Introduction

Wow! Look at all of the different kinds of living things!
Boy, these different organisms have a lot in common!

These two seemingly opposite comments come together in the study of evolution. Evolution also provides a wonderfully rich context to discuss the history and nature of science. How does an idea go from being an observation or guess to a theory? How do scientists think as they develop theories? Middle school is a wonderful time to be delving into these questions.

Your middle school students, who in elementary school considered life science from an individual organism perspective, are beginning to think about interactions in ecosystems. In high school, they will broaden their biological perspective to include both smaller and larger realms, considering everything from biochemical processes to living systems in the biosphere. Now is a perfect time to help your students get a firm grounding in the basics of evolution so that they will be prepared to tackle more abstract concepts in high school, such as population genetics and evolution as a basis for biological classification. The scientific habits of mind that they develop as they study evolution will support all of their future scientific endeavors.

We have collected sites with background information and activities to support your students as they learn more about evolution. We know that teaching evolution is sometimes difficult, and so we have assembled a sampling of some online books and courses that provide teacher help. We hope that these selections will help you immerse your students in rich learning about this overarching, unifying theory.

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by Carolee Barber and Judy Ridgway, formerly of ENC Instructional Resources

Carolee Barber was a science education resource specialist at ENC. She has taught a variety of science courses and worked for a conservation organization.

Judy Ridgway was ENC's Assistant Director of Instructional Resources. She is a veteran educator in the biological sciences.

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Copyright June 2005 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.