Front Matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Hawaii Is One of the Best Places in the World to Study Biological Evolution -- Biological Evolution Explains the Characteristics of Hawaii's Plants and Animals -- Science Produces Explanations That Can Be Tested Using Empirical Evidence -- Scientific Research Has Revealed How the Hawaiian Islands Originated -- The Evolution of Life on Earth Set the Stage for Evolution in Hawaii -- Panel 1: Plate Tectonics and the Ages of the Hawaiian Islands -- An Adaptive Radiation Has Led to a Dramatic Diversification of the Drosophilids in Hawaii -- Panel 2: Evolutionary Relationships Among the Picture-Winged Drosophilids -- Many Other Species Have Undergone Adaptive Radiations in Hawaii -- Panel 3: The Evolutionary History of the Silversword Alliance -- Alien Species Pose a Severe Threat to Hawaii's Native Plants and Animals -- Many Critical Problems Cannot Be Addressed Without Understanding Biological Evolution -- Selected Bibliography -- Teaching Exercise: Tracing the Evolutionary Origins of Picture-Winged Drosophila Species -- Teacher's Manual -- Data Tables -- Student Reading -- Student Worksheet -- Index.