Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution persist. People who have been exposed to the nonsense of pop science often believe that biologists claim they do not believe in evolution.
This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misinformation that can make it difficult to understand. It's laid out in the "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complicated and challenging subject to teach effectively. Many non-scientists are unable to grasp the concept, and some scientists even employ a definition that confuses it. This is especially relevant to debates about the nature of the word.
It is therefore crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient way. The site serves as a companion for the 2001 series, and it is also a resource on its own. The content is presented in an organized manner that makes it easier to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature of evolution as well as its relation to other concepts in science. The site provides an overview of the way the concept of evolution has been examined. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been engendered by the creationists.
You can also consult a glossary that contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of heritable characteristics to become more suited to a particular environment. This is a result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more distinct species. By studying the DNA of these species, it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that holds the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in sequences of nucleotides that are strung together to form long chains, called chromosomes. Mutations are the cause of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is a relation between two species where evolution of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution can be observed in the interactions between predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups that can crossbreed), evolve through a series natural changes in their offspring's traits. These changes are caused by a variety that include natural selection, genetic drift and gene pool mixing. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate changes or competition for food and habitat can slow or speed up the process.
The Evolution site traces through time the evolution of different animal and plant groups with a focus on major changes in each group's history. It also focuses on human evolution as a subject of particular importance to students.
When Darwin wrote the Origin of Species, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. Among them was the famous skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany which is now believed as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, just one year after the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it offers a lot of information on geology and paleontology. One of the most appealing features on the site are a timeline of events which show how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time as well as a map of the distribution of a few fossil groups listed on the site.
While the site is a companion to the PBS television series, it also stands on its own as a great resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and offers clear links between the introductory material in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specific elements of the museum Web site. These hyperlinks make it easier to move from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds of research science. There are links to John Endler’s experiments with guppies, which demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has resulted in a variety of plants, animals, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures within their geological context and has many advantages over modern observational and experimental methods in its exploration of evolutionary processes. In addition to exploring the processes and events that happen regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology can be used to study the relative abundance of different kinds of organisms as well as their distribution across the geological time.
The website is divided into several routes that can be taken to gain knowledge about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The path also reveals common misconceptions about evolution and the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, and includes materials that can be used to support a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia content, including video clips, animations and virtual labs in addition to general textual content. The breadcrumb-like organization of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the large web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of the coral's relationships and their interactions with other organisms and then is enlarged to show a single clam, which can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the conditions of the water that occur at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages offers a great introduction to many topics in evolutionary biology. The content includes an explanation of the role of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial method for understanding the evolution of changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across the life science disciplines.
One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of a Web site that offers both depth and a variety of educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an encased "bread crumb" structure that helps students transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this massive website that are more closely tied to the world of research science. For instance an animation that explains the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments in artificial selection with guppies from the native ponds of Trinidad.
Another resource that is worth mentioning is the Evolution Library on this web site, which contains an extensive collection of multimedia items related to evolution. The content is organized in curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the standards for biology. It contains seven short videos that are intended for use in the classroom. These can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology is an area of study that poses many important questions, including what causes evolution and how fast it occurs. This is especially applicable to human evolution where it has been difficult to reconcile the idea that the physical traits of humans were derived from apes with religious beliefs that hold that humanity is unique among living things and holds a a special place in creation with a soul.
There are also a number of other ways in which evolution can take place and natural selection being the most widely accepted theory. However scientists also study other types of evolution such as mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection, among other things.
While many fields of scientific study are in conflict with literal interpretations in religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a source of intense controversy and opposition from religious fundamentalists. 에볼루션 슬롯 have reconciled their beliefs to evolution while others haven't.