Most middle school students comprehend that organisms have adaptations that enable their survival and that successful adaptations prevail in a population over time. Yet they often miss that those bird beaks, moth-wing colors, or whatever traits are the result of random, normal genetic variations that just happen to confer a negative, neutral, or…

Population genetics is fundamental to understanding evolutionary theory, and is taught in most introductory biology/evolution courses. Many students are unaware that understanding this topic requires pertinent knowledge of mathematics and consequently struggle with the subject. As a response to this problem, a virtual tool (Pop!World) was…

When a federal court in 2005 rejected an attempt by the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board to introduce intelligent design as an alternative to evolution to explain the development of life on Earth, it sparked a renaissance in involvement among scientists in K-12 science instruction. Now, some of those teaching programs, studies, and research…

This paper describes a simple, rapid and low-cost technique for growing bacteria (or other microbes) in an environmental gradient, in order to determine the tolerance of the microbial population to varying concentrations of sodium chloride ions, and suggests how the evolutionary response of a microbial population to the selection pressure of the…

Determined coverage given to 44 topics related to the study of evolution in 105 high school biology textbooks published between 1900 and 1983. Considers trends in popular and Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) textbooks, coverage of evolution in first editions, coverage of creationism, chapter titles and placement, and other areas. (JN)

Discussed is the question: "If science curricula reflect actions of pressure groups to include or delete certain content, is science a part of a basic, liberal education?" (PB)

Ninety-three secondary school biology textbooks, identified in the appendix bibliography, were analyzed to determine the extent of emphasis of 44 topics concerned with the study of evolution. (HM)