Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts by biology teachers, there are still misconceptions regarding evolution. People who have taken in pop science nonsense often assume that biologists claim they don't believe in evolution.
This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources that promote evolution education and avoids the kinds of myths that make it difficult to understand. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's difficult to effectively teach evolution. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject, and some scientists even employ a definition that confuses it. This is particularly applicable to discussions on the definition of the word itself.
It is crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient manner. The site is both an accompanying site for the 2001 series, but also a resource of its own. The material is presented in an organized way that makes it easy to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relationship to evolution with other scientific concepts. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and verified. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been engendered by the creationists.
에볼루션 바카라 무료 is also possible to access the glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation is the tendency of hereditary traits to become more suitable to their environment. This is a result of natural selection. Organisms with more adaptable characteristics are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) is the most recent ancestor shared by two or more species. By studying the DNA of these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A large biological molecular containing the necessary information for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution: A relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are influenced by evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey, or parasite and host.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) change through a series of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. The changes can be caused by a variety of factors that include natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of gene pools. The development of a new species could take thousands of years, and the process could be slowed down or accelerated by environmental conditions such as climate change or competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site traces the emergence of various species of plants and animals over time with a focus on the key changes that took place in each group's history. It also examines the evolution of humans as a subject that is of particular interest for students.
When Darwin wrote the Origin, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. The famous skullcap, with the bones that accompanied it were discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, just one year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it's highly unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
While the site is focused on biology, it includes a good deal of information on geology and paleontology. Among the best features of the Web site are a timeline of events that illustrate how geological and climatic conditions have changed over time as well as an interactive map of the distribution of a few of the fossil groups featured on the site.
The site is a companion to the PBS TV series but it could also be used as a resource for teachers and students. The site is extremely well-organized and offers clear links between the introduction content in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more sophisticated elements of the museum Web site. These links make it easier to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds of research science. There are also links to John Endler's experiments with guppies that illustrate the importance ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has produced a diversity of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geographical context and offers many advantages over modern observational and experimental methods for analyzing evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology can examine not only the process and events that happen frequently or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of different groups of animals in space over the course of the geological time.
The website is divided into various paths that can be chosen to learn about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," walks the reader through the nature and evidence of evolution. The path also reveals common misconceptions about evolution as well as the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-designed, with materials that can be used to support a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site has a range of interactive and multimedia content which include video clips, animations and virtual labs in addition to general textual content. The breadcrumb-like structure of the content aids in navigation and orientation on the massive Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and interactions with other organisms and zooms in to one clam that is able to 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 a variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The material also provides a discussion of the role of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is a crucial method to understand evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students the concept of evolution is a major thread that binds all the branches of the field. A wide selection of resources helps teachers teach evolution across the disciplines of life science.
One resource, the companion to PBS's TV series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that provides depth as well as broadness in terms of educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also has an "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon-like style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely linked to the worlds of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics is linked to a page about John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.
Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this Web site, which contains an extensive multimedia library of items that are related to evolution. The content is organized into courses that are based on curriculum and follow the learning objectives outlined in the biology standards. It contains seven videos intended for use in the classroom. They can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.
A variety of crucial questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, such as what triggers evolution and the speed at which it occurs. This is especially true for the evolution of humans which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humans have a distinct place in creation and a soul, with the notion that our physical traits originated from Apes.
Additionally there are a variety of ways that evolution could occur, with natural selection being the most widely accepted theory. Scientists also study other kinds like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.
While many fields of scientific inquiry conflict with literal interpretations of religious texts evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolution, while others haven't.