Evolution: The Unity and Diversity of Life was produced by the Genetic Science Learning Center (GSLC) in collaboration with a team of advisors, evaluators, and dedicated high school teachers in classrooms across the country. The unit went through several rounds of development, revisions and refinements, which were informed by teacher feedback and student assessment measures.
This work was supported by two awards, DRL-1222869 and DRL-1418136, from the National Science Foundation.
The following teachers participated in alpha-testing of various lessons between 2013 and 2015:
Elizabeth Moretz*
Salt Lake Center for Science Education
Salt Lake City, UT
Ricky Scott*
Itineris Early College High School
West Jordan, UT
The Natural Selection lessons were developed during a pilot phase of this project (DRL-1222869). The following teachers participated in classroom testing of those lessons during the 2013-14 school year:
Ronald Call
Madison High School
Rexburg,ID
Christine Celestino*
Juan Diego Catholic High School
Draper, UT
Doug Elliot
Summit High School
Bend, OR
Chris Kuka
Summit High School
Bend, OR
Angela Lane
Ritenour High School
St. Louis, MO
Dominique Miller
Granada High School
Granada, MS
Elizabeth Moretz
Salt Lake Center for Science Education
Salt Lake City, UT
Keri Shingleton
Holland Hall
Tulsa, OK
The following teachers participated in a 2016 Summer Institute and then pilot tested the Evolution unit during the 2016-17 school year:
Secret Belanger*
Century High School
Hillsboro, OR
Leslie Blaha
Montgomery Blair High School
Silver Springs, MD
Brian Bleser
Venice High School
Los Angeles, CA
Lisa Borgia
Rocky River High School
Rocky River, OH
Colleen Coolish
Jefferson High School
Daly City, CA
Mike Dunn*
Century High School
Hillsboro, OR
Cecilia Gilliam
Hahnville High School
Boutte, LA
Angela Harrison
Neville High School
Monroe, LA
Kevin Keeley
Navajo Preparatory School
Farmington, NM
Chris Kuka
Summit High School
Bend, OR
Beverly Lapite
Richwood High School
Monroe, LA
Chris MacMurdo
Sky View High School
Smithfield, UT
Rebekah Masters
Vineland High School
Vineland, NJ
Mark Meredith
Russellville High School
Dardanelle, AR
Stuart Perez
Pittsburg High School
Pittsburg, KS
John Siefert
Conrad Weiser High School
Robesonia, PA
Tina Sutherland*
South Davis Junior High
Bountiful, UT
Michael West
The Collegiate, University of Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Canada
Glen Westbroek*
Orem Junior High
Orem, UT
Robert Wilson*
Rowland Hall High School
Salt Lake City, UT
The following teachers participated in a research study that compared the efficacy for student learning of this evolution unit to teachers' usual evolution unit (aka "business as usual") during the 2017-18 school year. Teachers were randomly assigned to participate as:
Treatment teachers (taught the Evolution: The Unity and Diversity of Life unit)
Renee Boogren
Troy College and Career High School
Troy, MI
Leilagh Boyle
Cottage Grove High School
Cottage Grove, OR
Cherae Ecalono
Oak Canyon Junior High
Lindon, UT
Barbara Frasco
Haddon Township High School
Haddon Township, NJ
Emily Gunderson
East Jackson High
Commerce, GA
Michelle Hamilton
Grand Ledge High School
Grand Ledge, MI
Darren Hodges
Oak Canyon Junior High
Lindon, UT
Grace Javier
Salpointe Catholic High School
Tucson, AZ
Elliott Karetny
Timber Creek Regional High School
Erial, NJ
Mary Keymel
Avon Central School
Avon, NY
Michelina MacDonald
P.K. Yonge Developmental Research
Gainesville, FL
Michael McPartlin
Buffalo Grove High School
Buffalo Grove, IL
Carol Piccolotti
Mercy High School
Burlingame, CA
Leslie Schoof
Madison Early College High School
Mars Hill, NC
William Spence
Clarkstown South High School
West Nyack, NY
Lindsay Stewart
Mercy High School
Burlingame, CA
April Thompson*
Lakeview Academy
Saratoga Springs, UT
