Students bring to their science classes a wealth of misinformation about evolution. If they have learned anything about evolution at all in their high schools, the curricula often fail to emphasize that evolutionary theory is fundamental to all the life sciences, not only as an explanation of observed patterns, but also as a foundation for an active and productive research program. The most contentious issue for many students, of course, is human evolution, but anti-evolutionists of all sorts will try to discredit evolutionary explanations in any discipline. It is important to emphasize evolution in all life-sciences teaching as well as to point out the unique contributions made by various disciplines to the study and advancement of evolutionary theory. Students often do not realize that many important advances in evolutionary studies were made in botanical disciplines - most think of evolution only in terms of animals, particularly vertebrates like dinosaurs. Botanists have unique opportunities to introduce evolutionary theory and research in the classroom and to show the universality of evolution to all living things - without the obvious downside of having to convince students of human evolution. Course should explicitly emphasize the evolutionary basis of the material from the beginning and remind students throughout of its evolutionary foundations. Instructors should also explicitly emphasize the settled state of contemporary evolutionary knowledge about major issues in the anti-evolutionary arsenal. It is also important to select textbooks with strong evolutionary foundations and to convey to textbook publishers that the treatment and primacy of evolution is a key criterion for textbook adoption.

Key words: Evolution Teaching Curriculum Plant_evolution Coevolution