On this day in 1809, the British naturalist Charles Darwin was born. As a 22-year old, recent graduate (B.A., Cambridge University), Darwin was invited to join a fateful, five-year survey expedition on the Royal Navy ship HMS Beagle, a journey which laid the basis for his later, seminal work, On the Origin of Species.

A founder of evolutionary biology, Darwin developed the theory of natural selection, the process through which populations of living organisms adapt to their environments, and which even today remains an important and founding work of modern biological science.

Over 200 years since Darwin’s birth, February 12 now marks Darwin Day, a celebration and commemoration of Charles Darwin’s life and work, and an inspiration to “people throughout the globe to reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity, scientific thinking, and hunger for truth as embodied in Charles Darwin.”

UC Press, the publisher of the National Association of Biology Teachers’ (NABT) The American Biology Teacher, is pleased to honor Darwin Day by sharing the latest issue of ABT—an annual special issue on evolution.

In the issue:

Why Are There Still Misconceptions about Evolution?
Glenn Branch

Teaching Evolution Using Semester-Long Student Investigations of Adaptation by Natural Selection
Gregory Haenel

A Day in the Life of Carlton Smith: The Bombardment of Evolution Misconceptions
Daniel G. Ferguson, Jamie L. Jensen

Evolutionary Medicine: An Introduction
Chay Beeson, Erica Kosal

Using Avida-ED Digital Organisms to Teach Evolution and Natural Selection Benefits a Broad Student Population
Delbert S. Abi Abdallah, Christopher W. Fonner, Neil C. Lax, Matthew R. Babeji, Fatimata Palé

Sexual Selection as a Tool to Improve Student Reasoning of Evolution
Sarah K. Spier, Joseph T. Dauer

Connected Biology: Applying an Integrative and Technology-Enhanced Approach to the Teaching and Learning of Evolution in Mendel’s Peas
Rebecca Ellis, Louise Mead, Frieda Reichsman, Kiley McElroy-Brown, James Smith,  Peter White

The Human Gut Game: An Inquiry-Based Simulation That Teaches Students How Their Diet and Life Choices Influence the Diversity of Their Gut Microbiome
Kylee Yam

Using RNAi to Examine the Connection between Phenotype and Genotype in Caenorhabditis elegans to Enhance the Undergraduate Research Experience
Khameeka N. Kitt

The American Biology Teacher is an award-winning, peer-refereed professional journal for K-16 biology teachers. Topics covered in the journal include modern biology content, teaching strategies for the classroom and laboratory, field activities, applications, professional development, social and ethical implications of biology and ways to incorporate such concerns into instructional programs, as well as reviews of books and classroom technology products.
online.ucpress.edu/abt