Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions persist about the evolution. People who have been exposed to the nonsense of pop science often believe that biologists are saying they don't believe in evolution.
This rich Web site, which is a complement to the PBS program offers teachers resources that support the evolution of education while avoiding the types of misconceptions which make it difficult to understand. It's laid out in a nested "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It is difficult to properly teach evolution. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and even some scientists use an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly applicable to debates about the meaning of the word itself.
It is therefore essential to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and helpful manner. The site is both an accompanying site for the 2001 series, but also a resource of its own. The material is organized in a way that makes it easy to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution as well as its relation to other scientific concepts. The website provides a summary 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 find a glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
The process of adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to become more suited to the environment. This is a result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adapted traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more different species. 에볼루션 무료 바카라 can be identified by studying the DNA of these species.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A huge biological molecular that contains the necessary information for cell replication. The information is contained in sequences of nucleotides that are strung together to form long chains, called chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is a relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are dependent on evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution is evident in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups that can crossbreed) change by a series of natural variations in their offspring's traits. The changes can be triggered by a variety such as natural selection, genetic drift, and mixing of genes. The evolution of new species could take thousands of years. Environmental circumstances, such as climate change or competition for food resources and habitat can slow or speed up the process.
The Evolution site tracks the evolution of a number of different animal and plant groups through time, focusing on the major shifts that occurred throughout the history of each group. It also examines the evolution of humans and is a subject that is particularly important for students.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, at a time when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. 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. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, one year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it's very unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.
While the site is focused on biology, it contains a wealth of information about 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.
The site is a companion to the PBS TV series but it could also be used as a source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides easy links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) and the more specific features of the museum's website. These hyperlinks make it easy to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. Particularly, there are links to John Endler's research with Guppies that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life has produced many species of plants, animals and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures within their geological environment offers many advantages over modern observational or research methods of studying evolutionary phenomena. In addition to studying processes and events that take place frequently or over a long period of time, paleobiology can be used to analyze the relative abundance of various kinds of organisms as well as their distribution throughout the course of geological time.
The Web site is divided into several optional pathways to understanding evolution which include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a liner path through the nature of science and the evidence supporting the theory of evolution. The path also reveals common misconceptions about evolution and the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the main sections of the Evolution website is equally well-developed, with materials that support a variety levels of curriculum and teaching methods. In addition to the standard textual content, the site features an array of multimedia and interactive resources, such as videos, animations, and virtual laboratories. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the large Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, it gives a brief overview of the coral's relationships, their interaction with other organisms and zooms in on a single clam, which is able communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in the conditions of the water that occur at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary multimedia and interactive pages, provides an excellent introduction to a variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes a discussion on the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool for understanding evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that runs through all branches of biology. A vast collection of resources can help teachers teach about evolution across all life sciences.
One resource, the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that offers both depth and breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an encased "bread crumb" structure that allows students to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this large Web site closer to the world of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics links to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments in artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.
Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this website, which includes an extensive collection of multimedia assets related to evolution. The content is organized into courses that are based on curriculum and follow the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It includes seven short videos designed specifically for classroom use, which can be streamed for no cost or purchased on DVD.
A number of important questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, such as the factors that trigger evolution and how fast it occurs. 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 holds a an exclusive place in the creation with soul.
There are also a number of other ways in which evolution can occur and natural selection being the most widely accepted theory. However scientists also study different kinds of evolution, such as genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.
While many scientific fields of study have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been the subject of intense debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs to evolution while others haven't.