Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, there are still misconceptions about evolution. Pop science nonsense has led many people to think that biologists don't believe in evolution.
This rich website - companion to the PBS series - provides teachers with materials which support evolution education and avoids the kinds of misinformation that can undermine it. It's arranged in a nested "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's difficult to teach evolution well. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject and some scientists use a definition that confuses it. This is particularly relevant when discussing the meaning of the words themselves.
As such, it is essential to define terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient way. The site is both a companion for the 2001 series, but also a resource of its own. The material is presented in a structured way that makes it easy to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help to define the nature and relationship of evolution to other scientific concepts. The site also provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and verified. This information can help dispel the myths created by creationists.
It is also possible to find a glossary of terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency for heritable traits to become better suited to a particular environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted characteristics are more likely than those with less-adapted characteristics to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor): The most recent ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified through analyzing the DNA of those species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that contains information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences, which are strung into long chains known as chromosomes. 에볼루션바카라사이트 are responsible for the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution is the relationship between two species, where the evolutionary changes of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution is evident through the interaction between predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) evolve through a series of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes can be caused by many factors, such as natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of a new species may take thousands of years and the process can be slowed or increased by environmental factors like climate change or competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site traces through time the emergence of various animal and plant groups with a focus on major changes within each group's past. It also examines the evolution of humans and is a subject of particular importance to students.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when just a few antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. The famous skullcap, with the bones associated with it, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now recognized as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, a year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it's very unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it contains a wealth of information about geology as well as paleontology. The most impressive features of the Web site are a timeline of events that show the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time, and a map of the distribution of a few of the fossil groups featured on the site.
The site is a companion for a PBS television series, but it can also be used as a resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides clear links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) as well as the more specialized features of the museum website. These hyperlinks make it easy to transition 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, which illustrate 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 in their natural environment and has many advantages over the current observational and experimental methods in its exploration of evolutionary processes. In addition to exploring processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology is able to analyze the relative abundance of various species of organisms and their distribution in space over the course of geological time.
The site is divided up into several 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 path also explores misconceptions regarding evolution, and also the history of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, and includes materials that are suited to a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia resources which include video clips, animations and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation on the Web site.
For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms, then zooms in on a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in water conditions at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to the broad range of topics in evolutionary biology. The material also provides an overview of the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is an important tool in understanding evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students the concept of evolution is a major thread that weaves together all branches of the field. A rich collection of resources helps teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an outstanding example of a Web site that offers both depth and a variety of educational resources. The site offers a range of interactive learning modules. It also features a "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely connected to the realms of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics links to a page that highlights John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.
Another useful resource is the Evolution Library on this web website, which includes an extensive multimedia library of assets that are related to evolution. The content is organized in curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in classrooms. These are available to stream or purchase as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology remains a field of study that has many important questions, including what triggers evolution and how quickly it takes place. This is particularly relevant for the evolution of humans, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humans have a distinct position in the universe and a soul, with the idea that innate physical traits were derived from the apes.
Additionally, there are a number of ways that evolution could be triggered and natural selection is the most widely accepted theory. Scientists also study other types such as genetic drift, and sexual selection.
Although many scientific fields of study have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a subject of intense debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, while others haven't.