Teaching phylogenetics at introductory undergraduate and pre-college levels

Symposium presented at the Evolution Meetings 2005
University of Alaska – Fairbanks
June, 11-14, 2005

Organized by:
David A. Baum (University of Wisconsin – Madison)
Samuel S. Donovan (University of Pittsburgh)

Sponsored by:
Society for Systematic Biology
Society for the Study of Evolution Education Committee

Presentations and Links to Materials

David A. Baum
Professor, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin – Madison

The importance and challenge of teaching tree thinking

Clade Race [.doc 38 KB ]

Clade Race Cards [ PDF 34 KB ]

Diagnostic Pretest [.doc 183 KB ]

Fantastiflora Lab [.doc 72 KB ]

Fantastiflora Cards [.ppt 37 KB ]

Fantastiflora Filled Matrix [ .txt 4 KB ]

Tree Thinking Essay [ PDF 486 KB ]

Michael J. Donoghue
Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Yale University

Using phylogenies as a framework for ecology and biogeography

Samuel S. Donovan
Assistant Professor, Department of Instruction & Learning, University of Pittsburgh

Reading topologies: A study of students’ understanding of relationships displayed in trees

Kirsten Fisher
Graduate student, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California - Berkeley

Lessons from the tree of life: the use of language in teaching phylogenetics

Jon C. Herron
Lecturer, Department of Biology, University of Washington

Simulation-based tutorials for teaching tree thinking

Manda Clair Jost
Postdoc, Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas

Using trees to teach biodiversity

Susan Offner
Biology Teacher, Lexington High School, MA

The advantages of using phylogenetic trees in biology teaching