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 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.
In this activity, students find a scientist with whom they can relate in some way and then explore and reflect upon the impact of that scientist’s work.
This activity supports the film Popped Secret: The Mysterious Origin of Corn. Students analyze data on the expression of the tb1 gene to explain how variations in this gene played a role in the evolution of corn.
This activity explores the content and research discussed in the film Some Animals are More Equal than Others, which tells the story of the ecologists who first documented the role of keystone species in ecosystem regulation.
This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from the world’s longest-running controlled artificial selection study, in which scientists tested whether they could use selective breeding to change the protein concentration of maize (corn).
In this activity, students explore different ways of calculating t-values and performing t-tests using built-in functions in Excel or Google Sheets. Students apply what they learned by plotting beak size measurements of Galapágos finches collected before and after a drought.
In this activity, students explore different ways of constructing a histogram using Excel or Google Sheets. Students apply what they learned by plotting beak size measurements of Galapágos finches before and after a drought.
In this activity, students further explore the short film Popped Secret: The Mysterious Origin of Corn, by working through the mathematical concepts behind George Beadle’s claim that teosinte is the wild ancestor of maize.