Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misinformation about evolution persist. Pop science nonsense has led many people to think that biologists don't believe in evolution.
This site, which is a companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that promote evolution education and avoid the kinds of myths that undermine it. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's not easy to effectively teach evolution. People who are not scientists often have a difficult time understanding the subject and some scientists use a definition which confuses it. This is especially true when it comes to debates about the meaning of the word itself.
As 에볼루션 사이트 , it is important to define terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful manner. It is an accompanying site for the 2001 series, and also a resource of its own. The content is presented in an organized way that makes it easy to navigate and understand.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, the gradual process and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relation to other scientific concepts. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been vetted and confirmed. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.
It is also possible to get the glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
The process of adaptation is the tendency of hereditary traits to become more suitable to their environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms with more adaptable traits are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified through analyzing the DNA of these species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that contains information required for cell replication. The information is contained in a sequence of nucleotides that are strung together to form long chains, referred to as chromosomes. 에볼루션 게이밍 are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution is a relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are dependent on evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution include the interactions between predator and prey, or parasite and host.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals that can interbreed) change through a series of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. Changes can be caused by numerous factors, like natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like changes in the climate or competition for food or habitat can slow or speed up the process.
The Evolution site tracks through time the emergence of various species of plants and animals with a focus on major changes in each group's past. It also explores the human evolutionary roots, a topic that is especially important for students to know.
When Darwin wrote the Origin of Species, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. The skullcap that is famous, along with the associated bones, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, one year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
The site is primarily one of biology, but it also contains many details on geology and paleontology. Among the best features on the site are a set of timelines which show how climatic and geological conditions changed over time, and a map of the distribution of a few fossil groups listed on the site.
While the site is a companion piece to a PBS television series however, it can stand on its own as an excellent resource for teachers and students. The site is very well-organized and offers clear links between the introduction content in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more sophisticated elements of the museum Web site. These links make it easier to transition from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds 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 has led to many species of plants, animals and insects. 에볼루션 사이트 is the study of these creatures within their geological context and has many advantages over the modern observational and research 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 allows to examine the diversity of groups of organisms and their distribution in space over the course of geological time.
The website is divided into various routes that can be taken to gain knowledge about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," walks the reader through the nature and evidence of evolution. The path also examines myths about evolution, and also the history of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the main sections of the Evolution website is equally well-developed, and includes materials that can be used to support 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 labs as well as general textual content. The breadcrumb-like arrangement of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the massive web site.
For example, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of coral relationships and their interactions with other organisms, then narrows down to a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in the water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the website, provide an excellent introduction to a broad variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The material also provides a discussion of the role 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 binds all the branches of the field. A wide selection of resources helps teachers teach evolution across all life science disciplines.
One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of a Web site that offers both depth and a variety of educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely connected to the fields of research science. For instance an animation that explains the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page that highlights John Endler's artificial selection experiments with guppies in native ponds of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of resources that are associated to evolution. The content is organized into curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in the standards for biology. It contains seven short videos designed for classroom use. These can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
Many important questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, including the factors that trigger evolution and how fast it happens. This is especially true in the case of human evolution which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humans have a distinct position in the universe and a soul with the notion that our physical traits were derived from apes.
There are a myriad of other ways evolution can occur including natural selection, which is the most well-known theory. Scientists also study other types such as genetic drift and sexual selection.
While many scientific fields of inquiry have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts Evolutionary biology has been the subject of controversial debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the ideas of evolution, other religions have not.