Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts by biology educators, misconceptions persist about evolution. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.
This rich website - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that support evolution education and avoids the kinds of myths that undermine it. It's organized in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complicated and challenging subject to teach well. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even scientists use a definition that confuses the issue. This is especially true when it comes to discussions on the definition of the word itself.
It is essential to define terms used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website does this in a straightforward and useful manner. The site is a companion site to the show which first aired in 2001, but it can also function as an independent resource. The material is presented in an organized way that makes it easy to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms like common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature and relationship of evolution to other concepts in science. The site also provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and confirmed. This information can help dispel myths created by creationists.
You can also access a glossary which contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency for hereditary traits to become more adaptable to a specific environment. This is due to natural selection, which happens when organisms that have better-adapted characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted traits.
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 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 within cells.
Coevolution is a relationship between two species in which the evolution of one species influence evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution can be seen through the interaction between predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed), evolve through a series natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety of factors such as natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of gene pools. 에볼루션 카지노 사이트 of a new species could take thousands of years and the process can be slowed down or speeded up by environmental conditions such as climate change or the competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site traces the emergence of a number of different groups of animals and plants over time and focuses on the most significant transitions that occurred in each group's history. It also focuses on human evolution and is a subject that is of particular interest to students.
Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, at a time when only a few antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. Among them was the famous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany that is now thought to be 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 ever heard of it.
The site is mostly one of biology however it also includes many details on paleontology and geology. The site offers numerous features that are particularly impressive, including the timeline of how geological and climate conditions have changed over time. It also has a map showing the distribution of fossil groups.
Although the site is a companion piece to a PBS television series, it also stands on its own as an excellent source for teachers and students. The site is very well-organized and has clear links between the introduction information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specialized components of the museum's Web site. These links facilitate the transition from the enthralling cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. There are links to John Endler's experiments with guppies, which illustrate the importance ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has produced a diversity of plants, animals, and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures within their geological environment is a superior method of study over modern observational or research methods for exploring evolutionary processes. Paleobiology focuses on not only the process and events that occur regularly or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of various animal groups in space throughout the geological time.
The website is divided into several optional 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 course also focuses on the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, with materials that are suited to a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site has a range of multimedia and interactive resources which include animations, video clips and virtual laboratories in addition to general textual content. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb style that facilitates navigation and orientation on the Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of the coral's relationships and their interactions with other organisms and is enlarged to show one clam, which is able to communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in water conditions that occur on the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages provides an excellent introduction to the many areas of evolutionary biology. The material also provides a discussion of the role of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is a crucial method to understand evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that connects all branches of biology. A vast collection of resources supports teaching about evolution across all life sciences.
One resource, which is the companion to PBS's TV series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that offers both the depth and the wide range of educational resources. The site has a variety 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 of this vast website that are closely linked to the fields of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics, which links to a page that highlights John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with Guppies in native ponds in Trinidad.
Another resource that is worth mentioning is the Evolution Library on this web site, which contains an extensive multimedia library of assets connected to evolution. The content is organized according to curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning goals set forth in the biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in the classroom, and can be streamed for free or purchased on DVD.
Evolutionary biology is a field of study that poses many important questions to answer, such as what triggers evolution and the speed at which it occurs. This is especially true in the case of human evolution which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humans have a distinct position in the universe and a soul, with the notion that our physical traits evolved from Apes.
There are a myriad of other ways evolution can take place and natural selection being the most well-known theory. However scientists also study other kinds of evolution like genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.
While many fields of scientific study conflict with literal interpretations in religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a source of intense debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Some religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, while others haven't.