Resource
Portfolio
Report
December 2
2013
Evolution – Group C
Authors: Laura Watson, Kieran
Smith, Marcel Fowler, Nicholas Reed
Table of Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 2
Analysis of Resources ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Text Books ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
ICT resources: Videos .................................................................................................................................... 4
Resources Portfolio: Worksheets................................................................................................................... 6
Practical activities .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Summary.......................................................................................................................................................... 11
References ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
Appendix .......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Appendix 1: Resources ................................................................................................................................ 12
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Diagram emphasising the misconception........................................................................................... 7
Figure 2: Bloom's taxonomy .............................................................................................................................. 8
Introduction
The theory of evolution is taught in parts at Key Stage 3 and more comprehensively at Key Stage 4. It is an
important, robust scientific theory that explains many similarities and quirks found in living organisms. In
this report, we explore the extent to which different resources meet certain criteria as listed below.
1. Contain accurate scientific content.
Anything that is taught to children by a teacher should be accurate. Therefore the resources that the
teacher chooses to use must also be accurate. The degree of accuracy of resources will be reviewed in this
report.
2. Address any misconceptions associated with evolution.
There seems to be a myriad of misconceptions surrounding the theory of evolution, when the correct ideas
may actually be less difficult to understand. It is essential to be able to identify and tackle misconceptions. It
is also important that any resources a teacher might use do not reinforce any misconceptions.
3. Cater for different abilities of students.
Differentiation within a classroom or between classes and year groups is important. Having resources that
can be differentiated or accessible by a wider range of students can be helpful.
4. Sensitive to different backgrounds/beliefs of students.
As part of a multicultural society, teachers in Britain need to be aware that their students might have
different beliefs, and that some of these beliefs might conflict with the theory of evolution.
The resources investigated are all intended to be either directly used by or shown to students. Where
applicable the resources have been included in Appendix 1 of this report. For resources found on the
internet, the producers of the resource and the web URL have been included in Appendix 1. The reviews are
written with the idea that readers will have access to the resources and can review them to familiarise
themselves with the content.
Analysis of Resources
Text Books - by Laura Watson
This review assesses two books from different exam boards, published at similar times, against the criteria
introduced at the beginning of this report. The focus is KS4 textbooks, as information about evolution is
more extensive and readily available here than in KS3 books.
OCR Gateway: GCSE Biology – Oxford University Press 2011
The scientific accuracy of this resource is generally good. The only issue is the way in which adaptations are
dealt with. The statement “An adaptation is a feature of an animal’s body which helps it to live in its
environment…” is misleading as adaptations can also be behavioural. Behaviour as a strategy to copy with
environmental stress is discussed, but the concept of behaviours being adaptations is never made explicit.
This book does, however, address common misconceptions associated with evolution via natural
selection well. One misconception is that changes that occur in an individual during its lifetime are passed
on to its offspring: the book is explicit about the fact that evolution involves “chance mutations in genes”. It
also describes Lamarck’s theory (which is built on this misconception) and why it is believed to be incorrect.
Another misconception is that evolution is somehow a process in which the changes are actively chosen
(i.e. selected). The book uses the specific example of how a giraffe acquired its long neck to show how
“chance mutations” which present an advantage become widespread as offspring “inherit the advantage”
through the process of survival of the fittest, thus eliminating the idea that the advantage has been actively
selected.
Different attainment levels are catered for by this book. Example questions for different GCSE
grades are given on each double page spread. The material is fairly accessible and easy to read, with clear,
helpful diagrams. However, differentiation involves tackling ideas in different ways that may be appropriate
to different people (or help consolidate an idea in the same individual). This book is lacking in that it doesn’t
seem to repeat concepts in different ways.
