This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I (SBIR) project seeks to develop simulation software for teaching evolutionary biology. Evolution is the core subject in biology, yet it requires concepts and ways of thinking that are challenging for most students. Moreover, it is a subject that is poorly understood by many non-scientists, with important consequences on the way science is taught in public schools. This project will lead to the development of a very flexible piece of software that allows users to design evolutionary simulations and students to graphically see evolution in action. The software will be accompanied by a set of classroom-tested laboratories teaching a variety of evolutionary topics. Students will learn by designing and performing their own experiments. The commercial potential of this project is immediate and obvious. To date, a good, general purpose teaching program of the type proposed in this project is not available and the market is very large, consisting of virtually every secondary school and college in the country.
