Despite being a fundamental concept in biology, evolution continues to be one of the most challenging topics to teach in science education. Ideas of evolution emphasising anatomical or behavioural features of individuals, as opposed to the interplay between genetics and the environment, are reinforced through language and culture, making them…

Science is full of amazing facts, but at times it may be difficult to fully appreciate their significance without an understanding of the scientific practices that gave them meaning. The teaching of evolution may be an example of this situation; there are many interesting facts to consider, but it is equally important for students to learn where…

Understanding the nature of science has long been a focus of science education reform efforts, including the Next Generation of Science Standards. Students' views about the process of how scientific knowledge is acquired has been shown to affect their ability to learn scientific concepts. Integrating the nature of science into science lesson plans…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") challenge prevalent beliefs that young children are "not ready" to understand natural selection, introducing core aspects in grades 1, 2, and 3 (NGSS Lead States 2013). The authors' research and teaching team engaged in a multiyear project to understand how early grades…

Although the scientific disciplines conduct practical work in different ways, all consider practical work as the essential way of connecting objects and phenomena with ideas and the abstract. Accordingly, practical work is regarded as central to science "education" as well. We investigate a practical, object-based palaeontology programme…

This paper presents an activity that engages students in model-based reasoning, requiring them to predict the behavior of the trp and lac operons under different environmental conditions. Students are presented six scenarios for the "trp" operon and five for the "lac" operon. In most of the scenarios, specific mutations have…

The impulse to investigate the natural world is deeply rooted in our earliest childhood experiences. This notion has long guided researchers to uncover the cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of scientific reasoning in children. Until recently, however, research in cognitive development and education followed largely independent…

Describes a classroom activity that teaches the mechanism of genetic drift to undergraduates. Illustrates a number of concepts that are critical in developing evolution literacy by sampling M&M milk chocolate candies. (MM)

Presents activities on evolution and describes how to integrate lessons on evolutionary biology. (YDS)

Describes a card game that illustrates natural selection acting on random mutations with or without cumulative selection. (YDS)

Describes a science activity, using a bacterium and a fungus, to illustrate the effects of competition and barriers on geographical distribution. (Author/PEB)

Presents an activity that provides students an opportunity to explore the tempo and mode of evolution by analyzing data and constructing two evolutionary trees, one gradualistic and one punctuated. (ZWH)

Describes a real life example of natural selection that can be used instead of computer simulation to teach evolution to students. (ZWH)

Describes some uses of pocket-size electronic calculators in biology classes; for example, charting exponential population curves, evolution by natural selection, and random genetic drift. (PEB)

This teacher's guide was developed to assist teachers in the use of multimedia resources for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) program, "Evolution." Each unit uses an inquiry-based approach to meet the National Science Education Standards. Units include: (1) "What is the Nature of Science?"; (2) "Who Was Charles Darwin?"; (3) "What is the…