Resources
Whether you are an instructor or solo explorer, you can continue your investigaion of our shared heritage through the resources below. This is only a sample of the vast amount of information on the subject that is available on the web, so do some fossil (website) hunting of your own! Be sure to use critical thinking to evaluate sources you find online or anywhere else.
The Maropeng Virtual Lab (MVL) cannot be held responsible for and does not endorse the following materials, but merely provides them for exploration. Materials are collected from a variety of online lists, including:
Dr. Amanda Glaze's Favorite Evolution Teaching Resources.
Paleophile Human Evolution Education Resources (Dr. Caitlin Schrein).
Biological Anthropology Section (BAS) of the American Anthropological Association (AAA).
Contact us if you would like to add your programme or page to the list!
The Maropeng Virtual Lab (MVL) cannot be held responsible for and does not endorse the following materials, but merely provides them for exploration. Materials are collected from a variety of online lists, including:
Dr. Amanda Glaze's Favorite Evolution Teaching Resources.
Paleophile Human Evolution Education Resources (Dr. Caitlin Schrein).
Biological Anthropology Section (BAS) of the American Anthropological Association (AAA).
Contact us if you would like to add your programme or page to the list!
Downloadable/Online Evolution and Palaeoanthropology Materials
AfricanFossils.Org: African Fossils seeks to increase public knowledge about prehistory by harnessing modern technology.
Arizona State University (ASU) Virtual Field Trips (VFTs): VFT's are topic based educationally rich experiences that are captured during real expeditions with scientists doing current research in the field.
Becoming Human: Resources from the Institute for Human Origins (IHO) founded by Donld Johanson and now based in Tempe, Arizona
Blue Lion Blogs - The Rising Star (Homo naledi) Interviews (John Mead, 2016): Intemate interviews of Rising Star team members conducted by Dallas educator John Mead.
Darwin: Description from the American Museum of Natural History's (AMNH) past exhibition.
Darwin's Manuscripts Project: On this American Museum of Natural History's (AMNH) site, you will find the world's first & only large collection of full colour, high-resolution images of faithfully transcribed Darwin manyscripts.
Dating Rocks and Fossils Using Geologic Methods (Nature Education, Knowledge Project, powered by Scitable): -A helpful premer to some of the major methods used to establish the date range of a fossil.
Deep Time Journey Networks Suggested Resources: Connect with others, share resources, post events, and create and join groups. It's a self-organising network of people who see the Story of the Universe as foundational.
Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes (ENSI): The main objective of ENSI is to improve the teaching of evolution in High School Biology courses by encouraging teachers to teach evolutionary thinking in the context of a more complete understanding of modern scientific thinking.
Fossil Hominin Sites of South Africa (UNESCO): Includes description, map, documents, gallery, indicators, and best practices.
"How Humans Evolved" Webbook:
John Hawks Weblog:. Palaeoanthropology, genetics and evolution blog.
Living Links to Human Evolution Research Centre Learning Resources: Includes online learning packs on topics such as Measuring Primate Behaviour, Primate Communication, Chimpanzee and Human Chromosomes, Working with Scientific Literature.
Maropeng Exhibition Guide: The Maropeng online exhibition guide complements the displays in the visitors centre at Maropeng.
Maropeng Resource Park; Cradle of Humankind, South Africa: With the help of a curriculum-linked resource pack brimming with fascinating and practical educational material such as worksheets and suggested activities, teachers will be able to prepare learners before they visit the Cradle of Humankind, and to give them follow-up assignments afterwards. The pack is carefully integrates with South African education curriculum, and has been endorsed by the South African National Department of Education.
Mesquite: Mesquite is free modular, extendible software for evolutionary biology, designed to help biologists organise and analyse comparative data about organisms. Its emphasis is on phylogenetic analysis, but some of its modules concern population genetics, while others do non-phylogenetic multivariate analysis. Because it is modular, the analyses available depend on the modules installed.
MorphoSource: 3D scans of living and fossil human and nonhuman primtes, as well as hominins. Suitable for 3D printing!
National Evolutionary Synthesis Centre (NESCent) Education and Outreach: NESCent transitioned to the Triangle Centre of Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM) in June 2015, but curriculum resources remain available.
