The Biology of Skin Color

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (hhmi BioInteractive) offers some pretty amazing (free!) educational materials related to the biology and the evolution of humans and other primates. They will even send you DVD copies in the mail of some of their videos for free (if you are an educator)!

Their collection on the biology of skin color includes a short film, an interactive film, downloadable films in Spanish and English, student worksheetseducator materials and a film guide. The film introduces Penn State University anthropologist Dr. Nina Jablonski’s work on the biology of skin color. It discusses the evidence for how different shades of skin color arose among different human populations as adaptations to varying intensities of ultraviolet radiation.

Link: https://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/biology-skin-color


Teaching Resource Contributed By: Katie Nelson, Ph.D – Instructor of Anthropology, Inver Hills Community College