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Know the distinguishing characteristics of the five types of vertebrates (mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles) (20 points)
Understand how to construct a Cladogram classification with minimal instruction (30 points)
Imprint the shape of the representative species from each group as they draw their pictures in the Cladogram (50 points)
Describe their presentation in a language that is relevant to the project in question (100)

Note: A well presented Cladogram will receive 200 points in total where 100 points will be for the Cladogram and drawing of the pictures and 100 points for the description of the relationship as shown by their respective Cladogram. Details of scoring will be based on the rubrics given below (see below)

1.1. Project Title: A Cladogram that shows the evolutionary relationship of vertebrates and the explanation given to support the relationship.

1.2. Question. Draw a Cladogram that shows the evolutionary relationship of vertebrates animals that we learnt in the class and give explanation in 300 words regarding the relationship with each other in terms of homologous structures or other evidence.

Note: An accurate and clear presentation of the description of the Cladogram will receive a total point of 100 based on the rubric scoring (see below)

1.4. Purpose: This project is aimed to make students familiar with the relationship of vertebrate animals as they exist today. It is indicated that the present animals were having a common ancestor in the distant past. This project will enable them to acquire a clear understanding on the theory of evolution as evidenced from the fossil records and class discussions. Students will be able to collect and organize information through reading books, journals and online sources and make their project attractive to an audience (teacher, parents, visitors etc).

1.5. Instruction to students

1. This is a project to be done in groups of 5 and we will have 6 groups

2. The group is formed randomly

3. Each student is expected to contribute to the work and finally fill an evaluation form to justify his or her contribution.

4. The Cladogram should be neat and clearly drawn

5. The closeness of the relationship to each other and their divergence from the common ancestor is shown by their location on the Cladogram.

6. The Cladogram must be drawn on a drawing paper and fixed on a piece of card board of size 30 inch width and 45 inch length. The Cladogram will occupy the 30 by 30 space and the description or explanation of the relationships is glued just below the Cladogram in the remaining space. Details of about 300 words is expected to explain the evolutionary relationship of the vertebrates shown in the Cladogram

7. Each pattern or line should have a starting and an ending point. That is, lined fragments with out source and destination are unacceptable.

8. Draw a picture of a representative animal at the end of each branch and use relevant colors for each animal is mandatory.

9. Labeling representative animals with accurate scientific name (spelling) is very important.

10. Unlabeled pictures are considered nil.

11. Including all the required information following the instruction is very important to get higher grades. If you have included new concepts from other sources please include references at the end.

12. You are given two weeks to complete the project and the final date of submission is May 8, 2006. A Project not submitted on the indicated date will loose 2 points each day.

13. Your Cladogram should at list include typical representative species given below. Give at least one scientific name for each animal including man.

Human, Mouse, Turtle, Frog, Monkey, Kangaroo, Fish

1.6. Rubric for the cladogram evaluation

Criteria	1	2	3	4
Neatness	Not neat and un necessary markings present all over	Looks clean but with some spots here and there	Clean and tidy. There is little to be done	Neat in every aspect and attractive to an observer
Knowledge	Many information showing sequence of relationship is missing	The sequence is misplaced and lacking in some branches	Sequence is accurate except for one or 2 groups	Sequence is clearly displayed with out fault
Organization	Not well organized looks awkward. Fragmented lines prominent	Some of the lines are left undefined does not indicate the destination	Lines are perfect but the order slightly shifted	Lines are well constructed to show the desired source and destination
Research	Did not use other source of information to refine the work and no scientific names were used	Scientific names are used but not for all animals and little extra information is included	Most of the representative animals (≥ 4) were named scientifically	All animal representatives are accurately labeled with scientific name and shows extra effort
Creativity	The diagrams are awkward without definite shape and colors are irrelevant	The diagrams show the animals but with less clarity and colors missing	The diagrams are clear and can be distinguished easily and color mostly relevant	The diagrams are well drawn and are appealing to an observer with the right coloring of the animals

1.7. Points assigned for each criterion on the cladogram presentation and the pictures

Criteria	Points
Neatness	15
Knowledge	15
Organization	50
Research	10
Creativity	10
Total	100

1.8. Rubric for scoring the description of the Cladogram

Categories	1	2	3	4
Description of the relationship	Descriptions that were given were seriously incomplete or not sequential.	Descriptions were lacking information and some gaps are to be filled to make it complete.	Descriptions were given and can be understood with minimum effort	Descriptions were outlined in a step-by-step fashion that could be clearly understood by any observer
Knowledge	Ideas presented are ambiguous with less relevance to the subject	Ideas presented lack clarity but touch points from the teaching	Ideas presented are meaningful and in line with what is thought in the class	Ideas presented clearly manifest understanding of the subject thought
Summary	No conclusion was apparent OR important details were overlooked.	Student provided a conclusion with some reference in the description	Student provided a somewhat detailed conclusion clearly based on the description and diagram	Student provided a detailed conclusion clearly based on the description and extra notes from references
Spelling	Fewer than 80% of the words are spelled correctly in the title, labels, and description.	75% of the words are spelled correctly in the title, labels, and description.	All common words are spelled correctly in the title, labels and description. 1-2 scientific words may be misspelled	All words are spelled correctly in the title, labels and caption/description.
Attitude	Do no seem to be interested in the work	Attempted and seem to show interest in the work	The effort indicates interest in the work	Clear indication of interest in the work is depicted

1.9. Scores on the description and on final grading of the project

Criteria	Points	Final point intervals	Grading
Description	20	190-200	A+
Knowledge	15	180-189	A
Summary	50	170-179	B+
spelling	10	160-169	B
attitude	10	150-159	C+
Total	100	140-149	C
		130-139	D