This unit plan on vertebrates presented here was prepared by me as a requirement for a course on methods of teaching in secondary schools in the master of arts program  in the Maharishi University of Management. It is organized based on standrads and benchmarks set by Iowa Department of Education. In this page you will find the rationale behind studying the unit on vertebrates and in the respective links you will find standards, bench marks and objectives and outline of the topics, the unit overview chart, and main points.

Rationale

Animals that are living on surface or underneath the earth as well as in the body of water include amphibians, fishes, reptiles, birds and mammals. These are the animals that live as domestic with human beings or as wild animals in the forest. They have different forms of body and structural functions that enabled them adapt to various kinds of habitats. And based on their body structure, function and habitat they are classified in to different families, genera or species. However, all these animals have one thing in common. That is the special bone structure supporting their body and is known as vertebrae or back bone.
 
It is very essential to study these animals because of their economic importance and aesthetic values. They serve as the sources of food (e.g. fish, meat, milk etc.) and as pets, draft animals and provide skin and wool to make clothes and other goods. Most of the scientific investigation in medicine uses some of these animals as specimen. Various drugs are tested on primates before they are recommended to be used by humans.
In addition to this, vertebrates contribute to eco-tourism and attract a large of people either in their natural habitats or in the Zoos. The behavior that is depicted by most of these animals has lead many scientists to investigate the hypothesis that animals have the ability to learn. The interdependence of vertebrates among themselves and with man is an apparent natural phenomenon that should be closely scrutinized. The life of vertebrate animals is highly associated with the life of human beings. Therefore, this topic on vertebrates will enable students to understand the evolutionary relationship of these animals to man and how they behave inoder to survive. All living things including vertebrates are part of the ecosystem where man should pay considerable attention to maintain balance and diversity in the environment. This will help avoid the risk of extinction of certain species and guarantee the survival of the next generation of living things (plants, animals including man).

Finally, in this unit we will be discussing the Darwinian Theory of Evolution and Intelligent Design and to align with the current argument on Evolution versus Creationism in the society, students will be introduced to both theories and are allowed to give their opinions supporting or not supporting one of the theories or stay neutral. (Note: debate may be organized on this issue in the class.)