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1 April 2010 Using Pipe Cleaners to Bring the Tree of Life to Life
Kristy L. Halverson
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Abstract

Phylogenetic trees, such as the “Tree of Life,” are commonly found in biology textbooks and are often used in teaching. Because students often struggle to understand these diagrams, I developed a simple, inexpensive classroom model. Made of pipe cleaners, it is easily manipulated to rotate branches, compare topologies, map complete lineages, identify informative phylogenetic features, and examine the effects of superficial structural changes.

©2010 by National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights reserved. Request permission to photocopy or reproduce article content at the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions Web site at www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.
Kristy L. Halverson "Using Pipe Cleaners to Bring the Tree of Life to Life," The American Biology Teacher 72(4), 223-224, (1 April 2010). https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2010.72.4.4
Published: 1 April 2010
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KEYWORDS
BIOLOGY
cladogram
evolution
phylogenetics
tree thinking
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