This document outlines an assignment for an animal diversity project. Students will work in groups of 2-3 and present on an assigned animal taxon, such as a phylum of invertebrates or group of vertebrates. The 9-11 minute presentation must include information on taxonomy, evolution, characteristics, representative organisms, and human interactions. A 1-2 page handout is due beforehand. Students must submit an outline and vocabulary list in advance and bibliography with sources. The project aims to teach classmates about animal diversity.

1. Animal DIVERSITY project
DUE Week of 29 March (Friday March 26 for 10-5 and 10-2)
With one or two partners, create a presentation to teach the class about a group of animals (or
plants). Most groups will present one phylum, but some have several phyla and a few have
sub-groups of one phylum (the Chordates)
6 GROUPS (2-3 students)
Pick from these animal taxa:
1. Invertebrates 1: Sponges & Cnidarians (jellyfish)
2. Invertebrates 2: Worms (platyhelminthes & annelida)
3. Invertebrates 3: Mollusca (octopus, snails, mussels)
4. Invertebrates 4: Arthropoda (insects, spiders)
5. Invertebrates 5: Echinodermata (sea stars)
6. Vertebrates 1: Fish (bony and cartilaginous)
7. Vertebrates 2: Amphibians
8. Vertebrates 3: Reptiles (but not birds)
9. Vertebrates 4: Birds
Image from: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/phyla/phyla.html 10. Vertebrates 5: Mammals
Assignment
9-10 minute presentation & 1-2 page handout
You will lose points for less than 9 or more than 11 minutes. Hard cut off at 12 minutes.)
PowerPoint optional; must have an audio-visual component of some sort. (PowerPoint, skit,
music video, video, poster, web page, etc.)
If you have electronic media (PowerPoint, video, web page, etc), it must be emailed or
brought into me on CD/thumb drive no later than 8 pm the day before your presentation.
You must include visual representation (pictures, models, stuffed animals, etc.) of at least 6
representative organisms
I encourage you to have some portion of your presentation be interactive with the audience.
Handout is 1-2 pages with a summary of this information, including at least 10 vocabulary
words…a picture or two wouldn’t hurt. This is due in electronic format by 8 pm the day
before your presentation. Your classmates will use the handouts to study for the test after
spring break, so make them useful!
Presentation outline and draft of your vocabulary list: due one work prior (March, 23, 24
for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday sections, and Tuesday March 23 for Monday / Friday
sections).
All group members are responsible for all information in your presentation – I may ask
questions of any of you, whether that was “your” component or not.
Bibliography – All sources listed in MLA format, including a sentence or two about what
specific types of information you pulled from each source. If you do a powerpoint or
webpage, specific references for each information point (like in the Famous Fraud
assignment) are required.

2. Information requirements
What is the meaning of the scientific name for this clade(s)?
Does this group have symmetry? If so, what kind?
How does this phylum fit into the evolutionary tree (cladogram)? Which other group
(from your list) is most closely related? How long ago did humans share a common ancestor
with this group?
Explain derived characteristics that are unique to that clade. What distinguishes these
organisms from other groups?
Explain at least 3 of these about your group:
How do they reproduce?
What is their life cycle? (eggs, larvae, juvenile, adult, etc)
How do they obtain food? How is it digested?
How are gases, food/wastes exchanged with the environment (respiration/circulation)?
How do they avoid predation/disease?
How do they move (if they move)?
How does the organism maintain control (nervous system)?
Describe at least 3 representative organisms (with both Latin and common names),
including habitat, range, what they eat, locomotion, ecological role/niche, and life cycle
changes.
If you have multiple phyla/groups, include at least 1 representative from each. If you
have a phylum, try to look at different classes. If you have a class, look at different
orders.
What are human uses/interactions with organisms in this group? (We eat them, they make us
sick, etc.)
FUN FACT – include a fun trivia question about your group.
GRADING
Draft/Outline (due one week early): 5 points
Presentation: 30 points
Information Content (20 points)
Effectiveness of Presentation (10 points)
Handout: 15 points
Information content (12 points)
Presentation / Layout (3 points)
Group Participation: 5 points
Total: 55 points
Another Powerpoint on Plant Diversity – a good one
http://www.slideshare.net/walajtys/biology-chapter-22-plant-diversity
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/phylogeny.html UC Berkeley Museum of
Paleontology – very helpful starting point
http://tolweb.org/Animals/2374 Animal section of the Tree of Life web project.
Phylum Chordata: http://science.nhmccd.edu/BioL/animal.html#chordata
Online Textbook http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookTOC.html
Encylopedia of Life www.eol.org

3. Biodiversity Unit Reading
Biodiversity (~11 pages)
25.3 History of Life (p514 – 519)
26.1 Phylogeny (p536 – 540)
26.3 Cladistics and Shared ancestral and Shared Derived Characteristics only (p542-543)
Plant diversity (~10 pages)
Non-seed plants (Moses & Ferns)
p 601, 604 (Adaptations enabling the move to land)
p602 Alternation of Generations (Figures 29.5, 29.7)
29.2 Mosses (606-607, 609)
29.3 Ferns (p610 – 612, 615)
QUIZ next week on Biodiversity and Seedless Plants (15 points)
The reading below will be on the test after spring break and will be helpful for your projects.
Seed Plants (Angiosperms & Gymnosperms) (~7 pages)
Ch 30 Overview p618
30.1 (618-620)
30.2 (621, 625)
30.3 (625-626 only)
Animal Diversity (~6 pages)
32.1 Animals are multicellular, heterotrophic eukaryotes…(Pg 654-655)
32.2 History of animals…(Pg 656 – 658)
32.3 Body Plans (p 658 – 659, focus on symmetry)
Invertebrate (~4 pages)
Ch 33 Overview: Life Without a Backbone (p 666 – 669), including Figure 33.3 and p696
Vertebrates (~3 pages)
Ch 34 Overview: Half a Billion Years of Backbones
34.3 Vertebrates p704-705, 734
Suggested reading by group
Sponges & Cniderias: p 670 – 673 (33.1 & 33.2)
Worms: 33.3 (p 674 – 676), (p680- 682), 33.4(p683 on nematodes)
Molluscs: p677-680
Arthropods: 33.4 (p684-692)
Echinoderms: 33.5 (p693-695)
All Vertebrate groups: 34.4 intro (p705-706)
Fishes: Chondrichthyans & Fishes (p706-710)
Amphibians, Birds, Reptiles, Mammals: 34.5 (p710-711)
Amphibians: (711-713)
Birds, Reptiles, Mammals: 34.6 (p713-715)
Reptiles (715-718)
Birds (718 – 720)
Mammals: p513, 34.7 (720-728)