Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation

Background: Science curricula and teachers should emphasize evolution in a mannercommensurate with its importance as a unifying concept in science. The concept of adaptationrepresents a first step to understand the results of natural selection. We settled an experimentalproject of alternative didactic to improve knowledge of organism adaptation. Students wereinvolved and stimulated in learning processes by creative activities. To set adaptation in a historicframe, fossil records as evidence of past life and evolution were considered.Results: The experimental project is schematized in nine phases: review of previous knowledge;lesson on fossils; lesson on fantastic animals; planning an imaginary world; creation of an imaginaryanimal; revision of the imaginary animals; adaptations of real animals; adaptations of fossil animals;and public exposition. A rubric to evaluate the student's performances is reported. The projectinvolved professors and students of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and of the "G.Marconi" Secondary School of First Degree (Modena, Italy).Conclusion: The educational objectives of the project are in line with the National Indications ofthe Italian Ministry of Public Instruction: knowledge of the characteristics of living beings, themeanings of the term "adaptation", the meaning of fossils, the definition of ecosystem, and theparticularity of the different biomes. At the end of the project, students will be able to graspparticular adaptations of real organisms and to deduce information about the environment in whichthe organism evolved. This project allows students to review previous knowledge and to form theirpersonalities.