evolution

Resources for Teaching and Learning about Evolution

This annotated compilation of some of the best resources for teaching and learning about evolution includes activities, videos and articles. In the attached file, the first section provides general and introductory resources and the second section provides resources for understanding and analyzing the evidence.

The attached file has brief descriptions of the resources with links.

Is rape biological?

Submitted by jmorgant on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 10:41am

I was fascinated by the concept of “cryptic choice” introduced in the video “Nature: What Females Want…and What Males Will Do.” Female red-sided garter snakes are rendered immobile by males competing to inseminate her. They have, however, evolved a means of defense against forced copulation: they can choose which of the snake’s sperm will fertilize their eggs. Another example of “cryptic choice” is seen in ducks’ reproductive systems: they twist opposite ways to make reproduction more difficult. A third of ducks’ copulations are forced, but they produce only 3% of the young. Explained the narrator, “Evolution has given females the edge.” Last week, my psychology-major roommate sent me an article called “Women’s Avoidance of Rape” which, like the video, acknowledged that “Sexual coercion and rape have been documented in many different species.”

Evolution and Literature Web Projects 4

This is the fourth, and final, set of web projects to emerge from The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories, a course offered at Bryn Mawr College in Spring 2011. As the semester ends, students are making use of the biological, philosophical and literary stories of the course to create new, interesting, useful stories of their own.

Take a look around, and feel warmly welcome to respond in the comment area available at the end of each paper. What strikes, intrigues, puzzles you...what, among your reactions, might be of interest or use to the writer, or others in the class, or others who--exploring the internet--might be in search of a thoughtful conversation about evolution and literature?

ajohnston	A Creative Conversation Between Three Texts
alexandrakg	The Evolution Tibetan Sand Mandala: Perspectives on the Evolution of Life and Artistic Expression
AnnaP	What is the revolutionary potential of comics as a medium?
ashley	Evolving in the Classroom
bhealy	Today's Version of Me
ckosarek	The Role of Fiction in Science (A Discussion)
cr88	Deus Ex Serendip: A "Heavenly" New Perspective On Some Familiar Issues
cwalker	The Story of Anthropology: How our Perceptions of the Development of Societies & Cultures have Evolved
cwalker	The Story of Anthropology: How our Perceptions of the Development of Societies & Cultures have Evolved
Dawn	Fan Fiction: Evolution of Storytelling
dfishervan	A Last Minute Edit
elly	Final Project - Video Representation of the Forum
ems8140	The Evolution of Psychology
ewashburn	The Role of Fiction in Science (A Discussion)
Gavia	Transects Evolit Final Paper
hannahgisele	Faulkner and the Three Forms of Storytelling
hlehman	Evolution in the media: the translation of our story in The New York Times
hope	A Story for Children
katlittrell	The Role of Fiction in Science (A Discussion)
kgrass	Leave it to Chance...
KT	A STORY OF UNCONSCIOUS PURPOSE BUT CONSCIOUS MEANING
Lethologica	Worldbuilding: The Role of Science in Fantasy
Lynn	An Unlikely Conversation
mgz24	Evolution in Don Quixote
mindyhuskins	The Story of This Class: A Completely True and Faithful Account of What Happened in This Course Over the Past Semester
OrganizedKhaos	To Stand Up or Stand Back: A Question of Ethics and Activism in Anthropology
phyllobates	A Scientific Inquiry into the Art of Scientific Writing
Poppyflower	Leave it to Chance...
rachelr	What is the Role of Fiction in Science? (A Discussion)
Sarah Schnellbacher	Catholicism on Evolution and the Evolution of Catholicism
skindeep	final project
tangerines	EvoLit Final Web Event: Pestilence
the.believer	The 20th Century Plague
themword	A Political Science Major’s Understanding of Science - Webpaper 4
vlopez	What it means to be Immortal

Evolution and Literature Web Projects 3

This is the third set of web projects to emerge from The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories, a course offered at Bryn Mawr College in Spring 2011. Three months into the semester, students are thinking about aspects of the evolution of literary stories that particularly interest--or are useful--to them.