National Geographic Rising Star Expedition Mini-Blog: Follow Homo naledi's journey from the start during the 2013 Rising Star Expedition through the species announcement. Posts from the site made by embedded Nat Geo blogger Andrew Howley and key team members.
Paleoanthropology-Hominid Family History (Francis F. Steen, 2007):
PBS Evolution: A journey into where we're from and where we're going.
Scimania: A not-for-profit website set up as a companion to the book The Skull in the Rock: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins by Prof. Lee Berger and Marc Aronson.
SeaView: Multiplatform GUI for molecular phylogeny.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's 3D Collection: 3D collection of fossils, artefacts, primates, and other animals. The purpose of this collection is to allow you to view your favourite objects from the David H. Koch Hall of Human Prigins or to examine many of the nonhuman primate and other animal skeletons housed in the museum's collections.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Teaching Evolution through Human Examples (TEtHE): A three-year exploratory research and development project funded by National Science Foundation Discovery Research K-12 grant#1119468. The project has created four curriculum units for Advanced Placement (AP) Biology classes, aligned to the learning objectives, using human case studies to teach core evolutionary principles.
South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA): Heritage Objects Comic Booklet.
Sterkfontein Caves Exhibition Guide: The Sterkfontein online exhibition guide complements the displays in the visitor centre at the Sterkfontein Caves.
TalkOrigins Fossil Hominids: This web site provides an overview of the study of human evolution, and of the currently accepted fossil evidence. It also contains a very comprehensive treatment of creationist claims about human evolution.
Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) Online Learning: TIES provides busy educators, home schooling parents, and curious science lovers in general with an easily accessible online version of our professional development events and other helpful resources.
TwilightBeasts: Blog exploring the magnificent world of lost Pleistocene beasts.
Understanding Evolution: Your one-stop source for information on evolution.
Arizona State University (ASU) Virtual Field Trips (VFTs): VFT's are topic based educationally rich experiences that are captured during real expeditions with scientists doing current research in the field.
Becoming Human: Resources from the Institute for Human Origins (IHO) founded by Donld Johanson and now based in Tempe, Arizona
Blue Lion Blogs - The Rising Star (Homo naledi) Interviews (John Mead, 2016): Intemate interviews of Rising Star team members conducted by Dallas educator John Mead.
Darwin: Description from the American Museum of Natural History's (AMNH) past exhibition.
Darwin's Manuscripts Project: On this American Museum of Natural History's (AMNH) site, you will find the world's first & only large collection of full colour, high-resolution images of faithfully transcribed Darwin manyscripts.
Dating Rocks and Fossils Using Geologic Methods (Nature Education, Knowledge Project, powered by Scitable): -A helpful premer to some of the major methods used to establish the date range of a fossil.
Deep Time Journey Networks Suggested Resources: Connect with others, share resources, post events, and create and join groups. It's a self-organising network of people who see the Story of the Universe as foundational.
Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes (ENSI): The main objective of ENSI is to improve the teaching of evolution in High School Biology courses by encouraging teachers to teach evolutionary thinking in the context of a more complete understanding of modern scientific thinking.
Fossil Hominin Sites of South Africa (UNESCO): Includes description, map, documents, gallery, indicators, and best practices.
"How Humans Evolved" Webbook:
John Hawks Weblog:. Palaeoanthropology, genetics and evolution blog.
Living Links to Human Evolution Research Centre Learning Resources: Includes online learning packs on topics such as Measuring Primate Behaviour, Primate Communication, Chimpanzee and Human Chromosomes, Working with Scientific Literature.
Maropeng Exhibition Guide: The Maropeng online exhibition guide complements the displays in the visitors centre at Maropeng.
Maropeng Resource Park; Cradle of Humankind, South Africa: With the help of a curriculum-linked resource pack brimming with fascinating and practical educational material such as worksheets and suggested activities, teachers will be able to prepare learners before they visit the Cradle of Humankind, and to give them follow-up assignments afterwards. The pack is carefully integrates with South African education curriculum, and has been endorsed by the South African National Department of Education.
