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8:40 Never look at a plant the same way again! Come explore plant structure and the many adaptations that make plants true survivors. This clip briefly compares vascular and nonvascular plant structure before jumping into several plant adaptations.

Shape of Life is a series of FREE short classroom videos that beautifully illustrate the evolution of the animal kingdom on planet earth. Based upon an original PBS Series, Shape of Life is especially designed for students and teachers who want a first-hand account of how animals adapt and thrive. The series is NGSS aligned with exquisite focus on diversity, biodiversity, adaptability, body structure, design, behaviors, and the innovative scientists who explore these creatures.

Shape of Life is a series of FREE short classroom videos that beautifully illustrate the evolution of the animal kingdom on planet earth. Based upon an original PBS Series, Shape of Life is especially designed for students and teachers who want a first-hand account of how animals adapt and thrive. The series is NGSS aligned with exquisite focus on diversity, biodiversity, adaptability, body structure, design, behaviors, and the innovative scientists who explore these creatures.

mpacts and adaptations of climate change across the major regions of the US. Also broken down across 10 sectors-agriculture, coasts, ecosystems, energy, human ,health, etc. 

This clicker case study follows a dialogue between two college students, Lucy and Dan, as they discover how alternative splicing of mRNA molecules can allow a single gene to code for multiple proteins. Dan is participating in a clinical trial for a drug that may treat his migraines by inhibiting calcitonin gene-related peptide, and Lucy is working in a summer research lab that studies the protein calcitonin. They soon realize that the two proteins are both encoded by the same gene, and through their questioning and dialogue they come to understand the phenomenon of alternative splicing. They also learn about other steps of mRNA processing and about monoclonal antibodies. This case was designed to be taught in a flipped classroom, but could easily be adapted for a more traditional classroom setting if content covered in the pre-class videos is covered during the case study instead. It was designed for an introductory-level molecular biology course, but could be adapted for higher levels by including more information about the physiology and regulatory mechanisms involved.

The PBL Clearinghouse contains problems from a wide variety of disciplines. As the problems and supporting materials are covered by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, you are welcome to borrow and adapt these problems for your classroom. Because these files are open sourced, your students may search and discover the teaching notes and solutions. We encourage you to make changes, adapt the problems to your specific goals and classroom contexts and thereby discourage your students from "borrowing" solutions or otherwise circumventing your instructional goals.

This case study introduces students to the "Red Queen Hypothesis." The hypothesis states that when two species compete for a limited resource or exist in a predator-prey relationship, in order for the antagonists to remain in relative population equilibrium, there must be ongoing and reciprocal adaptation on each side. If one species fails to adapt, it may quickly face extinction. Students are introduced to the Red Queen Hypothesis through an excerpt from Lewis Carroll's novel, Through the Looking Glass, in which Alice meets the Red Queen. They then review experiments from the research literature to evaluate the validity of the hypothesis in extant populations.  Students culminate their learning by contrasting their knowledge of the Red Queen Hypothesis to Darwinian evolutionary theory based on a passage from On the Origin of Species.  Students then craft a letter to Darwin helping to explain his "wedge" theory, a notion he originally developed but removed from later iterations of his book due to a lack of experimental evidence. Originally developed for advanced high school biology students, the case also may be used in a college-level introductory course on evolutionary biology.

list of PBS resources for adaptation and natural selection

web based activity on speciation and adaptive radiation

Penn State University anthropologist Dr. Nina Jablonski walks us through the evidence that the different shades of skin color among human populations arose as adaptations to the intensity of ultraviolet radiation in different parts of the world.

In this "clicker case," students learn about sex determination, meiosis, and chromosomal "crossing over" through the story of Santhi Soundararajan, an athlete from Kathakkurichi, India, who was stripped of a medal at the 2006 Asian Games after failing to pass a sex test. The case is called a clicker case because it combines the use of student personal response systems (clickers) with case teaching methods and formats. The case itself is a PowerPoint presentation (~2 MB) shown in class that is punctuated by questions students respond to using their clickers. It can be adapted for use without these technologies. Developed for an introductory biology class for both majors and non-majors, the case could also be used in an anatomy and physiology course or an endocrinology course.

In this "clicker case," students learn about sex determination, meiosis, and chromosomal "crossing over" through the story of Santhi Soundararajan, an athlete from Kathakkurichi, India, who was stripped of a medal at the 2006 Asian Games after failing to pass a sex test. The case is called a clicker case because it combines the use of student personal response systems (clickers) with case teaching methods and formats. The case itself is a PowerPoint presentation (~2 MB) shown in class that is punctuated by questions students respond to using their clickers. It can be adapted for use without these technologies. Developed for an introductory biology class for both majors and non-majors, the case could also be used in an anatomy and physiology course or an endocrinology course.

