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Category Archives: Evolution
Natural Selection in Tortoises: A (Homemade) Video
[Doug Gaffin and Marielle Hoefnagels worked together to develop the materials used in this post.] A while back, I wrote a post on an activity that connects genotype, phenotype, and natural selection. In a nutshell, the activity uses colored chips … Continue reading
Posted in Active learning, Evolution
Tagged active learning, allele, engaging students, evolution, Galapagos, genotype, introductory biology, natural selection, neck, phenotype, tortoise, video
3 Comments
Another Way to Connect Selection, Phenotype, and Genotype
Now that it’s summer, I’m catching up on my American Biology Teacher backlog. I found this interesting-looking activity by Janina Jördens and three coauthors in the February 2018 issue. The title of the article says it all: “Interrelating Concepts from … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution, Laboratory activities, Teaching
Tagged allele, American Biology Teacher, cod, evolution, genetics, genotype, graph, Janina Jordens, natural selection, overfishing, phenotype, simulation
3 Comments
Antibiotic resistance in the lab … with actual bacteria!
Apparently my post on the antibiotic resistance activity using green, yellow, and red beads was a big hit with instructors, because lots of people want a copy of the worksheet. I have been happy to oblige, and now I want … Continue reading
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: A Simple, Realistic Lab Activity
Every now and then I write a blog post about lab activities that worked in my nonmajors biology class. For example, I have written about reptilobirds (an activity combining meiosis and inheritance), staining banana cells to illustrate digestion in plants, … Continue reading
Recognizing purposeful evolution: A treasure trove of prompts
I was recently cleaning out my teaching lab and found a stash of index cards with test items from the early 1950s. As I was trying to decide whether to keep them or toss them in the recycling bin, … Continue reading
Posted in Assessment, Evolution, Teaching
Tagged clickers, evolution, exam questions, introductory biology, misconceptions, natural selection
10 Comments
“Surprisingly Awesome” podcasts
What do broccoli, pigeons, frequent flyer miles, and mattresses have in common? They are all subjects of “Surprisingly Awesome” podcasts. I just listened to the one on broccoli, and I was really impressed. I love resources that help students see … Continue reading
Boost your evolution IQ: An evolution misconceptions game
A guest post by Matt Taylor Last Spring, Mariëlle and I spent some time reading education articles about student struggles learning evolution. In particular, we were interested in which misconceptions about evolution students might bring to introductory biology classes. We … Continue reading
Return of the “Clever Cockroaches”
Longtime followers of my blog may remember that nearly two years ago I wrote a post about the misrepresentation of natural selection and evolution in headlines and news stories. In the study that prompted the post, researchers found that coating … Continue reading
Node-Counting Is Alive and Well
In a previous post I offered help for students struggling with evolutionary trees. In that post, I talked about a particularly difficult final exam question requiring students to interpret an evolutionary tree (a labeled version of the image to the … Continue reading
Posted in Collaboration, Evolution, Teaching
Tagged cladograms, Evolutionary trees, phylogenetics, struggling students
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Video recommendation: HHMI’s Biology of Skin Color
Over a year ago I mentioned the HHMI Biointeractive site and its excellent videos. I just viewed another one on the same site. This one is called The Biology of Skin Color, and it is another winner. It is narrated by … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution
Tagged DNA, HHMI, natural selection, Nina Jablonski, skin color, ultraviolet radiation, video
1 Comment