I am teaching about evolution to students who may not understand it, or have been given misinformation about it. Here are some things I could do to help them assimilate/accommodate this new information:
Concrete operational:
Play the "Natural Selection" game in groups. This is a game that helps them see how butterflies are selected for or against based on how they look relative to the environment. We would go through several "generations" where students act as "predators," picking off the first animal they see, then each remaining animal would "reproduce" or get another one of the same color. By the end they would have a better, more accurate idea of how natural selection works, then we would discuss it using evolution terminology.
Formal operational:
Now we would take those ideas relating to natural selection, and look at where we see it happening in real life. I've shown them how it happens with butterflies. Does it happen with other animals? How? Does it happen with humans? How? Is it reasonable to expect that it happens in plants and animals but not in humans? This would be a discussion where they would have to come up with answers and be able to explain their reasoning.
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