Take a look around, and feel warmly welcome to respond in the comment area available at the end of each paper. What strikes, intrigues, puzzles you...what, among your reactions, might be of interest or use to the writer, or others in the class, or others who--exploring the internet--might be in search of a thoughtful conversation about evolution and literature?

ajohnston	The Expanding Presence of Film in Education
alexandrakg	Adaptation and Jane Eyre
AnnaP	The Evolution of Storytelling: Comics as a Revolutionary Narrative Form in Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics
ashley	Moving Away from Paper, Onto the Screen and Virtual Pages
bhealy	Accepting Change: Angels in America from Broadway to HBO
ckosarek	Dear Diary: Tell My Secrets to Everyone
cr88	Screw This: The Challenge of Representing Ambiguity in Filmic Adaptations of Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw”
Cremisi	Bred in Captivity: Stories in Their Natural and Not-So-Natural Habitats
cwalker	Evolution of Genres in Latin American Literature: The Birth of the Testimonio (Testimonial Narrative)
Dawn	Literature as Reality and Reality as Literature
dfishervan	A Story is a Story is a Story?
elly	"Can't we just watch the movie??"
ems8140	Tick Tock Tick Tock...Freeze: Time Orientation and The Plague
ewashburn	Comics Conundrum: An Examination of Alan Moore Film Adaptations
hlehman	Young Adult Fiction
hope	Lessons from Bertha
ib4walrus	Pierre
jhercher	The Cowboy's Hat: Metaphor and Imagery in Cinema
katlittrell	On This Unworthy Scaffold, Make Imaginary Puissance
kgrass	Finding Meaning in the World Through Tap Dancing
KT	EXPERIENCE VERSUS MEANING
Lethologica	Sleeping Beauties and Evolving Stories: A Cross-culteral Examination
Lynn	Adaptation as Deconstruction
mgz24	Have Disney Princesses Evolved?
mindyhuskins	If Juliet is the Sun, What is a Metaphor?
OrganizedKhaos	To Show or To Tell
phyllobates	A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words, but What are the Words that We Choose?
Poppyflower	Chocolat can Inspire Change
rachelr	My words fly up, my thoughts remain below
Sarah Schnellbacher	Evolution of Translation
skindeep	movies vs novels
tangerines	The Women of the Plague
the.believer	A Critique of the Criticism of Film Adaptations
themword	Laughter Beyond Resilience - Webpaper #3
Vivien Chen	Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty not the “Fairest” Anymore: The Role of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Fairy Tales
vlopez	Cyclical Evolution: From Plague to Italian

Evolution and Literature Web Projects 2

This is the second set of web projects to emerge from The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories, a course offered at Bryn Mawr College in Spring 2011. Two months into the semester, students are thinking through aspects of the story of evolution beyond the context of biology which are of particular interest or use to them.

Take a look around, and feel warmly welcome to respond in the comment area available at the end of each paper. What strikes, intrigues, puzzles you...what, among your reactions, might be of interest or use to the writer, or others in the class, or others who--exploring the internet--might be in search of a thoughtful conversation about evolution and literature?

ajohnston	Music of Evolution: Natural Selection and Jazz Improvisation
alexandrakg	Evolution and Stories in Political Science
AnnaP	"Changing the Story": Using Memes for Social Change
ashley	A Journey Through Cultures: Becoming Fit in American Society
bhealy	First Comes Love then Comes Marriage? The Evolution of Marriage in the United States
ckosarek	27 Million Views and Counting: Could There Be a Science of Memitics?
cr88	Memetic Revolution: Agency and Cultural Evolution in the Middle East and North Africa Protests of 2011
Cremisi	Legit Evolution
cwalker	Evolving Identities: A Focus on Immigrant Communities
Dawn	The Deerstalker - No Explanation Needed
dfishervan	Overlooking the Foundation of your Foundation: Darwinian Medicine's Role in the Medical Community
elly	Evolution in Urban Development: Planning, Control Memes and Competition for Space
ems8140	Cultural Programming: Beneficial or Maladaptive?
ewashburn	It's All Greek to Meme: Ancient Greek Theater and the Effectiveness of Dennett's "Dangerous Idea"
hannahgisele	The Different Types of Evolution that Words Undergo
hlehman	Humans, Trees, and Education
hope	Another Picture of Memes
ib4walrus	Hatred, what is the point?
jhercher	Daniel Dennett and Intellectual Flexibility
katlittrell	Slang: It's Heaps Hectic
kgrass	The Culture of Evolution
KT	THE STORY OF PLAY
Lethologica	Seeking Cinderella: A Brief Glimpse of the Evolution of Fairytales
Lynn	The Soul of Evolution
mgz24	The Evolution of Violence in Sports
mindyhuskins	No Book is New: The Continuing Evolution of Literature
OrganizedKhaos	From Bones to Beliefs: Evolution of Anthropology and its Stories
phyllobates	The Synchronized Evolution of the Meme of Time and Timekeeping Devices
Poppyflower	Changing Society or Changing Sexuality?
rachelr	How high can we fly, and on wings made of what?
Sarah Schnellbacher	The New Meaning of AI
skindeep	Danielle Dennett and Free Will – Is Free Will an Evolutionary Gift?
tangerines	What Dennett Got Wrong
the.believer	Evolution of Language: Chomsky & Dennett
themword	The Art of Persasion Through Abuse - EvoLit Webpaper 2
Vivien Chen	Language On Intelligence
vlopez	Show jumping: Real Algorithm

