The AP Biology classes, accompanied by their teachers Rabbi Lubner and Dr. Fruchter, visited the Hall of Human Origins and Giants of the Deep Whale exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday, October 15th. The purpose of the trip was to observe anatomical differences between related organisms. Students were able to study the differences between ancient and modern whales by comparing their ankle bones, forelimbs, and heads among other parameters. This morphological evidence coupled with biochemical evidence (a protein) they used in a computer lab using ClustalX and Phylowin gave them a much richer understanding of how we study groups of organisms to see their evolutionary relationships. Student understanding of human origins was enhanced by comparing skeletons of related primates: chimpanzee, modern human, and Neanderthal; DNA evidence; and then by studying "Our Family Tree": Hominids.
The students ate lunch at the museum when they arrived and prayed mincha before they left. They had a wonderful time and their exemplary behavior brought credit to the Yeshivah.
