Pathfinder

Pathfinder: Biological Evolution

This pathfinder is designed for high school students. The goal is for students to explore evolution on their own in order to understand the concept, so that they may be able to explain the topic to others. Also, with the knowledge of evolution, students can begin to critically analyze controversies surrounding it. They will look at political issues as well as educational issues. While conducting their research, students will be able to reflect on the scientific explanations as well as issues and synthesize the information according to their own understanding. This activity is not the only tool to be used to understand such a complex topic; it should be used as a supplement for traditional teaching methods as well as other inquiry activities. Students should use the pathfinder to fit their individual learning; they may collect information that is as general or in depth as they choose.
 * Introduction **


 * Key Terms: ** natural selection, biological evolution, biology lessons


 * Search Strategy: I used clusty.com meta-search engine to find these websites. Clusty.com uses several free search engines. I liked using it because it does not search Google or Yahoo. I wanted to see what other resources could be found without the most common search engines. I thought that this meta-search did a good job in finding relevant sites. **

**Resources ** 1. @http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/search/conceptbrowse.php?audience_level=9-12 Concepts for grades 9-12

2. [] Lesson plans reviewed by teachers

3. @http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/lessons/ PBS

4. @http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets.html Biology Corner awesome concept maps and worksheets. Great compilation of other lessons that can be found on the web.

5. @http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/03_Areas/**evolution**/ American Association for the Advancement of Science

6. @http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/inteldesign/ “Intelligent Design on Evolution” Documentary

7. @http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bioterror/ PBS—Nova “bioterror”

8. @http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=48 Teaching about Religion in Public Schools

9. @http://ncse.com/news/2009/01/antievolution-legislation-oklahoma-003647 National Center for Science Education: Anti-evolution legislation in Oklahoma


 * Articles**

10. @http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/science/01evo.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22evolution%20takes%20a%20back%20seat%22&st=cse Dean, C. Feb 5, 2005. Evolution takes a back seat in U.S. classes. //New York Times.//