Classroom Resources

This video follows scientists working in Gorongosa National Park as they try to determine the genes responsible for tusk development in elephants.

In this activity, students investigate the phenomenon of lactase persistence by making sense of a series of data sets.

In this phenomenon-driven activity, students investigate how cells are signaled to make melanin and explain how mutations in melanin pathway proteins affect the coat color of various organisms.

In this activity, students use an interactive tool to simulate how scientists collected and used sample data to estimate elephant population sizes.

This video follows germplasm bank coordinator Cristian Zavala Espinosa and geneticist Sarah Hearne, who are part of the global effort to preserve the genetic diversity of maize (corn).

In this inquiry-based activity, students engage in science practices to figure out ways environmental factors drive the natural selection and adaptation of Galápagos finches.

This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that investigated how human populations might adapt to milk consumption, both genetically and culturally. 

In this inquiry-based activity, students investigate the phenomenon of fur colors in rock pocket mice to connect genotypes to phenotypes and molecular genetics to evolution.

This activity explores images of elephants with and without tusks, which serve as phenomena for learning about selection and human impacts on the frequency of traits within populations.

This film explores how life recovered after an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs and how those events shaped the diversity of plants and mammals on Earth today.

This activity explores an image of a moth with unusual markings on its wings, which serves as a phenomenon for learning about mimicry and adaptation.

This video follows biologist Shane Campbell-Staton, who is studying the adaptations that allow deer mice living at high elevations to stay warm and active during the winter.