Offers a commentary on five contributions to recent developments in the study of cognitive development that have been selected for this special issue. The relevance of each author's paper to issues that are central to cognitivists today and post-Piagetian developmental psychologists is discussed, and the overall need of evolutionary models to…

Presents a series of simple and inexpensive hands-on activities with a host of extension lesson ideas that can be used to actively introduce students to the scientific theory of evolution. Lessons are designed to thwart common student difficulties. Classes are structured around a predator-prey simulation game that creates a springboard for…

Argues children are bearers of the story of the universe, on a mission to celebrate existence in the community of the universe. Finds in Montessori's philosophy the articulation of education as central in the telling of the story, and for the child to find the universal center of himself or herself with all things. (Author/SD)

Brings religion and natural science into a new whole, as the basis of religious trust and faith. Characterizes religion as mediating between nature and the individual, and provides examples from the major religious traditions. Explains the challenge of knowing the universe by linking the inner self with the natural world. (Author/SD)

Describes the nature and existence of both model-data fit and conceptual problems in science, then examines two curricular projects--one in genetics and one in evolutionary biology--that attempt to integrate these problems into classroom instruction. (Author/SAH)

Presents a lab exercise that introduces students to the concepts of community structure, succession, and adaptation by having them make detailed observations from two or more stone walls differing in some historical, environmental, or physical variable. (ASK)

Discusses the National Academy of Science's recommendations on teaching evolution and the nature of science. Describes a biology college course that uses evolution and history of life as the curriculum framework with an extensive unit on the history and philosophy of science. (Contains 14 references.) (ASK)

Describes the approaches of both creationism and evolution. Recommends that biologists take their case to the public. Includes a National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Position Statement on the issue. First published in 1981. (YDS)

Describes evolutionary developmental psychology as the study of the genetic and ecological mechanisms that govern the development of social and cognitive competencies common to all human beings and the epigenetic (gene-environment interactions) processes that adapt these competencies to local conditions. Outlines basic assumptions and domains of…

Describes a new hypothesis regarding the origin of bulungamayine kangaroos. Suggests that this group of Oglio-Miocene kangaroos independently evolved adaptations for herbivory and are likely to be ancestral to modern and recently extinct plant-eating kangaroos. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/WRM)

Describes the use of a creationist-derived lesson plan in a nonmajor zoology class to demonstrate students' grasp of scientific concepts and principles. (WRM)

Investigates students' scientific views of evolution for both science majors and non-science majors by considering their background, including gender, age, major, academic standing, and hometown. (YDS)

Reports on a meeting in China in 1999 that focused on the origins of animal body plans and their fossil records. Discusses the theoretical implications of fossils that preserve internal as well as external structures. (DDR)

A bioinformatics laboratory exercise based on inherited human morphological traits is presented. It teaches how morphological characters can be used to study the evolutionary history of humans using parsimony. The exercise can easily be used in a pen-and-paper laboratory, but if computers are available, a more versatile analysis can be carried…

Life as people know it here on Earth exchanges energy and materials with the environment. Life forms grow, develop, produce waste products, and reproduce, storing genetic information in DNA and RNA and passing it from one generation to the next. Life evolves, adapting to changes in the environment and changing the environment in return. The basic…