Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misinformation about evolution remain. People who have taken in pop science nonsense often assume that biologists don't believe in evolution.
This site, which is a companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources that promote evolution education and avoid the kinds of misconceptions that undermine it. It's laid out in the "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.
Definitions
Evolution is a complex and challenging subject to teach well. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even some scientists use an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially true when discussing the nature of the words themselves.
Therefore, it is crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website helps you define these terms in a simple and efficient manner. The site is a companion to the series that 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 comprehend.
The site defines terms like common ancestor and the gradual process. These terms help to define the nature of evolution and its relationship to evolution to other concepts in science. The site provides an overview of the manner that evolution has been tested. This information can help dispel myths that are created by the creationists.
It is also possible to get a glossary of terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency for heritable traits to become better adaptable to a specific environment. This is due to natural selection, which occurs when organisms that have more adaptable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable characteristics.
Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) is the most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of these species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that holds the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains known 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 the parasite and the host.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) develop through an array of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety of causes, including natural selection, genetic drift, and gene pool mixing. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like changes in the climate or competition for food resources and habitat can impede or accelerate the process.
The Evolution site tracks the evolution of a variety of species of plants and animals over time, focusing on the major changes that took place in each group's history. It also examines the evolutionary origin of humans and humans, a subject that is particularly important for students to understand.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, at a time when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of human beings had been discovered. The most famous among them was the skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany that is now thought to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, which was a year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it is very unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
While the site is focused on biology, it includes a good deal of information about geology and paleontology. The site offers a number of aspects that are quite impressive, such as an overview of the way that 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 to a PBS television show, it also stands on its own as a valuable resource for teachers and students. The site is very well organized and provides clear links between the introduction information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specific components of the museum's Web site. These hyperlinks make it easier to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. There are links to John Endler's experiments with guppies that demonstrate the importance of 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 within their geographical context and offers numerous advantages over the current observational and experimental methods in its exploration of evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology can examine not just the processes and events that happen regularly or over time but also the distribution and frequency of different species of animals across geological time.
The website is divided into various paths that can be chosen to study the subject of evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The path also examines myths about evolution, and also the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other major sections of the Evolution site is equally constructed, with materials that can be used to support a range of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. In addition to general textual content, the site offers an array of multimedia and interactive resources including videos, animations, and virtual laboratories. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within 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 interactions with other organisms and is enlarged to show a single clam, which is able communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the conditions of the water at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to a wide range of topics in evolutionary biology. The content includes a discussion on the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis as a key tool for understanding evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is a common thread that runs through all branches of biology. 에볼루션 코리아 of resources supports teaching about evolution across all 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 depth and breadth in its educational resources. The site offers a range of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely connected to the fields of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics, which links to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.
Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this web website, which includes an extensive multimedia library of assets related to evolution. The contents are organized into curricula-based pathways that correspond to the learning goals established in the biology standards. It includes seven short videos specifically designed for classroom use. They can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology is still a field of study that poses many important questions, including the causes of evolution and how fast it takes place. This is especially relevant to human evolution, where it has been difficult to reconcile that the physical traits of humans were derived from apes, and the religions that believe that humanity is unique among living things and has an exclusive place in the creation with a soul.
There are also a number of other ways in which evolution can occur, with natural selection as the most well-known theory. Scientists also study other types such as mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection.
While many scientific fields of inquiry conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts Evolutionary biology has been the subject of intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have embraced their beliefs with evolutionary biology, but others haven't.