Case studies are valuable tools for instruction but are often limited to a single topic and a single class period. Courses such as evolution that synthesize multiple concepts around a common theme, however, can use a single case study type project that extends over the entire semester to develop and link core concepts. A central theme in evolutionary biology is determining if complex biological traits represent adaptations that arose by natural selection. The instructional model presented here engages students in a step-by-step process to answer this question of adaptation for a trait of their choosing. In this process, the instructor first introduces the major concepts required to address adaptation. As each major concept is developed in class, students apply this concept to their particular trait, using information gathered from published studies. Students then report their research back to the class. At the end of the semester, each group synthesizes their evidence into a paper developing an argument as to whether or not their trait fits the criteria of being an adaptation. This project provides students with ownership of course material, gets students to act as practicing scientists, and helps them integrate and apply theoretical material to real questions.

The United States still has one of the lowest evolution acceptance rates in the world. Biology educators have been diligent in their methods to increase evolution acceptance and knowledge, with much success. However, misconceptions still arise through education, textbooks, and even social and religious settings that may influence our citizens' low evolution acceptance rates. Much research has been done on such misconceptions. But with new technology and electronic advances, we now have a wide variety of information available at our fingertips. Advents such as social media, popular culture, and smart devices may incorporate new and unique misconceptions not seen before in evolution education. We see a younger generation raised in an era where they may experience a bombardment of evolution misconceptions daily, from the games they play to the posts or memes they read on social media. Research into these effects is lacking but may be essential to push the boundaries of evolution education into the future.

Evolutionary medicine is a growing area of research and practice; however, it is not widely discussed in introductory biology courses. Because of the interest in human biology, using evolutionary medicine is a great way to hold students' interest, placing topics in context, making the subject of evolution relevant. Too often students lose interest in learning about evolution because they think it is not pertinent. The pedagogical technique of using case studies in the classroom engages students in a way that will grow their understanding of topics, in this case evolution, as well as helping students with critical thinking and process skills, growing their scientific literacy.

The following case study is appropriate for an introductory biology course that focuses on evolution, an AP biology course, or an introductory evolution course for undergraduates. The case focuses on the evolutionary perspectives of what might be causing human ear infections, as well as the role of beneficial species of gut bacteria in maintaining a healthy immune system. It is advantageous for students to know about natural selection and coevolution before using the case study.

In instructional settings, evolution and natural selection are challenging concepts to teach, due to the fact that these topics are difficult to observe in the laboratory or lecture hall. In the past few years, Avida-ED has emerged as an innovative tool for teaching evolutionary principles. It allows students to directly observe effects of evolution by changing different variables, such as environmental conditions and genetic sequences. In our study, we used pretest and posttest questionnaires to investigate the use of Avida-ED in undergraduate coursework. We showed that students demonstrated similar improvement in evolutionary understanding irrespective of major, undergraduate level, sex, or final end-of-course grade. These results reinforce the idea that Avida-ED can facilitate learning of evolution in all student populations.

There is an emphasis on survival-based selection in biology education that can allow students to neglect other important evolutionary components, such as sexual selection, reproduction, and inheritance. Student understanding of the role of reproduction in evolution is as important as student understanding of the role of survival. Limiting instruction to survival-based scenarios (e.g., effect of food on Galapagos finch beak shape) may not provide students with enough context to guide them to complete evolutionary reasoning. Different selection forces can work in concert or oppose one another, and sexual selection can lead to the selection of trait variants that are maladaptive for survival. In semistructured interviews with undergraduate biology students (n = 12), we explored how leading students through a sequence of examples affected student reasoning of evolution. When presented with an example where sexual selection and survivability favored the same variant of a trait, students emphasized survival in their reasoning. When presented with a scenario where sexual selection selected for trait variants that were maladaptive for survival, more students described how two different selection forces contributed to evolutionary outcomes and described reproductive potential as a part of fitness. Moreover, these students considered how the maladaptive traits were inherited in the population. Scenarios where sexual selection and survival-based selection were opposed improved student ability to reason about how factors other than survival impact evolutionary change. When instructors introduce students to scenarios where survival-based selection and sexual selection are opposed, they allow students to change their reasoning toward inclusion of reproduction in their evolutionary reasoning.

Evolution is often challenging for high school students to understand because it encompasses an array of interlinked processes that occur across a broad swath of biological scales. To help address this, we have developed a set of freely accessible, online, and interactive lessons that focus on the evolution of sweet garden peas from their starchy tasting ancestors. Gregor Mendel first explored the genetics of garden peas in the mid-1800s; our materials help students explore the basis of the R and r alleles from genetic, protein, cell function, artificial selection, and population genetics perspectives. These Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)–linked lessons integrate concepts across scales and are designed to be used in a flexible order, with support provided to teachers on how to choose a sequence that meets their students' needs. Throughout, students act as scientists as they uncover how multiple processes at disparate scales all worked together in the evolution of sweet and wrinkled peas from ancestors that were starchy and round.

The human gut microbiome is an important part of the digestive system and the human body as a whole. The abundance and richness of bacterial species in your digestive tract change based on your diet and lifestyle. A diet full of fresh vegetables, meat, and whole grains will cultivate a variety of bacteria that will help you absorb nutrients, prevent disease, keep your skin hydrated, and even improve cognitive function. A diet of sugar- and fat-rich foods will cultivate less diverse bacteria and species that cause inflammation in your gut and impair memory and focus (Quercia et al., 2014). I designed a simulation that uses inquiry and game play to teach high school (grades 9–12) biology students these concepts. The game involves teamwork, decisions about diet, cause and effect of various life events, and data analysis. Educational approaches such as game play and active learning have been shown to improve student engagement, retention of concepts, and overall success of a lesson (Sengupta and Clark, 2016; Michael, 2006).

Gene expression plays a pivotal role in the development, differentiation, and maintenance of organisms by allowing genes to encode for an observable trait (i.e., phenotype). To understand the function of a particular gene, several approaches can be taken, ranging from removing the gene entirely to targeting the product of the gene (i.e., the protein). RNA interference (RNAi) has been shown to be a powerful approach used to silence gene activity and examine the connection between DNA and protein along with controlling gene expression. The course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) described in this article is a hands-on molecular biology lab–based lesson that allows students to examine the impact of RNAi on Caenorhabditis elegans reproduction and development through the examination of the central dogma of biology. Through these activities, students gain practice in the scientific method of inquiry by designing experiments to observe how genotype connects to phenotype and, subsequently, organism behavior.