Nancy Ungvarsky
Beaufort High School
Beaufort, SC
Nathan Wright
Davis High School
Kaysville, UT
Control teachers (taught their usual evolution unit)
Jennifer B. Anastasi
Starpoint High School
Lockport, NY
Robert Beebe
Imlay City High School
Imlay City, MI
Daniel Bondgren
Jordan-Elbridge High School
Jordan, NY
Greg Campbell
Redbank Valley High School
New Bethlehem, PA
Vynessa Ann Campos
Elk Ridge Middle School
South Jordan, UT
Joseph Cheney
Bay High School
Bay Village, OH
Michele Cook
Cadillac High School
Cadillac, MI
Jennifer Cordon
Depew High school
Depew, NY
Elizabeth Devitt
Harrison Prep School
Lakewood, WA
Thomas Everett
Eastern High School
Greentown, IN
Laura Krajewski
Stillwater Area High School
Stillwater, MN
Bridget Lesinski
Francis W. Parker School
Chicago, IL
Karen Lucci
Hopewell Valley Central High School
Pennington, NJ
Luisa McHugh
William Floyd Middle School
Moriches, NY
Resha Messick
McCluer High School
Florissant, MO
Judith Pinto
Bergen County Academies
Hackensak, NJ
Kathy Vanderloop
Appleton West High School
Appleton, WI
Brian Vollmer-Buhl
Cottage Grove High School
Cottage Grove, OR
Thomas Wilder
Richfield High School
Richfield, UT
Brian Reiser, PhD
Professor of Learning Sciences
Northwestern University
Richard Lehrer, PhD
Professor of Teaching and Learning
Vanderbilt University
Ross Nehm, PhD
Professor of Ecology and Evolution
Stony Brook University
Chris Kuka
Summit High School
Bend, OR
Keri Shingleton
Holland Hall
Tulsa, OK
Kate Dehnel
Central Park East High School
New York, NY
John Siefert
Conrad Weiser High School
Robesonia, PA
Elizabeth Moretz
Salt Lake Center for Science Education
Salt Lake City, UT
The GSLC team brings diverse expertise in curriculum and assessment development, instructional design, science education, science writing, creative multimedia production, visual design, animation, computer programming, music composition, videography, web development, and life science and education research. The following team members contributed to this project:
Pete Anderson
Nicola Barber
Kagan Breitenbach
Dina Drits-Esser
Amy J. Hawkins
Sheila Homburger
Sam Katz
Max Kelly
Elliot Lee
Molly Malone
Ryan Perkins
Kevin Pompei
Steve Reest
Louisa A. Stark
Harmony Starr
Mathew Weaver
The GSLC would like to thank the following individuals and groups for their contributions to the unit.
AAAS Project 2061 for developing and administering the assessment measures that were used to evaluate the curriculum unit with students; for analyzing the student test data; and for providing an objective analysis of the unit's alignment with NGSS. We are especially grateful to Bernie Koch for his contributions to the learning goals that guided the focus of both the unit and the assessment measures.
Kristin Bass, Senior Researcher at Rockman et al for her work on teacher surveys, interviews, and other measures that were used to evaluate teacher experiences with the unit; and for her help with research and evaluation design.
Michael Bell and the members of his lab for contributing data, images, video, and information about threespine sticklebacks in Loberg Lake.
Peter Park, formerly of the Bell lab, for contributing photos and videos relevant to the story of threespine sticklebacks.
Andrew Forbes, Jeffrey Feder, Glen Hood, Hannes Schuler, and Charles Linn for contributing images of and information about Rhagoletis flies living on apple, hawthorn, and other fruit.
Gordon Lark, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Utah, for his advice during the early planning stages of the natural selection module.
Alan Rogers, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah and Michael Shapiro for presenting talks during the 2016 Summer Institute for teachers.
Dmitry Etmanov
Ben Morgan
Charla Cochran
Kendra Hoffman
CJ Bane