Analyzing evolutionary relationships requires that students have a thorough understanding of evidence and of how scientists use evidence to develop these relationships. In this lesson sequence, students work in groups to process many different lines of evidence of evolutionary relationships between ungulates, then construct a scientific argument for a particular set of relationships as modeled in a cladogram. Visual and verbal scaffolds are used throughout the lessons to address common misconceptions and points of difficulty for students. 

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Kd Davenport; Kirsten Jane Milks; Rebecca Van Tassell (2015), "Using Evolutionary Data in Developing Phylogenetic Trees: A Scaffolded Approach with Authentic Data," https://qubeshub.org/resources/705.

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1. Article
2. data analysis
3. Evolution
4. phylogeny
5. Resources @ QUBES - Teaching & Reference
6. science practices
7. scientific argumentation
8. Tree thinking