About this course: How are all of the species living on Earth today related? How does understanding evolutionary science contribute to our well-being? In this course, participants will learn about evolutionary relationships, population genetics, and natural and artificial selection. Participants will explore evolutionary science and learn how to integrate it into their classrooms.
Created by: American Museum of Natural History
Taught by: Joel Cracraft, Ph.D., Chair and Lamont Curator
Division of Vertebrate Zoology
Taught by: David Randle, Ph.D., Senior Manager of Professional Development
Education Department
| Commitment | 5-8 hours/week |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Romanian |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Course Introduction
1 video, 3 readings
Introduction and Darwin's First Great Idea - The Tree of Life
The first module of the course introduces Charles Darwin’s revolutionary concept of a “tree of life” depicting the evolution of all life from a common ancestor; how evolutionary trees depict relationships among organisms; and how new species are formed. You wi...
4 videos, 3 readings, 1 practice quiz
Graded: Module Two Quiz
WEEK 2
Darwin's Second Great Idea - Adaptation via Natural Selection
You will learn about Darwin’s second breakthrough: that adaptation via natural selection is the basic mechanism of evolution. You’ll go behind the scenes with Dr. Cracraft to see how evolutionary biologists use the Museum’s collections. Lastly, you’ll choose a...
7 videos, 1 reading
Graded: Module Three Quiz
Graded: Peer-Reviewed Assignment
WEEK 3
The History of Life
You will learn about the role of extinction in evolution, and find out what the relatedness of major groups of living things reveals about the history of life. You’ll also watch videos of scientists at work and learn how to use them in your classroom.
4 videos, 2 readings
Graded: Module Four Quiz
WEEK 4
Human Evolution
This module explores the rich variety of hominids on the tree of life, along with how and when different human species - including Homo sapiens - migrated around the world. You’ll also learn strategies for teaching evolution in culturally diverse classrooms.
4 videos, 3 readings
Graded: Module Five Quiz
Course Conclusion
1 video, 3 readings
FAQs
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Coursework
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Creators
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition.
Ratings and Reviews
This was a great course with an engaging and informative presentation of both the scientific information (thanks Dr. Cracraft) as well as the educational insights (thanks Dr. Randle) into not only how to understand but how to teach this complicated information. The emphasis on teaching it as a valuable, active science will surely be better received than teaching it as static facts. Thanks to all who made this course available!
This is a great course for anyone interested in teaching evolutionary topics in the classroom. The lectures are well organized and are easy to follow, and the assessments are manageable and useful for reinforcing all the material. I particularly liked all the different teaching resources offered or facilitated by this course, as I will likely be incorporating many of them into my lesson plans.
Excellent course!
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Excellent! A great primer on the importance of evolution and how to teach this theory to others. Great links and resources!