Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution remain. Pop science nonsense has led people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.
This rich website - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials which support evolution education and avoid the kinds of myths that make it difficult to understand. It's organized in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject matter to teach effectively. People who are not scientists often have a difficult time understanding the subject, and some scientists even use a definition which confuses it. This is particularly true when it comes to discussions on the meaning of the word itself.
As such, it is essential to define terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient manner. The website is a companion to the show which first aired in 2001, but can also function as an independent resource. The content is presented in a nested fashion that aids navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution as well as its relation to other scientific concepts. The site then offers an overview of how the concept of evolution has been vetted and confirmed. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.
It is also possible to find the glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
The process of adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to become more suited to the environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted characteristics are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more distinct species. By analyzing DNA from these species it is possible to determine the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A huge biological molecular that contains the necessary information for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains called chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
무료에볼루션 is a relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are dependent on evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution is evident through the interaction between predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) develop through a series of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety that include natural selection, genetic drift, and mixing of genes. The evolution of a new species can take thousands of years and the process may be slowed down or speeded up due to environmental conditions, such as climate change or competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site tracks the development of a number of different groups of animals and plants over time and focuses on the most significant transitions that occurred in each group's history. It also focuses on the evolutionary origin of humans which is crucial for students to know.
Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when just a few antediluvian fossils of human beings had been discovered. One of them was the infamous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany which is now believed as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is highly unlikely that Darwin was aware of the skullcap, which was first published in 1858, a year following the initial edition of The Origin.
The site is mostly a biology site, but it also contains a lot of information on paleontology and geology. Among the best features on the site are a series of timelines that illustrate the way in which climatic and geological conditions changed over time, and a map of the distribution of a few of the fossil groups featured on the site.
Although the site is a companion to the PBS television series however, it can stand on its own as a valuable source for teachers and students. The site is extremely well-organized and offers clear links between the introductory information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specific elements of the museum's web site. These hyperlinks make it easy to move from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds of research science. Particularly, there are links to John Endler's experiments using guppies that illustrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life has produced a variety of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological context offers many advantages over modern observational or experimental methods for exploring evolutionary processes. Paleobiology is able to study not only the process and events that happen regularly or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space over the course of the geological time.
The website is divided into different paths that can be chosen to gain knowledge about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The course also focuses on common misconceptions about evolution as well as the evolution theory's history.
Each of the other major sections of the Evolution site is equally created, with resources that can support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. In addition to the standard textual content, the site offers an extensive selection of multimedia and interactive content, such as video clips, animations, and virtual laboratories. The content is laid out 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 an overview of coral relationships and their interactions with other organisms. It then narrows down to a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in water conditions at the level of the reef. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages, gives a good introduction to the many areas of evolutionary biology. The content includes a discussion on the role of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis, an important tool to understand evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that connects all the branches of the field. A wide range of resources can help teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web site that provides the depth and the breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also has an "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely linked to the fields of research science. For instance an animation that explains the concept of genetic inheritance links to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments in artificial selection using guppies in the ponds of his native country of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of assets related with evolution. The content is organized according to curricula-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos specifically designed for classroom use, which can be streamed for free or purchased on DVD.
Many important questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, including what causes evolution to occur and the speed at which it occurs. This is particularly true for human evolution, where it has been difficult to reconcile the idea that the physical traits of humans evolved from apes, and the religions that believe that humans are unique among living things and holds a an enviable place in creation with a soul.
Additionally there are a myriad of ways in which evolution could be triggered, with natural selection being the most widely accepted theory. Scientists also study other types like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.
Many fields of inquiry conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts Evolutionary biology has been the subject of controversial debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the ideas of evolution, others have not.