In their study of the medium ground finches, evolutionary biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant were able to track the evolution of beak size twice in an amazingly short period of time due to two major droughts that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. This activity simulates the food availability during these droughts and demonstrates how rapidly natural selection can act when the environment changes. Students use two different types of tools to represent different beak types to see which is best adapted to collect and "eat" seeds of different sizes. Students collect and analyze data and draw conclusions about traits that offer a selective advantage under different environmental conditions. They have the option of using an Excel spreadsheet to calculate different descriptive statistics and interpret graphs.

The anole lizards of the Caribbean islands represent a group of about 150 closely related species, most of which evolved within the past 50 million years from a single colonizing species. Different processes, including geographic isolation, adaptation to different environments, and reproductive isolation, play a role in anole speciation. 

Shape of Life is a series of short classroom videos that beautifully illustrate the evolution of the animal kingdom on planet earth. Based upon an original PBS Series, Shape of Life, is especially designed for students and teachers who want a first-hand account of how animals adapt and thrive.

The virtual lab includes four modules that investigate different concepts in evolutionary biology, including adaptation, convergent evolution, phylogenetic analysis, reproductive isolation, and speciation. Each module involves data collection, calculations, analysis and answering questions. The "Educators" tab includes lists of key concepts and learning objectives and detailed suggestions for incorporating the lab in your instruction.

This interrupted case study is designed to introduce beginning biology students to the process of science by exploring a question that is accessible to students with limited scientific background. The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardialis) is the tallest terrestrial mammal and has a disproportionally long neck. Historically, this trait has been hypothesized to be an adaptation for competition between the giraffe and other herbivore species. Guided by a PowerPoint presentation and (optional) worksheet, students will propose hypotheses to explain the giraffe's uniquely long neck and will examine the results of field experiments to test the prevalent historical hypothesis that the long neck allows the giraffe to exploit high food sources. They will find that the data do not support this initial hypothesis and will use other field observations to propose and examine an alternative hypothesis. Throughout the activity students will engage in the process of science; they will propose hypotheses, design experiments, make predictions, and draw conclusions from published field observations.

This clicker case addresses several concepts related to the evolutionary ecology of herbivore defenses. A survey of several different studies that investigated chemical defenses in Thymus vulgaris (thyme) gives students the opportunity to develop hypotheses, pose potential experiments, and interpret data to develop a better understanding of not only herbivore deterrence, but also how natural selection can involve different pressures selecting for different phenotypes. The case study incorporates group discussion, analysis of experimental design, and data evaluation as central activities. It can be taught in a single 50-minute class session, an economy that is achieved in part by using a "flipped" approach. Students prepare outside of class by watching several short videos (one of which was made by the author) that teach the basics of herbivore deterrence and abiotic and biotic forces in the environment that can influence plant adaptations. The case study was designed for use in a large introductory-level class, but would also be appropriate for smaller classes or upper-level evolution courses.

This video follows biologist Shane Campbell-Staton, who is studying the adaptations that allow deer mice living at high elevations to stay warm and active during the winter.

2 minute animation, (includes full body animation rendition of Australopithicus) A recent study of fossil shoulder bones from a human ancestor reveals that this ancient relative was still well adapted to living in trees, even after the evolution of bipedalism. Studying features like these helps scientists to better understand when modern humans moved away from a partly arboreal lifestyle and transitioned to living exclusively on the ground.

4:13 Bowerbirds with David Attenborough

This PowerPoint-driven case study follows the progress of three undergraduate students as they attempt to model the rapid spread of an influenza outbreak to determine whether their local newspaper's claim that "40% of the campus has the flu" is accurate. The case introduces epidemiological modeling using a base model for a seasonal influenza outbreak written in the NetLogo programmable modeling environment. In class, students develop tests for the various parameters of the model, run simulations, and evaluate the output. The students then explore the impact of influenza control strategies (vaccination, isolation, and antiviral medications), and finish with the question of whether the continuing outbreak on campus could be a pandemic. The case is written at a basic level for a lower-level undergraduate lecture-style class, but can be adapted to upper-level courses as well. The case was piloted in four different microbiology courses. The simulations stimulated active discussion and the content worked well, whether it was used in a pre-nursing microbiology or upper-level immunology class.