The Animal Diversity Web is an online database and encyclopedia of animal natural history, built through contributions from students, photographers, and many others. It is a rich and flexible resource designed both as an encyclopedia for exploring biodiversity and for use in inquiry-based education.
Inquiry-based approaches to science education focus on student constructed learning as opposed to teacher-transmitted information. More about the power of inquiry learning can be found at the Vision & Change web site (http://visionandchange.org/). For more information on how to use inquiry learning in your own classrooms or to promote its use in your institutions, see the PULSE Fellows page (http://www.pulsecommunity.org/).
The Animal Diversity Web has been used by educators globally to support the learning experiences of their students in organismal biology courses, such as zoology, evolution, behavior, and ecology. One way students engage with ADW is through authorship of species accounts as part of their coursework. In addition, because of the highly structured nature of the web site, students can explore patterns and relationships in the data through the Quaardvark advanced search interface. Read to learn more about our undergraduate and K-12 initiatives. Or contact us to let us know how we can help you and your students explore animal diversity.