| Lesson Title (Description) | Grade Level | Lesson Type |
Preying on Beans
Students act as predators searching for prey (beans) in two different settings to demonstrate the processes of adaptation and selection. |
3-5 |
Classroom activity |
Battle of the Beaks
Students learn about adaptive advantage, based on beak function, by simulating birds competing for various foods. |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
Clipbirds
Students learn about variation, reproductive isolation, natural selection, and adaptation through this version of the bird beak activity. |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
Breeding Bunnies
Students simulate breeding bunnies to show the impact that genetics can have on the evolution of a population of organisms. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Candy Dish Selection
Students find that selection occurs in a dish of mixed candies. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Clipbirds
Students learn about variation, reproductive isolation, natural selection, and adaptation through this version of the bird beak activity. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Evo in the news: Got lactase?
The ability to digest milk is a recent evolutionary innovation that has spread through some human populations. This news brief from April 2007 describes how evolution has allowed different human populations to take advantage of the nutritional possibilities of dairying. |
9-12 |
Article |
Evo in the news: Musseling in on evolution
This news brief, from September 2006, reviews a recent case of evolution in action. In just 15 years, mussels have evolved in response to an invasive crab species. Find out how biologists uncovered this example of evolution on double time. |
9-12 |
Article |
Evo in the news: Quick evolution leads to quiet crickets
The tropical island of Kauai has always been a quiet place, but now it may be getting even more quiet. This news brief, from December 2006, reveals how Kauai's cricket population has evolved into a "chirpless" variety in just a few years. |
9-12 |
Article |
Evo in the news: Warming to evolution
Global warming increasingly affects many aspects of our environment—from the sea level to tropical storm strength. But that’s far from the full story. This news brief from July 2006 describes how global warming has already begun to affect the evolution of several species on Earth. |
9-12 |
Article |
Evolution and Antibiotic Resistance
Students learn why evolution is at the heart of a world health threat by investigating the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance in such menacing diseases as tuberculosis. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Fire ants invade and evolve
Understanding the evolution of fire ants may help scientists control the spread of these pests, which have already taken over much of the U.S.! |
9-12 |
Article |
Investigating Natural Selection
Students experience one mechanism for evolution through a simulation that models the principles of natural selection and helps answer the question: How might biological change have occurred and been reinforced over time? |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Mechanisms of evolution
Learn about the basic processes that have shaped life and produced its amazing diversity.
This article is located within Evolution 101. |
9-12 |
Tutorial |
The Natural Selection Game
This is a board game that simulates natural selection. It is suitable for an introductory biology class and for more advanced classes where you could go into more detail on important principles such as the role of variation and mutation. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
Viruses and Host Evolution
Students learn about natural selection in rabbits by observing the effects of a virus on the Australian rabbit population. |
9-12 |
Classroom activity |