Mesquite: Mesquite is free modular, extendible software for evolutionary biology, designed to help biologists organise and analyse comparative data about organisms. Its emphasis is on phylogenetic analysis, but some of its modules concern population genetics, while others do non-phylogenetic multivariate analysis. Because it is modular, the analyses available depend on the modules installed.
MorphoSource: 3D scans of living and fossil human and nonhuman primtes, as well as hominins. Suitable for 3D printing!
National Evolutionary Synthesis Centre (NESCent) Education and Outreach: NESCent transitioned to the Triangle Centre of Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM) in June 2015, but curriculum resources remain available.
National Geographic Rising Star Expedition Mini-Blog: Follow Homo naledi's journey from the start during the 2013 Rising Star Expedition through the species announcement. Posts from the site made by embedded Nat Geo blogger Andrew Howley and key team members.
Paleoanthropology-Hominid Family History (Francis F. Steen, 2007):
PBS Evolution: A journey into where we're from and where we're going.
Scimania: A not-for-profit website set up as a companion to the book The Skull in the Rock: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins by Prof. Lee Berger and Marc Aronson.
SeaView: Multiplatform GUI for molecular phylogeny.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's 3D Collection: 3D collection of fossils, artefacts, primates, and other animals. The purpose of this collection is to allow you to view your favourite objects from the David H. Koch Hall of Human Prigins or to examine many of the nonhuman primate and other animal skeletons housed in the museum's collections.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Teaching Evolution through Human Examples (TEtHE): A three-year exploratory research and development project funded by National Science Foundation Discovery Research K-12 grant#1119468. The project has created four curriculum units for Advanced Placement (AP) Biology classes, aligned to the learning objectives, using human case studies to teach core evolutionary principles.
South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA): Heritage Objects Comic Booklet.
Sterkfontein Caves Exhibition Guide: The Sterkfontein online exhibition guide complements the displays in the visitor centre at the Sterkfontein Caves.
TalkOrigins Fossil Hominids: This web site provides an overview of the study of human evolution, and of the currently accepted fossil evidence. It also contains a very comprehensive treatment of creationist claims about human evolution.
Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) Online Learning: TIES provides busy educators, home schooling parents, and curious science lovers in general with an easily accessible online version of our professional development events and other helpful resources.
TwilightBeasts: Blog exploring the magnificent world of lost Pleistocene beasts.
Understanding Evolution: Your one-stop source for information on evolution.
Downloadable/Online General Science Materials
Action Bioscience: Bringing biology to informed decision-making. Also en Espanol!
Biodiversity Heritage Library: BHL improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.
Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory DNA Learning Centre: Laboratory experiments, computer explorations, and an interactive exhibition for students, educators, and the public.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Educational Materials: Dedicated to advancing science education, HHMI provides powerful teaching tools for use in high schools, colleges , and universities across the country, free of charge.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) BioInteractive Virtual Labs: The virtual labs are fully interactive simulations in which students perform experiments, collect data, and answer questions to assess their understanding. The labs combine animations, illustrations, and videos to convey key information and engage students in the process of science.
Inspiring Scientists, The Royal Society: Diversity in British Science: Inspiring Scientists records the life stories of ten British scientists with minority ethnic heritage and covers issues such as being a minority in science, influences in their childhoods and the fun and importance of science both to themselves and to the wider community.
Mindset Teach Physical Sciences Webinars: Mindset Teach supports South African Teachers by producing and distributing videos of great classroom practice from around South Africa.
NATIONAL Centre of Science Education (NCSE) Classroom Resources: NCSE staff picks for brining science into the classroom. Focus on climate change, evolution, and general science advocacy.
Ology: A science website for kids from the American Museum of Natural History. Choose to study a variety of natural science-related topics, including anthropology, archaeology and palaeontology!
Oral History of British Science: A British national collection of in-depth, life story audio interviews with scientists and engineers accessible to everyone interested in the recent history of science and technology in Britain. The programme is an initiative of National Life Stories in association with the Science Museum, and with support from the Arcadia Fund.
Primate Info Net: Library and information service of the National Primate Research Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Incudes nonhuman primate factsheets and other educational resources, job postings, and even the live Callicam!
