Abby Soltis
ED 433
April 11, 2012
Teaching the Nature of Science
Abstract
This paper contains seven useful activities for teaching students about the nature of science through the evolution. These activities promote are designed to teach students about evolution, while learning the basic tenets of science, as well as the process for “doing” science. Science is often considered as a body of knowledge, however science is also the process of using creativity, background knowledge, and multiple disciplines to gather and interpret data. These activities will teach students the basic principles of evolution and the basic principles of science. The side-byside use of content and nature of science promote understanding and application to real situations, so that the students will not simply memorize and forget material. These lessons will also reinforce that the theory of evolution is rigorously tested and highly supported.
Rationale
It is important for students to study the nature of science alongside content because of the misconception that science is only a body of knowledge and that “doing” science means following the steps of the scientific method. The third, often forgotten, piece of science is inquiry (Bybee et al., 2008). Inquiry is the way scientific knowledge is acquired and the process by which theories and laws are created. Inquiry means applying creativity, background knowledge and multiple disciplines to compile and interpret the data gathered; this process results in scientific knowledge
(Bell, 2009).
Students that study evolution and the nature of science will be able to engage and interact with the body of knowledge instead of simply memorize it. The application of inquiry in learning will get students to “understand” the body of knowledge or more importantly apply observations and data to real situations. In engaging in inquiry while learning about evolution, students will understand that their surroundings are a part of a long history of changes (National Academy of Science,
1998). Additionally, engaging in inquiry and being aware of doing so, will allow students to apply this skill to observations outside the content area of evolution. This process will take students beyond classroom science into real world, applicable science.
In the case of teaching evolution, it is especially important to teach the nature of science alongside this content. This is largely due to the controversy surrounding the topic. Students must be learn and understand which viewpoints fall under the realm of science, for instance, creationism may be a valid religious belief, but does not fall under the constraints of science.
Science concerns itself with natural methods and explanations and precludes supernatural explanation in the production of scientific knowledge (NSTA Position Statement, 2000). Students will also view evolution and its counterparts as an applicable process, relevant to their observations, rather than an abstract theory that happened a long time ago.
Objectives o Students will be able to understand that the theory of evolution has been rigorously tested and is consistent with all current information. o Students will be able to understand that scientific inquiry involves creativity, background information, collaboration, and flexibility. o Students will be able to indentify, understand and apply science as a resulting body of knowledge, the process of inquiry, and a series of steps known as the scientific method. o Students will be able to objectively explore evolution as a scientific theory and will be able to discriminate between interpretations that are included in science and interpretations outside the realm of science. o Students will be able to understand scientific knowledge as a fluid body, updated as new evidence is discovered.

Abby Soltis
ED 433
April 11, 2012
Day-to-day activities
Activity 1- Photo classification
Students will work in small groups and will be provided with 20 or more photos of organisms that have similar physical traits. They will be asked to make observations of each organism and then group together the organisms into a classification system. Afterwards students will discuss their classification schemes and how these may or may not affect evolutionary relationships. (Adapted from Nowicki, 2012) o Students will be able to understand the difference between observations and interpretations. o Students will be able to identify scientific knowledge as a fluid body of information based on current evidence available. o Students will be able to recognize that closely related organism (and not so closely related organisms) often share similar physical traits. o Students will recognize that phylogenies and classifications provide evidence of evolution.
Activity 2- Case study, structured inquiry
Students will be given a scenario in which they will be asked to use the data given to make predictions about why pesticide resistance occurs over time. After predictions are made new information is given and students are asked to rework their predictions. After the case study students will be asked to relate this activity to the process of acquiring knowledge in science and relevance of pesticide resistance to evolution and natural selection. (Adapted from the National
Academy of Science, 1998) o Students will understand that, as new information becomes available, theories and the body of science knowledge changes. o Students will be able to identify and apply the process of natural selection to predictions about pesticide resistance. o Students will be able to use background information and problem solving to predict the mechanism of pesticide resistance.
Activity 3- Natural Selection: Best Beak
Students will model natural selection through the collection of ‘seeds’ with different ‘beaks.’
Students will be split into groups and each group will have a different type of beak (spoons, chopsticks, forks, etc.). Each group member will collect seeds (different types of beans) from one of several habitats (each has different concentrations of beans). An individual survives a generation only if he or she collects the allotted amount of beans per time frame. The last beak standing is the fittest individual. Students will write up conclusions in a lab report. (Adapted Butler
University’s BI 120 series). o Students will be able to explore the process of evolution through the use of inquiry elements such as creativity and problem solving in order to survive the most generations. o Students will use apply natural selection as a tenet of evolution to explain the development of beak types in birds. o Students will view the development of beaks in birds as a tangible example of evolution.
Activity 4- Evolution vs. Intelligent design
Students working in small groups will be given a series of cartoons regarding evolution and intelligent design and asked to discuss the influence of religion and politics on science. Students will be asked to draft a definition of science and decide which tenets of the previous discussion fit into the drafted definition. As a class we will draft a definition of science together and choose the

Abby Soltis
ED 433
April 11, 2012 tenets of the evolution vs. intelligent design cartoon are described by the word science. (Adapted from an assignment for ED 398). o Students will be able to draft their own definition of science. o Students will be able to explore aspects of the evolution debate and decide what is and is not science. o Students will discriminate between objective observations and interpretations. o Students will confront evolution as a scientific concept.
Activity 5- Web Quest
Students will complete the webquest by working in teams to gather evidence from different fields regarding evolution. After completion of students will discuss the validity of evolution as a theory.
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/lessons/lesson3/act2.html) o Students will be able to understand that the theory of evolution has been rigorously tested and is consistent with all current information.
Activity 6- Homologous Structures
Students will perform guided inquiry by exploring the bone structure of vertebrates. Students will research the bone structure of different vertebrates (include at least 1 winged vertebrate) and come up with a testable hypothesis supporting bone strucutre as evidence for evolution. o Students will explore homologous structures as evidence of evolutionary history. o Students will gain knowledge of the creativity and background knowledge that is necessary to construct hypotheses and theories in science.
Activity 7- Create your own Phylogenetic Tree
Students will create their own phylogentic trees based on DNA sequences using a free software.
Students will choose 10 organisms and compare assess the relatedness of the organisms.
Students will then predict the relatedness of 10 different organisms. o Students will be able to read a phylogenetic tree. o Students will use genetic evidence to support the theory of evolution through the inquiry process.
Assessments
In addition to the previous assessments students will be asked to create a poster that represents evolution as well supported theory and a tenet to science. Students must provide a specific example of evolution and provide supporting evidence. All topics must be approved. Example
Poster Topic: The evolution of bipedal movement in primates.
Literature Cited o Nature of Science Position Statement - NSTA Position Statements. (n.d.). National
Science Teachers Association - Science & Education Resource . Retrieved April 11,
2012, from http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/natureofscience.aspx o Bell, R. (2009). Teaching the nature of science: Three critical questions. Best Practices in
Science Education , 22 , 1-6. o Bybee, R. W., Powell, J., & Trowbridge, L. W. (2008). Teaching secondary school science: strategies for developing scientific literacy (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Abby Soltis
ED 433
April 11, 2012 o Nowicki, S. (2008). McDougal Littell biology (Teacher's ed.). Evanston, Ill.: McDougal
Littell. o Teaching about evolution and the nature of science . (1998). Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.