Our DP1 Biology students have been busy learning about diversity of organisms, discussing biodiversity, evolution and ancestry of species. So, off they went for the day to the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden to learn more!
Students worked in groups to determine ancestry and to create an evolutionary tree, using fossils of ancestral horse species and elephant species from the past.
Students also used skulls to try to discover the humanoid evolution and discovered that things aren’t as straightforward as they seem! How do we know when the human species started to speak, for example? We have clues, but in the end, a lot of it is still the interpretation of scientists. So what if there is controversy within the evolutionary scientists themselves, regarding the question of whether all ancestral species were actually different species or not? Interesting food for thought!
