The Teacher-Friendly Guide™ to Evolution Using Bivalves as a Model Organism (TFGEB) is designed to provide teachers with background information necessary to teach the concept of evolution. It is not a curriculum, rather it is meant to provide background information and ideas to support existing curricula. Links to resources that provide evolution curricula and activities can be found in the Resources section.
The TFGEB is divided into seven chapters or sections:
You do not have to read this Guide from front to back!
Despite the linear progression here, each chapter is written to stand alone. The sections can to be read and/or presented in whatever order seems appropriate for your class. There is built-in repetition of main concepts between chapters to facilitate easy searching and using different parts of the Guide throughout the academic year. The chapters are conveniently cross-referenced to find more information about a concept in other sections.
Print or online? It’s your choice!
Although the TFGEB was designed to be used in its interactive online form, we realize that some teachers are more comfortable with hard-copy documents and books. Therefore, we offer downloadable pdf documents, either in total or by chapter, which can be saved to your own computer and/or printed. In addition, for a nominal price, we can sell you a printed, bound version of the entire Guide; please see our online bookstore or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The content of the Guide is based upon the U.S. National Science Education Standards as well as a cross-section of state curricula, specifically New York, Texas, and California. It is targeted to secondary level biology classes, Grades 9-12, which is when students are expected to learn about evolution in detail. It will also be helpful for intermediate level science classes, Grades 5-8, when the concepts of evolution are first introduced. The chart below details how the TFGEB addresses these standards. |
National | New York | Texas | California | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Section & Standard: | Content Standards, 9 - 12 | Standard 4, 9 - 12 | Biology, 9 - 11 | Biology/Life Sciences, 9 - 12 |
Bivalve Introduction | A2 | |||
Why Study Evolution? | A7, G2 | 3.1a, 3.1k | ||
How the Theory Developed | A7, G1, G3 | |||
How Evolution Works | C1, C2, C4, C5 | 3.1a, 3.1b, 3.1f, 3.1g, 3.1h | 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F | 7A, 7C, 7D, 8A, 8C, 8D |
The Evidence for Evolution | C2, C3, C5 | 3.1a, 3.1e, 3.1i, 3.1k, 3.1l | 7A, 7B, 7E | 8B, 8E, 8F, 8G |
Evolution in Everyday Life | C1, C2 |
The TFGEB is an outreach product of a National Science Foundation grant, Assembling the Bivalve Tree of Life (DEB-0732854/0732903/0732860) to determine the evolutionary history of bivalve mollusks. In whatever form you use the TFGEB, we hope you find it useful. We welcome your comments for improvement and would like to know how you have used it in your classroom. Please email comments to the author, Dr. Paula Mikkelsen, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To cite this website, please use this citation: Mikkelsen, P. M., & R. Henne. 2011. The Teacher-Friendly Guide to Evolution Using Bivalves as a Model Organism. Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York, http://teacherfriendlyguide.org/bivalves, last accessed [insert date of access].