Evolution contradicts many religious beliefs and the book briefly touches on this with respect to the
bible. It concludes that “Over time this theory has been discussed and tested by scientists and is now widely
accepted”. To those sensitive to the issue, albeit a minority, this statement may come across as saying that
most people believe in Darwin’s theory because scientists say that it is true. Rightly or wrongly, this minority
may be uncomfortable with the authority subtly attributed scientists by this statement. It may be better to
acknowledge that there are many different beliefs about this subject, but that natural selection is the most
popular when considering scientific values.
AQA Science: Biology – Nelson Thornes Ltd 2011
This book appears to have very accurate scientific content. It also conveys the idea that adaptations can be
behavioural, stating that animals “adapt their behaviour”, not just physical, which is a problem with ‘OCR
Gateway: GCSE Biology’.
Misconceptions associated with evolution are dealt with very well in this resource, in a similar way
to the previous resource, but with some added benefits. Mutations are described in much more detail and
it is made clear that “mutations may have no effects on the characteristics...and some…are harmful”, both
of which help to drive home the idea that mutations are truly random.
Evolution is described in a variety of contexts in this resource, from the historical, to the modern
(with more detail about genes). It is also discussed in terms of the evidence that was needed to convince
scientists of the theory of natural selection, as well as the conflict with religious beliefs. The same core ideas
are repeated each time, in different ways, making it more likely for an individual to come across the concept
explained in a way that is tangible to them. However, there is more text and fewer pictures and diagrams in
this resource than in ‘OCR Gateway: GCSE Biology’, which may make it less appealing and/or less accessible
to some. Also, unlike the previous resource, there is no explicit grading of questions. This could be seen as
an advantage or disadvantage, depending on whether you believe that explicit levelling of questions
encourages or discourages students.
Contradictions with religious beliefs are approached more sensitively in this book. Firstly, no
reference to any specific religion is made, just that “natural selection challenged the belief that God made
all of the animals and plants…”. It also goes into detail about how Darwin had to convince scientists of his
theory, concluding that eventually “the majority of scientists accepted Darwin’s ideas”. This is subtly
different to the concluding statement in the previous resource, but nevertheless seems less likely to cause
offense to those sensitive to the issue.
Textbooks have many roles in the classroom, some more beneficial to learning than others, but all resulting
in textbooks being a common classroom resource. So it is important that they are as useful and appropriate
as possible. Both of the books in this review appear to be useful and appropriate with respect to the criteria
set out at the beginning of this report. ‘AQA Science Biology’ appears to be a better all round resource,
although ‘OCR Gateway: GCSE Biology’ may be more appropriate for lower attainment students.
ICT resources: Videos - by Kieran Smith
This report will investigate the effectiveness of a set of teacher based ICT resources in the form of internet
videos as a tool for aiding learning. The resources will be assessed based on the criteria stated at the start
of the portfolio. Three very different styles of video clip will be analysed and critically reviewed. The first
clip is the Charles Darwin song by Horrible Histories, a British TV show based on the book series by Terry
Deary with the aim of making stereotypically boring subjects fun. The second video is titled ‘What is
evolution’. This is made by the YouTube poster Stated Clearly, an American group focused on making easy to
understand educational science videos. The third is an introduction to evolution and natural selection by
the Khan academy, a group dedicated to providing high quality free education to everyone regardless of age
or ability.
The Charles Darwin video by Horrible Histories is a short clip (under 3 minutes) that conveys information
about evolution and natural selection in the form of a song. It is done as a live action parody of David
Bowie’s popular song ‘Changes’ to make the topic more fun for pupils, particularly younger students. The
scientific information put forth by the song is mostly accurate and gives a good over view of who Charles
Darwin was and the basic idea behind evolution and natural selection. However the video does not go into
great detail on the biology of evolution. Instead the focus is more on the life of Charles Darwin and how he
came up with his theory of evolution. The inclusion of fun facts such as Charles Darwin trying to ride around
on tortoises may help to get students more engaged with the material. The video brings up the delicate
issue of the conflict between evolution and the Church of England at the time of its discovery. It handles the
matter in a delicate way and should be acceptable for use with pupils from multiple backgrounds and faiths.
