Evolution is the central concept of biology and key to a comprehensive understanding of any complex biological interaction. It has proven to be a particularly difficult subject for both teachers and students. Hybrid teaching environments have the potential to support students in learning about complex topics and simultaneously enable researchers to collect data on students' learning, giving them the opportunity to diagnose concrete obstacles for learning. Thus, we developed a teaching unit on five factors of evolution that utilizes digital tools in a traditional biology classroom for a hybrid teaching environment. The teaching unit is theoretically founded on biology education research (e.g., about students' misconceptions) and utilizes validated teaching materials. Using various kinds of data from the unit, we expect to be able to gain a deeper understanding of students' learning by analyzing students' individual learning trajectories. This will lay the foundation for enhanced individualized feedback in the future.

Water is one of the most common molecules in the universe. Water is polarized, but it has many states besides the normal tetrahedron depicted in standard biology texts. Water is also the most ubiquitous molecule on Earth, the universal solvent. It is the internal and external habitat of cells. Ecologically, water is contiguous with life and the chemistry it nourishes. Water merges with everything from DNA to itself in the vast ocean; it is a constant molecule, and it does not change—or does it? Water, is the planet's unwavering, flowing, but fixed liquid substrate, and it has an elemental and evolutionary story to tell. Water can independently regulate solute transport, entangling with cell proteins to create the aqueous conditions that support life metabolisms and the evolution of other molecules. Water dynamics are rarely mentioned in standard biology discussions, even though biomolecules are strongly influenced by the hydration shells around them. For water to affiliate with all things living requires specialized entry and exiting of water, achievable by a ubiquitous channel protein called an aquaporin. In this article, we will explore water's often neglected complex relationship with all things biological from an aquaporin perspective. The aquaporin family of proteins is ancient and spans the tree of life in archaea, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, plants, animals, and viruses. From DNA to osmoregulation, aquaporins literally channel the water molecule through geological time. We will also explore the bigger picture of the aquaporin as a teaching tool for evolution. Through the genomic medicine paradigm, we examine diseases that manifest from defective aquaporins. From a visual and arts perspective, we reframe biological processes in the light of the most abundant but nominally understood molecule on Earth: water.

The teaching and learning of macroevolutionary processes have received limited attention in the evolution education literature despite their importance in evolution acceptance and evolution understanding. This necessitates the development of pedagogical content knowledge, including best practices in curriculum and instruction, on macroevolutionary processes that support student understanding and acceptance of macroevolution. One promising approach is to consider macroevolution at the microbiological level by teaching endosymbiotic theory while capitalizing on pre-existing pedagogical content knowledge of tree thinking and bioinformatics. Here, we present a computational laboratory activity that guides students through the construction of a phylogeny based on the universal small subunit ribosomal RNA gene. The resulting phylogenetic tree demonstrates that the photosynthetic organelles of the protist Paulinella chromatophora evolved independently of the chloroplasts of plants and algae. This not only addresses the need for pedagogical content knowledge in macroevolution in an interdisciplinary and integrative fashion, but also serves as a foundation for future research into the teaching of endosymbiosis. This activity is designed for a 15–20 student introductory/intermediate biology laboratory.

Although the central principles of evolution by natural selection can feel both abstruse and culturally fraught for learners of all ages, evolutionary logic is at the core of biological science: once students have a solid understanding of evolution, they can better understand everything else in biology. We present here a hands-on experience, coupled with intentional questioning strategies, that inspires students to use high-level evolutionary thinking and to begin asking excellent questions about what we know and how we know it. This activity leverages skull replicas of humans, chimps, and hominins to tap into young people's natural curiosity about where we come from and what it means to be a person—fundamental topics of inquiry for young people just coming into their own identities. Along the way, students are also exposed to important data and create arguments about what the archaeological record can currently tell us about the story of how people like us came to be.

Students' intuitive thinking often proves helpful in different contexts, such as everyday life, but can be an obstacle to learning about evolution. Thus, enhancing students' evolutionary understanding is often challenging, with intuitive conceptions of evolution still existing after instruction. Consequently, it is necessary to address students' intuitive conceptions explicitly. Thus, we present two metaconceptual learning activities that make students metacognitively aware of their intuitive conceptions and enable them to self-regulate these in the context of evolution: (a) a self-assessment of one's conceptions and (b) instruction on the context-dependency of conceptions. Both activities have been found more effective in enhancing students' evolutionary understanding than traditional instruction focusing solely on scientific conceptions and are, thus, recommended to supplement evolution instruction.

Teaching epidemiology, particularly more advanced concepts such as vaccine efficacy and herd immunity, can be very challenging in science classes geared for non-science majors. Nevertheless, as became quite evident during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a thorough understanding of such topics is highly important to all individuals due to its role in informing future decision-making related to public health. One method for easing comprehension of difficult science content is to employ hands-on activities that engage students in critical thinking while visually demonstrating difficult concepts. While introductory activities illustrating the spread of disease through unprotected populations already exist, those that model the more advanced topics of vaccination and herd immunity are limited. In addressing this gap, the present manuscript describes an activity that expands on prior exercises through the addition of common biological buffers (MOPS and HEPES) mimicking vaccination status. Further, detailed exploration of buffer concentrations and interaction conditions during the development of this activity underscores potential avenues for class discussion of real-world outcomes. This includes the concept that exposure to a pathogen does not invariably result in illness, and vaccination does not always guarantee immunity against infection. Overall, the resultant activity creates avenues to enrich student comprehension of epidemiology, providing valuable insights into disease transmission, effectiveness of vaccination, and the dynamics of herd immunity.

Tree-thinking is a required skill for evolutionary literacy, but misconceptions are frequent in interpreting phylogenetic trees. Here, an easy, cheap way of building phylogenetic trees with drinking straws is suggested. It can be used to illustrate how to build phylogenetic trees from root to tips, to rotate nodes and to collapse branches.

The removal of the theory of biological evolution from school curricula in India represents a concern for the integrity of education and the country's progress. It compromises its ability to cope with climate change, undermines vital areas such as agriculture and health, and undermines its scientific and technological potential. Demonstrating the negative impacts is crucial to reversing this decision in India and setting a global example against religious influences on evidence-based education. Reconciling religious beliefs and accepting the theory of evolution is possible. Protecting the integrity of science education is essential to meet the challenges of the modern world. It is also important to consider that other countries, such as the USA and Brazil, have had their science and biological evolution education threatened by various forms of interference, therefore what is happening in India should serve as a warning and prepare reactions to this type of threat.

In plant science education, students can develop their perception of plants as independent living organisms. However, the accumulated studies testify that plants are not living alone in nature. The current paradigm in plant science explains a plant as a holobiont (plant and interacting microorganisms), instead of a single organism. In the center of this new paradigm, there is a symbiosis between plant and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). About 80% of terrestrial plant species form mutualism with AMF that act as an extension of roots. The symbiosis is crucial for plant nutrient uptake from the soil as well as resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses. Although the symbiosis is crucial for plant physiology and ecology, the efforts for summarizing current understanding and formulating it for teaching are relatively poor. For efficient introduction in class, it is important to visualize the AMF living inside roots. However, the widely used methodology for staining requires a carcinogenic chemical. Based on the current state of knowledge in AMF biology, I introduce AMF and a safer methodology for visualizing AMF in plants. Furthermore, I provide suggestions for teachers to design class activities that could inspire students to learn and think about plant physiology and ecology together with AMF.