Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution persist. People who have taken in the nonsense of pop science often believe that biologists are saying they do not believe in evolution.
This site, which is a companion to the PBS program offers teachers resources that promote evolution education, while avoiding the kinds of misconceptions which undermine it. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's not easy to properly teach evolution. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists use definitions that confuse the issue. This is particularly relevant when it comes to the meaning of the words themselves.
It is crucial to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website does this in a straightforward and useful way. The site is a companion to the show which first aired in 2001, but also functions as an independent resource. The material is presented in a structured manner that makes it easier to navigate and understand.
The site defines terms like common ancestor, the gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help define the nature and significance of evolution to other concepts in science. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and verified. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.
You can also access a glossary which includes terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of heritable traits to become better adaptable to a specific environment. This is the result of natural selection, which happens when organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted characteristics.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of the species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that holds the information necessary 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 within cells.
Coevolution is a relationship between two species, where the evolution of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution include the interaction between predator and prey or parasite and host.
Origins
Species (groups that can crossbreed) change through a series natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes can be caused by various factors, including natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The development of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like changes in the climate or competition for food and habitat, can slow or accelerate the process.
The Evolution site tracks the evolution of various animal and plant groups through time, focusing on the major transitions that occurred in the evolution of each group's history. It also examines the evolution of humans, which is a topic that is particularly important to students.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, at a time when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. The skullcap that is famous, along with the bones that accompanied it were discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now regarded as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is highly unlikely that Darwin knew about the skullcap when it was published in 1858, a year after the first edition of The Origin. Origin.
The site is mostly a biology site however, it also has a lot of information on geology and paleontology. The website has numerous features that are especially impressive, such as the timeline of how climate and geological conditions have changed over the course of time. It also has an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
While the site is a companion piece to a PBS television series, it also stands on its own as a valuable source for teachers and students. The site is very well organized and provides clear links between the introduction content in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specific elements of the museum Web site. These hyperlinks facilitate the 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 demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has led to a wide variety of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures in their geological context offers many advantages over modern observational or research methods for exploring evolutionary processes. Paleobiology focuses on not just the processes and events that occur frequently or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different species of animals in space throughout the geological time.
The website is divided into a variety of ways to learn about evolution, including "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the nature of science and the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The path also explores misconceptions about evolution and also the history of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally constructed, with materials that support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. 바카라 에볼루션 offers a wide array of multimedia and interactive resources which include videos, animations, and virtual laboratories in addition to general textual content. The breadcrumb-like organization of the content assists with navigation and orientation on the large web site.
For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms. Then, it zooms in on a single clam that can communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages, provides an excellent introduction to the many areas of evolutionary biology. The content includes a discussion on the role of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool to understand evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that weaves together all the branches of the field. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across the disciplines of life sciences.
One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of an Web site that provides the depth and breadth of its educational resources. The site offers a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features a "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely related to the fields of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics is linked to a page that highlights John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website is a vast multimedia library of resources that are associated to evolution. The content is organized into curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in biology standards. It includes seven short videos specifically designed for classroom use. These can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
Many important questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, including what triggers evolution and how fast it occurs. This is especially true for humans' evolution, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humans have a distinct place in creation and a soul with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits were derived from Apes.
There are a myriad of other ways evolution could occur, with natural selection as the most widely accepted theory. Scientists also study other kinds like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.
While many scientific fields of study conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, evolution biology has been a source of intense debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. While some religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the ideas of evolution, other religions haven't.