NSTA Tool Kit for Teaching Evolution

by Judy Elgin Jensen

Evolution is—or should be—a major unifying theory in every biology or life sciences classroom, but science teachers, principals, and school administrators all too often hear the question: "Why teach evolution?" NSTA Tool Kit for Teaching Evolution, compiled by NSTA with input from the National Center for Science Education, helps you cogently answer that question.

Below are SciLinks® you may find useful, either in conjunction with the book or independently.

NSTA is also developing tools that will enable online communities of practice for science educators. Please check back at this location in January 2009 for links to one on Evolution in Education.

SciLinks® for NSTA Tool Kit for Teaching Evolution

NSTA has assembled collections of web pages to complement topics featured in the NSTA Tool Kit for Teaching Evolution.

The SciLinks® website automatically filters, centralizes, and saves valuable science websites found by NSTA experts. Use this site during lectures or group activities, or as part of homework assignments. To take full advantage of SciLinks, including the abilities to create assignments and share favorite web pages with your students, you must register. Registration is free and very easy. Once you are registered, provide your students with your ID number, and they can explore on their own.

Or, simply click the code links below to view the web page collections without the use of SciLinks tools.

Topic: Evolution teaching resources
Code: ETK001
Includes articles and other resources about current issues in teaching evolution, descriptions of court cases, a AAAS video featuring the teachers involved in Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District et al., information and visually stunning videos about evolution from PBS, and more.

Topic: Evolution
Code: ETK002
Includes information on evolution fundamentals; avoiding potential classroom pitfalls; and lessons and teachers’ guides on evidence for evolution, Charles Darwin, human evolution, and the controversial nature of the subject. 

Topic: History of evolution
Code: ETK003
Features information on the science and history of evolutionary biology, including topics such as what evolution is, how it works, how it factors into our lives, how research is conducted, and how the ideas have changed over time.

Topic: Darwin
Code: ETK004
Offers insights not only into Darwin’s work as a naturalist and his theories about evolution, but also into his research as a marine biologist and oceanographer.

Topic: Genome research
Code: ETK005
Reveals how genomic research techniques continue to improve, providing new insights into our past and hopefully inspiring medical interventions in our future.

Topic: Species/speciation
Code: ETK006
Explains how species appear and die out, and how natural selection acts differently on related species living in different habitats.

Topic: Phylogenetic trees
Code: ETK007
Presents pages that show how to build and read phylogenetic trees and describes how scientists use these to date genetic events.  

Topic: Antibiotic resistance
Code: ETK008
Explains how good intentions can have unfortunate affects, such as when the overuse and poor administration of antibiotics actually cause microbes to evolve and become resistant—ultimately making bacterial infections harder to treat.  

Topic: Human evolution
Code: ETK009
Examines the impact of evolution on one specific organism—humans—and includes history, family trees, and cranial comparisons.