There are issues with this resource. Unfortunately, not only does the video fail to address the
common misconception that humans evolved from monkeys, but it actually states it at the beginning of the
video. This could cause students to believe that people originated from the monkeys and other great apes
present today. Also, as it is done to a song, the information is put across very quickly and the images in the
video do not always tie in that closely with the audio. This might result in EAL and low ability pupils not
picking up in all the information in the video. As it is pitched as being fairly silly there is also a risk of a class
getting over focused on the fun aspects and not picking up the information from the video.
‘What is Evolution’ by Stated Clearly is a very different style of video clip to the Charles Darwin song. It is
nearly 9 minutes long, animated rather than live action and it is more focused towards conveying
information rather than entertainment. The video contains a lot of information on evolution, on a whole is
scientifically accurate and covers the topic in great depth. The common misconception that humans evolved
from monkeys is addressed and it is made clear that we share a common ancestor rather than being directly
related. It also addresses the misconception that Charles Darwin was the sole discoverer of the idea of
evolution, mentioning the much less well known contributor to the theory Alfred Russel Wallace. The use of
animated cartoons rather than actors means that the images in the video convey a lot of information to the
watcher and tie in well with the audio, this should help to make the clip accessible to EAL and low ability
pupils. Difficult concepts are also referred back to at multiple points throughout the video which while
making the concepts easier to grasp may cause high ability pupils to become bored and stop paying
attention. The video is aimed for use at American high school students and uses examples they can relate
to such as thanksgiving dinner and Elvis Presley, this may make it less relevant and less accessible to non
Americans. When I observed this videos use as a started activity for a year 9 class the pupils used the video
to come up with their own learning objectives for the lesson, the learning objectives the pupils came up
with reflected the content in the video very well showing they were engaging with it.
Introduction to evolution and natural selection hosted by the Khan academy is the longest out of all the
three videos at 18 minutes long. It also does not attempt to be entertaining and is entirely focused on the
context. The information is presented in the form of a blackboard: all information is handwritten onto the
board and is spoken through by the unseen presenter. A lot of scientifically accurate information is in this
resource. It explains evolution in good detail and includes a lot of the classic examples used for evolution
such as the peppered moth. However, due to its very didactic nature and lack of visual aids pupils may
become bored. The video focuses purely on the science and does not look at any of the controversial issues
as such should be acceptable from pupils from all backgrounds. As the writing in the video is all hand drawn
and not always very easy to read, EAL pupils may find it harder to understand than ‘What is evolution’ by
Stated Clearly.
In conclusion, video based ICT resources can be used to make lessons engaging and accessible for pupils
with a wide range of attainments. Short, entertaining videos can be a successful starter activity to pique
pupil’s interests in a topic and often do not require extra planning. Longer videos, however, will require an
activity for pupils to do alongside watching, such as a worksheet or coming up with their own learning
objectives.
Worksheets – by Marcel Fowler
The worksheets that I will be analysing are from 2 sources: AQA and Go Science, they vary greatly but all
attempt to cover the concepts that need to be understood in evolution.
The first topic I will cover is the accuracy of the scientific information on the worksheets. On analysing the
worksheets I found a confusing statement in the AQA worksheet on evolutionary trees. It stated that in
family trees: “the more recently the species have diverged, the more closely related they are”. This
statement is confusing as it does not explain what is meant by relation: does it mean genetically related? If
so, this is wrong. Just because an organism is later to branch off does not mean it is more similar genetically
to the ancestor. If however, relation means only further down the tree, this would be correct. However this
may lead to confusion.
On analysing the Go science ‘Theories of Evolution’ worksheet, I found one sentence which needed
further information. It stated that “Natural selection works on inherited characteristics (caused by genes).”
Students would then feel that natural selection is only due the genetic information and not also due to the
suitability of the inherited characteristics (genes) to the ecosystem. This may lead to a misconception that
all that matters is the genes and not their suitability.
