Dogs and Turnips

Charles Darwin and Jean Baptiste Lamarck are credited for developing the theory of natural selection. After teaching your beginning biologists about acquired characteristics, they read the included selection and answer questions that...

The second lesson in the series begins with a starter activity discussing wild versus domesticated animals. Then, scholars play a card game, with optional variations, to emphasize artificial selection. Next, they attend a field trip to a...

In the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, some tiny creatures show just how quickly natural selection can turn a mutation into an advantageous adaptation. Watch a video about rock pocket mice, who show that one small change can make all...

How do genetic mutations within a population lead to future variations? Provide your class with the resources to answer this question and more upon completing an activity on natural selection. The entire class participates in a fun role...

The evidence for natural selection is presented as a random variation of a characteristic allowing a particular strain of organism to survive with a higher probability of successful reproduction. Population change over a short period of...

There's nothing regular about them—irregular verbs turn out to be the most common verbs in the English language. Through an analysis of data, learners discover that Zipf's Law describes the patterns of word usage. 

What if buildings could grow, adapt, and repair themselves like a living organism? Using the process of self-assembly, this crazy idea may one day become a reality. The video looks at how unordered parts interact with one another and...

Can natural disasters alter natural selection? The interactive explores this concept with mice living through a forest fire. As the environment changes, the camouflage also changes. How does this one disaster impact future generations?

Do you want a creative and fun way to teach about natural selection? Hop to it by turning your middle school princes and princesses into frogs trying to catch as many bugs as possible in a Hungry Hungry Hippos style game. For high...

Can human activity influence the colors of moths? The simulation explains how pollution changed the color of tree bark, which led to the survival of a different variation of moths. It also discusses the shift back as air quality improves.