"What if…?" is a four-day summative assessment for a unit on biodiversity and evolution within a general biology course for ninth and tenth graders. Students gather evidence through multiple investigations to answer the questions: (1) "How has life changed on the planet? (2) What has caused those changes? and (3) What is happening…

This article provides two activities, exploring genetic drift of small breeding populations, highlighting the black-footed ferret ("Mustela nigripes"). According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, all black-footed ferrets are descended from 18 individuals, making them extremely vulnerable to genetic drift. They were thought to be…

Understanding natural selection and adaptation are important precursors to learning evolution (NGSS Lead States 2013), the central unifying principle of biology. This lesson sequence, guided by the Five Practices Model (Cartier et al. 2013), incorporates data described by Andersson (1982) that details female choice in a population that eventually…

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…

A lesson that focuses on the intricate co-evolution of flowers with their pollinators is one way to help students learn the delicate balance in nature and help ensure that our actions do not upset this balance. In this lesson students use the engineering design process to engineer a flower that is a perfect model for its chosen pollinator. Next,…

Evolution can be a difficult concept for students, even though it is an organizing principle in biology. It can also be a challenge for teachers to cover evolution properly (or at all) in the classroom, whether due to personal attitudes or lack of knowledge or confidence in the material (Rutledge and Mitchell 2002). Even in some states where…

Although the age of the planet, the theory of biological evolution, and climate change are not "scientifically" controversial, students' familial and religious teachings can be perceived to be diametrically opposed to the science curriculum. However, there is a way for teachers to acknowledge alternative views and let students voice them…

Evolution, due to its importance in science, holds a prominent place in national science standards and many state standards. Scientists nearly universally agree that the theory of evolution best explains the unity and diversity of life. Accordingly, numerous science, science education, and religious organizations support the teaching of evolution…

Science teachers and mentors continue to be challenged to meet the high expectations of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" and the "Next Generation Science Standards." Indeed the Framework urges teachers to help learners "[build] progressively more sophisticated explanations of natural phenomena..." while the…

To promote teaching science through inquiry, the author wanted to use his experience in the Galápagos to design a lesson that allows students to immerse themselves in the essential science and engineering practices identified in the "Next Generation Science Standards," as they ask questions; analyze and interpret data; engage in argument…

Molecular similarity is one of the strongest lines of evidence for evolution--and one of the most difficult for students to grasp. That is because the underlying observations--that identical mutations are found in closely related species and the degree of similarity decreases with evolutionary distance--are not visible to the human eye. And it's…

It's that time of year again, when avoiding the flu is on everyone's mind. As we brace ourselves for possible flu outbreaks, the need to understand biological issues related to this virus becomes clear. Through modeling, the lesson presented in this article helps students understand how the influenza virus (or flu) evolves and how flu vaccines are…

Using the life sciences, this article first reviews essential features of the "NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education" that provided a foundation for the new standards. Second, the article describes the important features of life science standards for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Special attention is paid to the teaching…

This article discusses a creative visualization project to motivate and engage students. Students depict a dinosaur in its ecosystem and include all three elements of the environment: air, land, and water. Students explore scientific content in evolution, natural selection, food webs, ecosystems and geologic time. (Contains 6 figures.)

Students may wonder why they look the way they do. The answer lies in genetics, the branch of biology that deals with heredity and the variation of inherited traits. However, understanding how an organism's genetic code (i.e., genotype) affects its characteristics (i.e., phenotype) is more than a matter of idle curiosity: It's essential for…