The second criterion is whether the worksheets address misconceptions that the pupils may have. I will
firstly analyse the Go science ‘Theories of Evolution’ and ‘Evolution’ worksheets.
In the ‘Theories of Evolution’ worksheet, the first statement attempts to combat the misconception
that evolutionary theory implies that life evolved randomly and states: “Darwin’s theory of evolution states
that evolution happened through natural selection”. Both worksheets quell the misconception that
evolution only occurs slowly and gradually, stating: “Rapid evolution can occur if a new form of gene occurs
due to a mutation or if there is a large change in the environment” and “Evolutionary changes can happen
very slowly by natural selection or slightly more quickly due to mutation.” Therefore both worksheets state
that evolution can sometimes be much more rapid.
The ‘Theories of Evolution’ worksheet’s main topic was to display two theories and in doing this
combat misconceptions. It introduced Lamarck’s theory that evolution was due to the inheritance of
characteristics changed by the environment in the previous generations and Darwin’s theory with the
process of natural selection. In this respect, the worksheet does really well in explaining the differences in
both theories and that Darwin’s theory explained evolution better in most of the cases found, but does not
explain why.
Another misconception targeted in the ‘Theories of Evolution’ sheet is that natural selection is
about the survival of the fittest individuals in the population. The sheet states that “individuals with better
suited variations are much more likely to breed successfully”, saying that it is not about being the fittest, it is
about being the best adapted to the local habitat.
One final misconception the ‘Theories of Evolution’ sheet combats is that natural selection
produces organisms perfectly suited to their environments stating “some variations are better suited to the
environment than other variations” in the flow chart.
The ‘Evolution’ worksheet states “Organism’s do not decide to adapt to their environment. Changes
happen due to their genes”. This combats the misconception that natural selection involves organisms
trying to adapt to an environment instead of being a result of genetic variation and the fact that some of
these genetic variants are more suited to the environment.
A final misconception targeted is that all mutations give an advantage to an organism. It asks the
student to explain whether they agree with the statement “all mutations give an advantage to the
organism”. As mutations are change in the genetic material, this may cause a change that is debilitating to
its life in the ecosystem.
The AQA worksheets ‘Evolutionary Trees’, ‘Variation and Evolution’, ‘How the peppered moth changed
colour’ and ‘Natural Selection’ also address misconceptions.
The evolutionary trees worksheets states that “the more recently the species have diverged the
closer related they are”. This statement combats a misconception that taxa adjacent on the tips of the
phylogeny are related by the same amount to each other even if some have branched diverged sooner from
the tree.
A
B
C
D
≠A<B<C<D
Figure1:1:Diagram
Diagram
emphasising
the misconception
Figure
emphasising
evolutionary
tree misconception
The natural selection worksheet works to combat the misconception that the strongest of the
species survives to pass on its genes. In the activity on the worksheet, each student is given a beak and
rotated around different islands with different food sources and told to note whether they can use their
beak to eat the food source. They then answered some questions on which island their beak would have
thrived or died on and applied this to Darwin’s finding on Galapagos.
The third criterion is whether the worksheets differentiate according to ability. The Go Science worksheets
differentiate according to ability by having a range of tasks increasing in difficulty (Target D-C to B-A*) as you
go through the worksheet. The lower ability questions have more supporting information such as diagrams
and extra information than the higher ability. The worksheets follow the Bloom’s taxonomy below.
Figure 2: Bloom's taxonomy
On the evolution worksheet, the first part is a knowledge question regarding the naming of
organisms. The next part uses both analysing and applying skills in using the evolutionary tree to state why
mice and rats are both the same type of animal. The final part of the question requires the student to
analyse and evaluate the tree and then compare it to a different form to suggest how the evolutionary tree
supports evolutionary theory.
