Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions 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 website - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misinformation that can hinder it. It's organized in a "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complex and challenging subject to teach effectively. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists use an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly relevant to debates about the meaning of the word itself.
As such, it is essential to define terms used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website helps you define these terms in a straightforward and useful manner. The site is a companion site to the show which first aired in 2001, but it also functions as an independent resource. The information is presented in a structured manner that makes it easier to navigate and understand.
The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution and its relation to other concepts in science. The site gives a comprehensive overview of the ways that evolution has been examined. This information can help dispel myths created by creationists.
You can also access a glossary that includes terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of heritable traits to become better suited to a particular environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms with more adaptable characteristics are more likely than those with less adapted traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more different species. The common ancestor can be identified through analyzing the DNA of those species.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A massive biological molecular that holds the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences which are strung into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution is a relation between two species where evolutionary changes of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes of the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interactions between predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) develop through natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. Changes can be caused by many factors, such as natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of new species could take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like changes in the climate or competition for food resources and habitat can slow or speed up the process.
The Evolution site tracks through time the evolution of various animal and plant groups and focuses on major changes in each group's past. It also explores human evolution, which is a topic that is particularly important to students.
When Darwin wrote the Origin of Species, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. The famous skullcap, with the bones associated with it, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is highly unlikely that Darwin knew about the skullcap, which was published in 1858, which was a year after the first edition of The Origin. Origin.
The site is mostly one of biology, but it also contains a lot of information on geology and paleontology. Among the best features of the website are a series of timelines which show the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time, and an interactive map of the geographical distribution of some of the fossil groups featured on the site.
The site is a companion for a PBS TV series but it can be used as a resource by teachers and students. The site is well-organized, and provides clear links to the introductory content of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) and the more specific features of the museum's website. These hyperlinks help users move from the cartoon-like style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. There are links to John Endler's experiments with guppies. They illustrate the importance ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life has resulted in a variety of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological context and has numerous advantages over the current observational and experimental methods in its exploration of evolutionary processes. In addition to studying the processes and events that happen regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology can be used to examine the relative abundance of different kinds of organisms as well as their distribution in space over the geological time.
The website is divided into a variety of pathways to understanding evolution that include "Evolution 101," which takes the user on a linear path through the science of nature and the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The path also reveals the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thought.
에볼루션카지노 of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally created, with resources that support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. In addition to the general textual content, the site also has an array of multimedia and interactive content including videos, animations and virtual laboratories. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation within the vast Web site.
For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of coral relationships and their interactions with other organisms. Then, it narrows down to a single clam that can communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in water conditions at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the website, provide an excellent introduction to a broad spectrum of topics in evolutionary biology. The material includes a discussion on the significance of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool for understanding evolutionary change.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students, evolution is a key thread that connects all the branches of the field. A wide range of resources supports teaching about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an exceptional example of a Web site that offers both depth and a variety of educational resources. The site features a wealth of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely linked to the worlds of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics links to a page that highlights John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with Guppies in native ponds in Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of assets related to evolution. The content is organized in the form of curriculum-based pathways that are in line with the learning objectives outlined in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in classrooms, and can be streamed at no cost or purchased on DVD.
Evolutionary biology is a field of study that poses many important questions to answer, such as what causes evolution and how fast it takes place. This is especially applicable to human evolution where it's been difficult to reconcile the idea that the innate physical characteristics of humans were derived from apes with religions that believe that humanity is unique among living things and has an exclusive place in the creation, with a soul.
Additionally, there are a number of ways that evolution could occur and natural selection is the most widely accepted theory. However scientists also study different kinds of evolution, such as genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.
While many scientific fields of inquiry conflict with the literal interpretations of the Bible evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly controversial debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Some religions have reconciled their beliefs to evolution while others haven't.