The Story of Evolution: Web Projects 1

These are the first web projects to emerge from The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories, a course offered at Bryn Mawr College in Spring 2011. One month into the semester, students are thinking through some of the problems that have been raised in their minds by our discussion of biological evolution.

Take a look around, and feel warmly welcome to respond in the comment area available at the end of each paper. What strikes, intrigues, puzzles you...what, among your reactions, might be of interest or use to the writer, or others in the class, or others who--exploring the internet--might be in search of a thoughtful conversation about evolution and literature?

ajohnston	Rhetorical Landscape In The Origin of Species
alexandrakg	EvoLit: Paper 1, The Evolution of Education
AnnaP	Educating Evolutionarily
ashley	Juxtaposing Religion & Science
bhealy	Teaching Evolution: Devoid of Labels, Full of Inspiration
ckosarek	On the Argument of the Origin
cr88	Evolution and Homosexuality
Cremisi	The Weimaraner and the Wolf
cwalker	Webpaper #1: Stories of Evolution in the Classroom
Dawn	Teaching Evolution Evolutionarily
dfishervan	"Passionate for What"
elly	Teaching Evolution: A brief look at how to teach the multiple stories of evolution
ems8140	Life Story: Foundational or Non-Foundational
ewashburn	On the Origin of the Argument
Gavia	Essential Character of Non-Life Evolution
hannahgisele	Evolution vs. Creationism in Education
hlehman	Evolution in the Classroom
hope	Lamarck and Epigenetics
ib4walrus	The Gay Gene
jhercher	The Validity of Certain Narratives: Scientific vs. Religious Stories
katlittrell	Semantics of Foundation
kgrass	Selective Observation
KT	Does Keeping the Less Fit Alive Help or Hurt Us?
Lethologica	Mind the Gap: Exploring the Rift between Science and Religion
Lynn	Comprehending Evolution
mgz24	Why teach opposing views?
mindyhuskins	Darwin's Big Problem
OrganizedKhaos	The How and Why of Our World
phyllobates	Evolution as Both a Process Over and a Theory Across Time
Poppyflower	Is the "Right" Way the Correct Way?
rachelr	Conservation efforts: backtracking along evolution, or still more randomness?
Sarah Schnellbacher	The Stagnation of Evolution through Standardization
skindeep	consciousness and evolution
tangerines	EvoLit Web Paper 1: How Should We Teach Evolution?
the.believer	One Story of Evolution
themword	On the Political Language of Charles Darwin
Vivien Chen	Survival of the Selfless
vlopez	The Quest for Truth: Science & Religion

Minds-on Activities for Teaching Biology

Intro & Biological Molecules
Cell Structure & Function
Cellular Respiration & Photosynthesis
Cell Division
Genetics
Molecular Biology
Evolution
Ecology
Human Physiology & Health
Hands-On
Remote Ready

The resources include:

Evolution as Reproduction with Variability

Paul Grobstein
July 2010
in progress

Evolving humanity: towards a "third way"

Submitted by Paul Grobstein on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 11:26am

Rationality and social wisdom/cohesion clearly play important roles in inquiry, in education, and in human affairs generally. But there are problems with relying on either alone, and with the two in combination as well.

The Vestigial Organ

Submitted by lcorhan on Sun, 11/08/2009 - 7:14pm

Without a doubt, everyone knows of someone who needed to have his or her appendix removed. Certainly, this begs the question, “What does the appendix do?” Although some people might seem as though they have had their brain removed, that is not a realistic procedure; nor can one have his or her heart removed. Many organs can be transplanted, to be sure, but why do we human beings have an organ that we can simply do without? Plenty of organs can be removed without fatal consequences, but there are almost always consequences. Yet this is not the case with the appendix.

evolution

Resources for Teaching and Learning about Evolution

Is rape biological?

Evolution and Literature Web Projects 4

Evolution and Literature Web Projects 3

Evolution and Literature Web Projects 2

The Story of Evolution: Web Projects 1

Minds-on Activities for Teaching Biology

Evolution as Reproduction with Variability

Evolving humanity: towards a "third way"

The Vestigial Organ

Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities

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