In a higher ability question, the remembering element is not tested upon, with the first part testing
the understanding of the term mutation. The second part tests the understanding of natural selection to
apply it to an explanation of why it is a slow process. The final part asks the pupil to evaluate a
misconception (all mutations give an advantage to an organism). The highest tier of Bloom’s was not
observed in any Go Science worksheet.
For the AQA worksheets, differentiation is observed in progression through the individual
worksheets and the worksheets themselves. The worksheets show a natural progression range from a
“Bump up your grade” to a “how science works”, and then to an “extension” and a “go further” worksheet.
The “Bump up your grade” worksheet has a very simple activity regarding beak shape and different food
sources and very short questions on remembering what they observed. The final question allows them to
apply their understanding.
The ‘how science works’ sheet is slightly more advanced with a lot more text and longer questions.
The questions tested observation, analysing of results and evaluating skills before asking how they could
make the results more reliable, a highest tier creating question. The extension and go further worksheets
had a lot less writing, presuming that the pupils already had the necessary knowledge. They seemed to
build from the start to the end of Bloom’s as each question was completed.
The last criterion is in regard to sensitivity of teaching the subject to different backgrounds and whether the
worksheets displayed this regard in their worksheets. I found no evidence of this in either of the sets of
worksheets. I find this encouraging as the correct science should never be made less definitive by external
pressures because we would never have got to this stage of understanding if science had not been brave
and stood up to external influence. However neither worksheet states that evolution though well accepted,
is a theory and not a law.
I conclude that the Go Science worksheets are more accessible due to their more graphic appearance.
However, the AQA sheets portray the types of questions that the student will face in exams. Therefore a use
of a combination of the Go Science worksheet in the introduction of the subject and then the AQA
worksheets building up to the exam would be a good strategy.
In conclusion, worksheets are very effective in the teaching of evolution as they have the capability to
both combat misconceptions and allow the pupil to know how they are progressing in their understanding
of the area.
Practical activities – by Nicholas Reed
Doing an activity is a great way to learn about new concepts or reinforce previously learnt ones. They can
help to break monotony in the classroom, promote discussion or help with understanding that would
otherwise be difficult for learners to understand from reading. Here, two activities that could be conducted
in a classroom setting are reviewed.
Evolution-Cards -Sequencing and Matching
Source: found at http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/science-society/activities-evolution
published by Nuffield Foundation
The process of evolution has been broken down into separate stages on separate cards which, when
ordered correctly, accurately describes evolution. The activity is presented as a lesson plan with teacher’s
sheet and student sheets containing the actual cards which need to be printed and cut out and possibly
laminated.
The peppered-moth's and bacteria's evolution are used as examples and these correlate well with a
third general description of evolution. This should help learners to understand what happens in each
evolutionary stage and how this changes the characteristics of a living species. The only arguable accuracy
issue would be with the statement: ”The variant which survives better will reproduce more during its
lifetime so passing on the genes which produce the variation.” This statement is confusing, as it might not
refer to the lifetime of the organism, rather the lifespan of a generation which contains that variation. A
better and more focused statement could be: “The better surviving variant also reproduces more
successfully (off-springs that also reproduce); i.e. a higher percentage than other variants.”
Misconceptions related to evolution are not stated directly. However, the process of sorting these
cards could be done as group work to promote peer learning and allow misconceptions to be discussed and
tackled in class. I feel an addition of certain stages would have helped to tackle misconceptions. For
instance, the following stage cards added: “Successful variations found in organisms which are specialised
to an environment or task are called adaptations” e.g. the patterns on the moth is similar to the tree it
prefers to live on.
Despite, or possibly because, of the accuracy this activity, it would not be suitable for beginners or
or those without some prior knowledge in biology and theory of evolution, as the terminology on the cards
is quite technical. Also, due to the language used, pupils whose English is not very good might struggle.
There are no provisions for differentiation between learner abilities. Therefore it would be up to the teacher
to decide if this activity was appropriate for their pupils, and think of their own strategies on how to
challenge quicker students and support slower students.
