The More Things Change

Sound the Alarm

How do elephants communicate alarm calls with each other? In this new interrupted video case study, students make predictions, construct explanations, and analyze data to determine whether elephants can detect and respond to an alarm call delivered via underground vibrations.

Imposter Syndrome

Which of these is an ant and which is a beetle? In this new Data Point activity, explore the evolutionary relationships among ant-mimicking beetles, which live as “social parasites” within the ants’ colonies, stealing ants’ food and eating their eggs.

Couldn’t Stand the Weather

Extreme climate events, such as hurricanes and winter storms, can select for traits within a population. In this new Phenomenal Image activity, see how scientists investigated how hurricane-force winds affected lizards. And in this new Data Point activity, see data from anole populations before and after winter storms that show how the populations’ critical thermal minimum — the temperature at which anoles lose coordination — changed.

An Evolution Story

Interested in hearing from experienced educators about how they’re using BioInteractive resources to teach evolution? Read these two new Educator Voices articles. Karen Lucci outlines how she utilizes our finch resources with her introductory biology students in constructing explanations about evolution by natural selection. And Dawn Norton details how her students explore the "story" of evolution by natural selection through a series of HHMI BioInteractive resources.

Rise of the Mammals

About 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid struck Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs in a fiery global catastrophe. How did life rebound? Rise of the Mammals, produced in partnership with PBS NOVA and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, chronicles the discovery of an astonishing collection of fossils — exceptionally preserved animal and plant fossils from the critical first million years after the asteroid impact — that sheds light on how life resurged after Earth’s darkest days.
 
Due to international distribution restrictions, the film can be streamed only in the United States.

Sorting Seashells

I have used HHMI BioInteractive’s phylogenetic seashell activity with students. If you are short on time, you can use fewer seashells to sort. Students create a phylogenetic tree based on the visual characteristics of the shells; they then create a second tree using additional information about organisms’ habitats, distribution, and feeding patterns. Finally, I provide an amino acid sequence for each organism that students will use to sort the same organisms into a tree. They answer questions throughout the activity based on the changes they make to their trees. Students do very well with this activity and can see how powerful molecular data is in characterizing evolutionary relationships. —Marisa Romero (The Classical Academy High School, CO)

Do you have a favorite BioInteractive resource and want to tell us how you use it in your class? Email us the tip at outreach@hhmi.org. If we feature yours, we'll send you a T-shirt!