Led by Christopher Resch and Glen Stuart

Are your students having trouble articulating the evidence and reasoning behind sex-linked genes?  There is a simulation for that!  Are your students having trouble understanding how the conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium actually affect evolution?  There is a simulation for that!  Simulations can be a fantastic way to generate data in a short period of time. Which allows more time to be devoted to the conversations surrounding the claims, evidence, and reasoning (CER) of an experiment. Scientific models are built on claims and therefore students’ articulation of claims, evidence, and reasoning is vital to developing a deeper and clearer understanding.

Come and join us for an engaging workshop centered on utilizing biological simulations along with a discussion of how you can implement CER as a standardized way of communicating and assessing student understanding.  Workshop participants will first replicate one of Thomas Hunt Morgan’s famous fruit fly experiments using a free web-based simulation.  We will then experiment with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium using the free simulation platform Netlogo.  Participants will then digest the results of their experiments utilizing the CER format.