This activity does not directly address the learner or their experience and cultural background. As
such it makes no effort to be sensitive to the beliefs or background of the learner. However this should not
be an issue for most learners as there are no cultural messages or subtexts within this activity. It should,
therefore, be appropriate to all relevant audiences regardless of cultural backgrounds.
Hammers as Alleles
This activity focuses on demonstrating the survival of the fittest, it simplifies the complex
relationships between an organism's adaptations and its ability to survive and reproduce in a given
environment. The activity is described in a few short paragraphs and is written in a style that
describes the activity but doesn’t address many of the point’s salient to a teacher or a learner.
Different hammers represent alleles of an arbitrary gene within an organism. Learners can
choose hammers based on fitness, thus leading to a change of the future population of the alleles.
Certain ideas are loosely touched on such as a change in environment can lead to elimination,
however the actual process of evolution or how it should be conveyed is not described in detail in
the guidelines, instead it encourages the instructor to fill in the specifics of the activities and the
scientific concepts. It is therefore lacking in some detail. For instance it should have mentioned how
random mutations and changes to the environment affect the selection process. E.g. high humidity
or areas where predators are attracted to loud noises etc. Due to a lack of an accurate description of
evolution, or survival of the fittest, this activity cannot be considered an accurate teaching activity.
The analogy used is easy enough to understand however there is some likelihood of the
learner gaining some misconceptions. Teaching survival of the fittest on its own can lead to
misunderstanding: 'In Darwin's context, “fittest” implied “best suited to a particular environment”
rather than “most physically fit,” but this crucial distinction' is often overlooked(2) even when taught
well. There is not enough emphasis on how changing the environment can change the species so
that it evolves adaptations. The activity could show evolutionary changes in DNA occurring very
rapidly, as the elimination of 1 or more types of distinct hammer/allele could occur within 3
generations.
The use of everyday inexpensive objects that have physical differences for different practical
application is easy to relate to and does not require much prior knowledge. There are no suggestions
of how to differentiate this activity for mixed abilities classes or between high and low ability classes.
The teacher would have to use techniques and or activities not described in this activity.
This activity as presented does not highlight cultural or believe ideas and should therefore be
approachable for most people of different backgrounds. An argument could be made that this
activity encourages the idea of a higher being (i.e. god, as being acted out by the student) making
decisions to change a species thereby actively choosing the path of evolution; and hence the
misconception that this reflects what happens in real life. It would be hard to argue this rather
tenuous link as the activity is not described in enough detail.
Both of these activities show that evolution can be taught through classroom activity that promotes
active learning and participation and focused discussion, which are all useful in effective teaching
strategies. These two example shows that there can be an alternative to quiet reading when studying
the theory of evolution.
Summary
All the resources here could be potentially used in a classroom to teach the theory of evolution.
However, they would probably have varying degrees of success. Those that satisfy all criteria
stipulated could probably be considered good or excellent resources. Those that have short comings
in 1 or more criteria would probably need reviewing and or modifying before being useful in the
classroom, especially if the shortcomings come under category 1 or 2. Using a range of resources
would allow the teacher to add variation to their lessons. They could also maintain variation over a
series of lessons on the topic of evolution. For instance, videos and text books are great for learning
about evolution, engaging the learner and imparting lots of information. However, worksheets are
great for tackling misconceptions, reviewing progress and exam revision. Activities can be used to
promote active learning or learning through discovery. All the activities could be used to promote
classroom discussion and peer learning. The theory of evolution doesn’t have to be a confusing,
misconception filled mess. However, a little forethought is required to ensure that teachers can
engage their students, teach accurately and help their students avoid misconceptions.
References
1. Figure 2: Bloom’s Taxonomy
2. Evolution: Education and Outreach, June 2009, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp 156-175
25th November 2013 , http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/id/bloom_taxonomy.jpg