Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, the basis for his seminal work On the Origin of Species, is an overarching theme in our seventh grade life science course. As a year-end experience, our students complete “The Evolution Project“. This multi-faceted, well scaffolded endeavor includes and combines scholarly research, public speaking, technology, and differentiation [...]

Earlier this year Mike Fitzgerald and his fifth grade geography class (aka the Geo-Squirts) created a Natural Disasters/Severe Weather Investigation unit and dedicated it to their friends at the Claret School, Quezon City, the Philippines.  This week the project was featured on St. Louis’ Fox 2 News: To structure the experience, the unit was comprised [...]

Natural selection, the process by which heritable traits become more common in a population over generations, is a cornerstone of biology.  This vitally important concept is often difficult for students to fully grasp, however,  because it is abstract and cannot be observed in the laboratory.  Consequently, students’ understanding of natural selection is often vocabulary-driven at [...]