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Achievement objective LW 8-2

Students will:

  • explore the evolutionary processes that have resulted in the diversity of life on Earth and appreciate the place and impact of humans within these processes.


  • Explains evolutionary changes in terms of natural selection and genetic drift.
  • Recognises and identifies a range of reproductive isolating mechanisms.
  • Contrasts modes of speciation in terms of when and how reproductive isolation is achieved.
  • Uses evidence such as fossils, molecular biology, or biogeography to explain patterns of speciation.
  • Recognises the particular significance of genetic drift in small populations.
  • Describes trends in human biological and cultural evolution.
  • Compares structural features (skull, hands and skeleton) of modern apes and humans to explore their divergence.
  • Relates evolutionary trends in hominins to the adaptive advantage provided.
  • Critically examines current scientific evidence for human evolution and dispersal.

Possible context elaborations

  • A local conservation reserve or interpretive centre such as Zealandia.
  • Did divarication evolve in New Zealand shrubs in response to moa browsing?
  • Is the black robin species doomed due to the bottleneck effect?
  • Was New Zealand completely inundated during the Oligocene? What’s the evidence?
  • What’s the best conservation strategy to save the kakapo?
  • Why do zoos maintain studbooks?
  • How did New Zealand breeders develop the Perrindale sheep?
  • Translocation of endangered species as a conservation strategy: evaluate, using historical data of a New Zealand animal (for example, saddleback).
  • Do we have right to produce animals such as the shoat and the liger?
  • When did our ancestors really become bipedal?
  • Live for a week with your thumb taped to your palm. What’s the significance of the opposable thumb?
  • How did the discovery of floresiensis contribute to current theories about human dispersal patterns?
  • Peopling of the Pacific (using biogeographical evidence).
  • What is Darwinian medicine?
  • Is race an obsolete concept?
  • What is the importance of Australian birds self-introduced into New Zealand?
  • Are biosecurity checks necessary at New Zealand borders?
  • Are domestic cats/dogs actually different from their wild relatives?
  • What happens to hybrids in conservation programmes?

Assessment for qualifications



Learn more:


  • 91601 Biology 3.1 Carry out a practical investigation in a biological context, with guidance; Internal, 4 credits
  • 91602 Biology 3.2 Integrate biological knowledge to develop an informed response to a socio-scientific issue; Internal, 3 credits
  • 91603 Biology 3.3 Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment; External, 5 credits
  • 91604 Biology 3.4 Demonstrate understanding of how an animal maintains a stable internal environment; Internal, 3 credits
  • 91605 Biology 3.5 Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation; External, 4 credits
  • 91606 Biology 3.6 Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution; External, 4 credits
  • 91607 Biology 3.7 Demonstrate understanding of human manipulations of genetic transfer and its biological implications; Internal, 3 credits

Last updated September 15, 2020