Why don’t we come from monkeys? A proposal to foster critical and creative thinking in high school classrooms

Abstract

As part of the subject Challenges in Biology and Geology, first-year high school students have been working on a project to understand and study human phylogeny and the process of evolution over time. The project was based on reading and analysing misleading news or "fake news" to debunk myths and misconceptions about the evolution of our species. This was contrasted with the main scientific arguments and currently accepted theories by reviewing various articles and scientific publications from reliable sources. In the final phase, and as a knowledge transfer activity, students presented different oral communications in working groups during a scientific palaeontology congress held in the science classroom. They also participated in the science dissemination event Ciència en Equip in Girona, where they presented the results of their research project.