PBS Learning Media: The gateway to America's largest and most trusted classroom for teachers and students.
Science in Africa: Africa's first online science magazine.
Science Literacy Maps: The Science Literacy Maps are an interactive tool for teachers and learners to explore specific science and math concepts. The maps illustrate connections between concepts as well as how concepts build upon on another across grade levels. Clicking on a concepts within the maps will show resources for the concept including related AAAS Project 2061 Benchmarks, assessments, misconceptions, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Science News for Students (SNS): An award-winning online publication dedicated to providing age- appropriate, topic science news to learners, parents and educators. SNS is a publication of the Science News Media Group, which is a program of the Society for Science & the Public (SSP, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education.
Scitable: A collaborative learning space for science by Nature Education.
South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) Resources: SAASTA aims to advance public awareness, appreciation and engagement of science, engineering and technology in South Africa.
SpongeLab: A Global STEM Community.
Biodiversity Heritage Library: BHL improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.
Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory DNA Learning Centre: Laboratory experiments, computer explorations, and an interactive exhibition for students, educators, and the public.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Educational Materials: Dedicated to advancing science education, HHMI provides powerful teaching tools for use in high schools, colleges , and universities across the country, free of charge.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) BioInteractive Virtual Labs: The virtual labs are fully interactive simulations in which students perform experiments, collect data, and answer questions to assess their understanding. The labs combine animations, illustrations, and videos to convey key information and engage students in the process of science.
Inspiring Scientists, The Royal Society: Diversity in British Science: Inspiring Scientists records the life stories of ten British scientists with minority ethnic heritage and covers issues such as being a minority in science, influences in their childhoods and the fun and importance of science both to themselves and to the wider community.
Mindset Teach Physical Sciences Webinars: Mindset Teach supports South African Teachers by producing and distributing videos of great classroom practice from around South Africa.
NATIONAL Centre of Science Education (NCSE) Classroom Resources: NCSE staff picks for brining science into the classroom. Focus on climate change, evolution, and general science advocacy.
Ology: A science website for kids from the American Museum of Natural History. Choose to study a variety of natural science-related topics, including anthropology, archaeology and palaeontology!
Oral History of British Science: A British national collection of in-depth, life story audio interviews with scientists and engineers accessible to everyone interested in the recent history of science and technology in Britain. The programme is an initiative of National Life Stories in association with the Science Museum, and with support from the Arcadia Fund.
Primate Info Net: Library and information service of the National Primate Research Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Incudes nonhuman primate factsheets and other educational resources, job postings, and even the live Callicam!
PBS Learning Media: The gateway to America's largest and most trusted classroom for teachers and students.
Science in Africa: Africa's first online science magazine.
Science Literacy Maps: The Science Literacy Maps are an interactive tool for teachers and learners to explore specific science and math concepts. The maps illustrate connections between concepts as well as how concepts build upon on another across grade levels. Clicking on a concepts within the maps will show resources for the concept including related AAAS Project 2061 Benchmarks, assessments, misconceptions, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Science News for Students (SNS): An award-winning online publication dedicated to providing age- appropriate, topic science news to learners, parents and educators. SNS is a publication of the Science News Media Group, which is a program of the Society for Science & the Public (SSP, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education.
Scitable: A collaborative learning space for science by Nature Education.
South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) Resources: SAASTA aims to advance public awareness, appreciation and engagement of science, engineering and technology in South Africa.
SpongeLab: A Global STEM Community.
Evolution-based Science Education Programmes
Maropeng, Official Visitor's Centre; Cradle of Humankind, South Africa: Information on the exhibition, Sterkfontein Caves, and the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
Primate Tales; Toronto, Canada: Bringing inquiry-based learning and critical thinking into the classroom through engaging students about the amazing world of primates and evolution form Toronto's only primate-themed educational outreach program.
All major site links were live as of 2016.10.07.
Primate Tales; Toronto, Canada: Bringing inquiry-based learning and critical thinking into the classroom through engaging students about the amazing world of primates and evolution form Toronto's only primate-themed educational outreach program.
All major site links were live as of 2016.10.07.
