Given the importance of phylogenetic trees to understanding common ancestry and evolution, they are a necessary part of the undergraduate biology curriculum. However, a number of common misconceptions, such as reading across branch tips and understanding homoplasy, can pose difficulties in student understanding. Students also may take phylogenetic…

One major emphasis of reform initiatives in science education is the importance of extended inquiry experiences for students through authentic collaborations with scientists. As such, unique partnerships have started to emerge between science and education in an ongoing effort to capture the interest and imaginations of students as they make sense…

This article describes how inquiry teaching can be directed towards specific content learning goals while allowing for student exploration and validation of hypotheses. Drawing from the Theory of Didactical Situations, the concepts of "milieu" and "validation" are illustrated through two sample biology lessons designed to engage and challenge…

Describes techniques for studying historic changes in climate by analysis of pollen preserved in peat bogs. Illustrates the methodology and data analysis techniques by reference to results from English research. (AL)

Considering geological time as an important epistemological obstacle to the construction of ideas on biological evolution, a study was carried out on the so-called "Darwin Papers". The conclusion was that Charles Darwin's excursion in the Andes during March-April 1835 was a crucial step in this regard. An expedition was carried out in…

Discusses evidence suggesting that the earliest land plants (small simple forms in damp areas during the Silurian period) preceeded the earliest land animals (including such small arthropods as millipedes and mites). Close animal-plant interactions occurred at the onset with more complex terrestrial ecosystems developing by the Devonian. (DH)

Introduces methods of studying fossil plants and of teaching palaeobotany. Brief accounts are given of different types of preservation and where to find specimens. An annotated bibliography is provided. (Author/SL)

Proposes the use of a series of 11 casts of fossil skulls as a method of teaching about the theory of human evolution. Students explore the questions of which skulls are "human" and which came first in Homo Sapien development, large brain or upright stance. (MDH)