Using Humans as a Central Example in Teaching Undergraduate Biology Labs

 

Craig E. Nelson and Martin K. Nickels

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2001, Volume 22

Abstract

Focusing on human and primate examples significantly enhances students’ interest in studying biology, specifically, evolution and classification. These laboratory activities illustrate key aspects of the distinctive hierarchical nature of biological classification. The first activity uses hemoglobin sequence data while the second uses skulls of apes, humans and fossil hominoids. Together, the two illustrate the concordant nature of separate lines of evidence supporting both the idea of evolution generally and that of human evolution specifically.

Keywords:  evolution, taxonomy, fossil hominoids, human, primates, skull, molecular sequences, hemoglobin

Clemson University (2000)