@thenovalabs NOVA Labs

One Guest StreetBoston, MA 02135

Tel 617 300 4340Fax 617 300 1003pbs.org/nova/labs

Funding for NOVA is provided bythe Corporation for Public Broadcastingand public television viewers.

Produced for PBS bythe WGBH Science Unit

Having technical issues? Contact us at novalabs@wgbh.org

Support for the Evolution Lab provided by the Biogen Foundation. NOVA is produced for PBS by WGBH in Boston.@2015 WGBH Educational Foundation.

EVOLUTION LAB SUPPORT GUIDE

Homepage

• The “Evolution 101” introduction video launches from the bottom left.

• Access Build A Tree by clicking the “Play” buttons associated with the missions on the bottom right.

• The fractal tree in the top half of the screen increases in complexity as students complete levels in Build A Tree.

The Evolution Lab uses a phylogeny game (Build A Tree) and an interactive tree of life (Deep Tree) to help students explore the relationships between species and the history of life on Earth. Below are the tech requirements for using the Evolution Lab in the classroom:

• Desktop or laptop: Chrome 39 & higher, Firefox 34 & higher, Safari 6.1 & higher, Internet Explorer 10 & higher• Tablets: iPad Air iOS 8 & higher, iPad 4th generation iOS 7 & higher• Students should login using either Google, Facebook, or PBS login. They can create a PBS login with an email

address and password.

Mission Screen

• Each mission contains an introductory video and three levels of Build A Tree.

• Completion of each mission is tracked by the number of leaves in the header. Each level is worth two leaves: one for completing the phylogenetic tree puzzle and the second for correctly answering the post-puzzle question.

This icon opens up Deep Tree where students can explore over 70,000 species in an interactive tree of life.

This icon opens up the fractal tree toolbar. Complete Build A Tree missions to increase its complexity.

This icon allows you to share the Evolution Lab on Facebook and Twitter.

@thenovalabs NOVA Labs

One Guest StreetBoston, MA 02135

Tel 617 300 4340Fax 617 300 1003pbs.org/nova/labs

Funding for NOVA is provided bythe Corporation for Public Broadcastingand public television viewers.

Produced for PBS bythe WGBH Science Unit

Having technical issues? Contact us at novalabs@wgbh.org

Support for the Evolution Lab provided by the Biogen Foundation. NOVA is produced for PBS by WGBH in Boston.@2015 WGBH Educational Foundation.

EVOLUTION LAB SUPPORT GUIDE

Build A Tree Level

• Play Build A Tree by dragging species and traits onto the playing field to build a phylogenetic tree.

• Species are placed at the top of the tree while traits are placed on the branches.

• The dots above each species indicate the number of traits possessed by the species. The puzzle is complete once each species is placed in the phylogenetic tree with the correct type and number of traits.

The Evolution Lab uses a phylogeny game (Build A Tree) and an interactive tree of life (Deep Tree) to help students explore the relationships between species and the history of life on Earth.

Magnifying Glass

• Click on the magnifying glass or click on a species to access information about the species.

• Click the icon tab of each species for information about the species.

• The last tab allows you to compare all the species in each puzzle.

DNA Puzzles

• Some puzzles in Build A Tree require the analysis of DNA sequences in order to find the relationships between the species.

• Use the magnifying glass to display the DNA sequences. Identify the differences in the sequences to build the phylogenetic tree.

@thenovalabs NOVA Labs

One Guest StreetBoston, MA 02135

Tel 617 300 4340Fax 617 300 1003pbs.org/nova/labs

Funding for NOVA is provided bythe Corporation for Public Broadcastingand public television viewers.

Produced for PBS bythe WGBH Science Unit

Having technical issues? Contact us at novalabs@wgbh.org

Support for the Evolution Lab provided by the Biogen Foundation. NOVA is produced for PBS by WGBH in Boston.@2015 WGBH Educational Foundation.

EVOLUTION LAB SUPPORT GUIDE

Deep Tree

• Deep Tree lets you explore over 70,000 species in the tree of life.

• Click on the “i” icon on the bottom left to see instructions for using Deep Tree.

• Type in the name of an organism or search through the species gallery on the bottom right.

• Once you select a species, Deep Tree will zoom in to that species. You can increase the speed of the zoom with the onscreen icons.

The Evolution Lab uses a phylogeny game (Build A Tree) and an interactive tree of life (Deep Tree) to help students explore the relationships between species and the history of life on Earth.

Relate Function

• Click on the “Relate” button in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to activate the Relate function.

• Enter 2 different organisms or drag 2 different species from the species gallery into the search bars to trace their shared ancestry.

• Click on the glowing DNA icon to see the shared ancestry and traits of the two species.

Fractal Tree

• As you complete levels in Build A Tree and gain more leaves, the fractal tree on the homepage will become more dynamic.

• Use the toolbar to increase the angle, complexity, size, thickness, and color of the fractal tree. The more leaves you collect, the more options you have to edit your tree.