length. Record the thumb index for each of the hominoids on the data table. Thumb Index = Thumb Length X 100 Index Finger Length Data Table: Hominoids Human Australopithecus Gorilla

Length of Thumb (cm)

Length of Index Finger (cm)

Thumb Index

3. Questions: Answer the following questions in complete statements. a. What trend did you observe regarding the thumb index for humans, Australopithecus, and gorilla? (Hint: Did the thumb index increase or decrease as hominoids become more advanced?)

b. What trend did you observe regarding the jaw index for humans, Australopithecus, and gorilla? (Hint: Did the jaw index increase or decrease as hominoids became more advanced?)

c. Do you think Australopithecus was a hominid with characteristics somewhere in between those of gorillas and humans? Give evidence from your data to support your answer.

d. Why is it an advantage for a human to have a longer thumb in relation to the index finger?

e. Based on your observations, how did the jaw change over time?

f. Based on your observations, how did the thumb change over time?

4. What I Wonder: Pose a “why” or “how” question about what you may still want to know or wonder about this topic.

5. Claim and Evidence Writing Prompts: Use the following prompts to help you construct your lab conclusion, What I Learned. 

Goal: State the goal of this lesson. The goal of this lesson is…

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Claim: What did you learn from the activity that satisfies the goal of this lesson? This is an I Learned statement. I learned that…

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Evidence: How can you prove from your observations that you learned what you claim? This can be a general statement that you will explain in detail in your explanation. I know this because….

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Explanation: Use specific data from your observations to support your claim and describe the evidence. Use details to support your claim.

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Concluding Statement: Reword the goal and either add information you learned about the topic from your text book, class discussions, and/ or personal research OR you can extend the statement by adding a relevant question.

6. What I Learned: Write at least a one paragraph summary of what you learned from completing this activity. Use the Claims and Evidence Writing Prompts to help you compose your summary....