Our Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution remain. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to believe that biologists aren't believers in evolution.
This rich Web site, which is a complement to the PBS program that provides teachers with resources that promote evolution education while avoiding the types of misconceptions that can undermine it. It's organized in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's not easy to effectively teach evolution. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even scientists are guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially relevant when it comes to the nature of the words themselves.
As such, it is essential to define terms used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website provides this in a simple and efficient way. The site is a companion to the series that first aired in 2001, but is also an independent resource. The content is organized in a manner that makes it simpler to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor and gradual process. These terms help frame the nature of evolution as well as its relationship to other scientific concepts. The site then offers an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and verified. This information can help dispel the myths that are created 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, which occurs when organisms with 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 different species. By studying the DNA of these species, it is possible to determine the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive 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 the reason behind the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution is the relationship between two species where evolution of one species are influenced evolutionary changes of the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey, or the parasite and the host.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) change through natural changes in the traits of their offspring. The changes can be triggered by a variety of causes, including natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of gene pools. The evolution 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 tracks the development of various species of plants and animals over time with a focus on the key shifts that occurred throughout each group's history. It also explores human evolution as a subject of particular importance for students.
Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. The famous skullcap, along with the bones that accompanied it were discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. 에볼루션 카지노 is now regarded as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, just one year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it is extremely unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it contains a wealth of information on geology and paleontology. Among the best features of the website are a timeline of events that show the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time, and an outline of the distribution of some fossil groups listed on the site.
에볼루션 is a companion to the PBS TV series but it could be used as a resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and offers clear links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's support) as well as the more specialized features on the museum's website. These hyperlinks make it easier to move from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. There are links to John Endler’s experiments with guppies. They illustrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life has led to an array of plants, animals and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geographical context and offers numerous advantages over the modern observational and research methods for analyzing evolutionary processes. In addition to studying processes and events that take place frequently or over a long period of time, paleobiology can be used to study the relative abundance of different groups of organisms and their distribution in space over geological time.
The site is divided into various ways to learn about evolution, including "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a liner path through the scientific process and the evidence to support the theory of evolution. The course also focuses on misconceptions about evolution, and the background of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the other main sections of the Evolution site is equally created, with resources that support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. The site has a range of interactive and multimedia resources that include video clips, animations and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the vast web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, it provides an overview of the coral's relationships and their interactions with other organisms and then zooms in on one clam that is able communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in conditions of the water that occur 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 information also includes a discussion of the role of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is an important tool for understanding the evolution of change.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A rich collection supports teaching evolution across all disciplines of life science.
One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that provides depth as well as wide range of educational resources. The site has a wide array 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 linked to the worlds of research science. For instance, an animation introducing the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments in artificial selection with guppies from the native ponds of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website is a vast multimedia library of materials that deal with evolution. The content is organized into curriculum-based paths that parallel the learning objectives set out in the standards for biology. It contains seven short videos designed for classroom use. These can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology is an area of study that has many important questions to answer, such as the causes of evolution and the speed at which it takes place. This is particularly relevant for humans' evolution where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a special position in the universe and a soul, with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits were derived from the apes.
There are a variety of other ways evolution could occur, with natural selection as the most widely accepted theory. Scientists also study other types such as mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.
Although many scientific fields of study have a conflict with literal interpretations found in religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a source of intense debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have embraced their beliefs with evolution, while others haven't.