As researchers, teachers, and practitioners we often encounter young professionals and lay adults who do not understand basics of mammalian body temperature regulation. Often their single solid piece of knowledge is that some vertebrates (mammals and birds) are warm-blooded and some (fish, amphibians, and reptile) are cold-blooded, which is…

The damaging outcomes of racist ideologies continue to influence all aspects of society. This in spite of the fact that at their core these ideologies rely on a fundamentally false assumption: that biologically there are different races among humans. The source of this fallacy is pseudoscience and historical prejudice, and yet even scientists and…

A lesson plan on the phylum Tardigrada is presented in a storytelling workbook that introduces the evolutionary concepts of adaptive radiation, speciation, divergence, and "tree-thinking" through narrative, transitional art, contemplative coloring, and data searches, which can be enhanced with microscopy wet labs. Students gain insight…

To learn why natural selection acts only on existing variation, students categorize processes as either creative or sorting. This activity helps students confront the misconception that adaptations evolve because species need them.

The progression of the taxonomic organization of life from Linnaeus's original two kingdoms to the traditional five-kingdom system to today's widely accepted three-domain system is explored in a group-learning activity. Working with a set of organisms, students organize them into each system. Discussion after each step focuses on viewing…

Phylogenetic trees, such as the "Tree of Life," are commonly found in biology textbooks and are often used in teaching. Because students often struggle to understand these diagrams, I developed a simple, inexpensive classroom model. Made of pipe cleaners, it is easily manipulated to rotate branches, compare topologies, map complete lineages,…

The National Science Education Standards prescribe that an understanding of the importance of classifying organisms be one component of a student's educational experience in the life sciences. The use of a classification scheme to identify organisms is one way of addressing this goal. We describe Conifer ID, a computer application that assists…

Biological classification embodies the most fundamental idea in all of biology, especially evolution. The contrast between biological classifications and those of manufactured objects for instance hardware-based collection of screws, nails and bolts, help illustrate the central biological ideas and induce student interest, however, this could be…

Uses trenoids, which are toothpicks colored with ink markers to represent a single taxa of organisms to illustrate ecological concepts in a student-centered learning environment. (YDS)

Presents a universal phylogenetic tree suitable for use in high school and college-level biology classrooms. Illustrates the antiquity of life and that all life is related, even if it dates back 3.5 billion years. Reflects important evolutionary relationships and provides an exciting way to learn about the history of life. (SAH)

Argues for an original structure for field guides, a structure that encourages induction on the part of the student and allows the student to create flexible taxa based on ecologically and evolutionary relevant field marks. Students will become more familiar with the multiple bases of taxonomy. (PR)

Suggests classroom projects for investigating the diversity of insects. (LS)

A different approach is used to develop taxonomy concepts. A traditional outline of each phylum under consideration is given to students, together with a series of questions. Students must then determine relationships within the outline by answering the questions. (Author/JN)

The concept of paraphyly is defined and its importance in the teaching of evolution and taxonomy is discussed. Examples are included to illustrate this concept. A list of 14 references is provided. (CW)