JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING Research Article Young Children’s Near and Far Transfer of the Basic Theoryof Natural Selection: An Analogical Storybook Intervention Natalie Emmons , 1 Kristin Lees, 2 and Deborah Kelemen 1 1 Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 2 Department of Population Health, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts Received 6 March 2017; Accepted 10 August 2017 Abstract: Misconceptions about adaptation by natural selection are widespread among adults and likely stem, in part, from cognitive biases and intuitive theories observable in early childhood. Current educational guidelines that recommend delaying comprehensive instruction on the topic of adaptation until adolescence therefore raise concerns because children’s scientifically inaccurate theories about species may be left unchallenged for many years, allowing them to entrench and become difficult to overcome. In consequence, this investigation sought to explore whether classrooms of kindergartners and second graders could acquire a basic but comprehensive understanding of adaptation from an intervention constructed around two picture storybooks that mechanistically explain natural selection. Learning was assessed in near and far transfer contexts both immediately and a month later. Kindergartners and second graders demonstrated substantial learning of biological information; however, second graders showed pronounced abilities to near and far generalize, immediately and over time. Results suggest that causally cohesive interventions with an emphasis on mechanistic explanation facilitate children’s classroom learning of complex counterintuitive scientific ideas. # 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017. Keywords: evolution; natural selection; science education; cognitive development; cognitive biases; classroom intervention; analogy Adaptation by natural selection is a fundamental and unifying concept in biological science. It helps to explain the existence and nature of all living things from species’ physical traits to their behaviors, psychology, and even cultural practices. However, despite its theoretical importance and contributions to numerous fields including medicine, biotechnology, and environmental science, most people misunderstand how adaptation by natural selection occurs (see Gregory, 2009, for a review). Furthermore, misconceptions about the process are not easily remedied: They robustly persist following explicit and often lengthy instruction (Ferrari & Chi, 1998; Jensen & Finley, 1995; Vlaardingerbroek & Roederer, 1997) and often extend to teachers tasked with educating students on the subject (Asghar, Wiles, & Alters, 2007; Nehm & Schonfeld, 2007; Rutledge & Warden, 2000). The sources of these misunderstandings are numerous (see Rosengren, Brem, Evans, & Sinatra, 2012, for discussions); however, the role of everyday Contract grant sponsor: National Science Foundation; Contract grant numbers: 1007984, 50204432. Correspondence to: N. Emmons; E-mail: nemmons@bu.edu DOI 10.1002/tea.21421 Publishedonline in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). # 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.