Chapter 20: Using Scaffolding to Develop Evidentiary Reasoning: A Simulation-Based Approach to Teaching Biological Evolution Online

This lesson addresses the topic of biological evolution. For approximately five class sessions, students will complete several simulation activities and read authentic articles on mutations in genes involved in the digestion of lactose. While the original implementations of this lesson were asynchronous, this lesson could easily be implemented into a hybrid setting where teachers use synchronous video time to provide foundational knowledge or to model the use of the simulations. Natural selection will be presented as the primary driver of biological evolution, and other processes, such as artificial selection or contrasts between gradualism and punctuated equilibrium, will not be discussed. Students will learn about the process of natural selection and the evidence that natural selection has occurred in the past and continues to occur in the present.