Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misinformation about evolution remain. People who have absorbed the nonsense of pop science often believe that biologists are saying they do not believe in evolution.
This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources that support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misinformation that can undermine it. It's organized in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complex and difficult subject to teach well. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and even scientists are guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially relevant to discussions about the definition of the word itself.
It is therefore important to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website provides this in an easy and helpful manner. The site is a companion site to the show which first aired in 2001, but also functions as an independent resource. The information is presented in a structured manner that makes it easier to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help define the nature and significance of evolution to other concepts in science. The site also provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been tested and verified. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been created by the creationists.
It is also possible to get a glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of heritable characteristics to become more suitable to a particular setting. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less-adapted traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) The most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of these species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A huge biological molecule that contains information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in a sequence of nucleotides that are strung together into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is the relationship between two species where evolution of one species influence evolutionary changes of the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed) develop through a series of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety of causes that include natural selection, genetic drift, and mixing of gene pools. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate changes or competition for food resources and habitat, can slow or accelerate the process.
The Evolution site traces through time the evolution of different species of plants and animals and focuses on major changes in each group's history. It also explores the evolutionary origin of humans and humans, a subject that is particularly important for students to know.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when just a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. The most famous among them was the skullcap and bones that were discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany that is now thought as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, just a year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it is extremely unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
While Suggested Resource site is focused on biology, it also offers a lot of information on geology and paleontology. The most impressive features of the website are a series of timelines which show how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time as well as an outline of the geographical distribution of some fossil groups that are featured on the site.
The site is a companion to the PBS television series, but it could be used as a resource by teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides easy links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) and the more specific features of the museum website. These links facilitate the transition from the cartoon-like style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. In particular, there are links to John Endler's experiments using Guppies that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has produced a diversity of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures within their natural environment offers many advantages over the current observational or experimental methods for studying evolutionary phenomena. In addition to examining processes and events that take place regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology can be used to study the diversity of species of organisms and their distribution throughout the geological time.
The Web site is divided into several optional ways to learn about evolution that include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the nature of science and the evidence supporting the theory of evolution. The path also examines myths about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is similarly constructed, with materials that can support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. In addition to the general textual content, the site features an array of multimedia and interactive content including video clips, animations, and virtual labs. The breadcrumb-like arrangement of the content aids in navigation and orientation on the massive website.
For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of coral relationships and their interactions with other organisms. 에볼루션 바카라 무료체험 zooms in on a single clam that can communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in the water conditions that occur at the level of the reef. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary multimedia and interactive pages, gives a good introduction to many topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes a discussion on the role of natural selectivity and the concept of phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool to understand evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that binds all the branches of the field. A rich collection of resources can help teachers teach about evolution across all life sciences.
One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an outstanding example of an Web site that offers both the depth and breadth of its educational resources. The site features a wealth of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely related to the worlds of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics links to a page about John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with Guppies living in ponds native to Trinidad.
Another resource that is worth mentioning is the Evolution Library on this Web site, which has an extensive multimedia library of resources connected to evolution. The contents are organized into curricula-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for classroom use, which can be streamed for free or purchased on DVD.
Many important questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, including the factors that trigger evolution and how fast it happens. This is especially true for human evolution, which has made it difficult to reconcile the notion that the physical traits of humans evolved from apes, and the religious beliefs that hold that humanity is unique among living things and holds a a special place in creation with a soul.
There are a variety of other ways evolution can take place including natural selection, which is the most popular theory. However, scientists also study other kinds of evolution like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection, among others.
While many scientific fields of study conflict with literal interpretations found in religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been the subject of intense debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs to evolution but others haven't.