Teaching strategies
Here are a few art project ideas for students to draw their hand and its underlying structure, focusing on combining artistic expression with anatomical understanding. These projects are designed to help students understand anatomy and anatomical similarities. Using this to reinforce understanding of homologous traits that show evidence of ancestral relationships fosters a stronger understanding of different species shared ancestry. Bones muscle and even skin when properly understood Enhanced students’ comprehension of the evolutionary process. By giving the tools to them that they may express what they believe we as educators cannot only see their understanding but any misconceptions they may have.
As students are working on their projects it is important to provide enough background material so that students are able to work accurately. This is an exercise of observation to detail so they can develop an understanding of the importance of close observation. If working on an anatomical drawing providing a representation of a skeletal hand through model or diagram. There is a lesson in every step of this process, and we are provided with many active teaching moments. As artists break down different lines and curves in order to make an image, we will also explain how complex forms break down into simple individual components. This whole project is a fun and engaging experience where students ask more questions driven by their own interest. The projects I have outlined are largely geared toward biology and anatomy however art and science have many avenues of connection. The notion of homology originated from classical comparative morphology research and gained fresh significance with the emergence of evolutionary theory. It is presently undergoing another metamorphosis: many developmental geneticists now define homology as shared patterns of gene expression. However, this new usage conflates definition with criteria and fails to acknowledge that meaningful assignments of homology must specify a biological level. We contend that developmental genomic data can assist in identifying homologous structures.12 They are neither essential nor sufficient and, in any event, do not justify a new definition of homology. Examining the position that numerous biological categories are delineated by homology, countering a range of arguments that assert all biological categories are, at least partially, defined by specified function. I demonstrate that homology categories are 'abnormality inclusive,' a characteristic frequently claimed to be exclusive to certain functional categories. Work with students on assumption of classifications based on selected functions are conceptually contingent upon classifications by homology, but not the reverse. I ultimately dismiss the perspective that biologists should employ concerns of selected function to overlook variation and disease in order to create a standard description of a category of biological systems.13
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