Sorting Seashells

This interactive module allows students to compare the morphological characteristics of seashells and construct an evolutionary tree.

Taxonomy is a discipline in science concerned with grouping species by common traits. In this Click & Learn, students explore some of the principles of taxonomy by grouping seashells based on their shapes, structures, and other characteristics.

Students examine photos of 20 different shells. Clicking on each image opens a short description and 3D view where the shell can rotated and magnified. By deciding which shells are more similar to one another, students gradually build a phylogenetic tree of seashell species.

The accompanying “Student Worksheet” guides students’ exploration and begins with a hands-on card activity that can be used before the Click & Learn. The “Educator Materials” includes background information and implementation suggestions. The “Shell Cards” documents are for the card activity and correspond to different printing options (color or black-and-white; single-sided or double-sided printing).

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.