Investigating the Origin of Our Species: from Africa to Aotearoa
The story of how modern humans spread across the globe, and what happened when they met their Neanderthal cousins, is the focus of a new Allan Wilson Centre PowerPoint presentation for biology teachers and students.
The presentation shows how new genomics research is refining our ideas about human evolution and enabling researchers to trace the footprints of our ancestors as they spread from Africa through Europe, Asia, the Pacific and finally to New Zealand.
Students will learn how researchers are using genomics to address questions such as: How many migrations out of Africa were there? Did Homo sapiens interbreed with Neanderthals and other ancient human lineages as they spread across Europe and Asia? What does “race” really mean?
Developed by AWC researcher and science writer Dr Hilary Miller, with advice and direction from Dr Azra Moeed, Terry Burrell and Barbara Mavor, the PowerPoint is aimed at senior biology students (Years 12 and 13), and fits with the Nature of Science and Living World strands of the curriculum.
The PowerPoint and accompanying notes for teachers are available for download from the Allan Wilson Centre website www.allanwilsoncentre.ac.nz, under the “Teachers and Students” tab.
