Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts by biology educators, misconceptions persist regarding evolution. People who have absorbed popular science myths often assume that biologists do not believe in evolution.
This rich website - companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources that support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misinformation that can make it difficult to understand. It's organized in a nested "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It is difficult to properly teach evolution. People who are not scientists often have a difficult time understanding the subject and some scientists use a definition that confuses it. This is particularly relevant when it comes to the nature of the words themselves.
It is therefore crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful way. The website is a companion to the series that first aired in 2001, but it also functions as an independent resource. The information is presented in an organized manner that makes it easier to navigate and understand.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, the gradual process and adaptation. These terms help define the nature and relationship of evolution to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the ways in which evolution has been tested. 에볼루션 사이트 will help to dispel the myths that are created by the creationists.
You can also access a glossary that contains 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 the result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted characteristics are more likely than those with less adapted characteristics to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more different species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of the species.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A large biological molecular that holds the information required for cell replication. The information is contained in nucleotides arranged in sequences that are strung together to form long chains, called chromosomes. Mutations are the basis for new genetic information in cells.
Coevolution is a relationship between two species in which evolutionary changes in one species are affected by changes in evolutionary processes in the other. Examples of coevolution include the interaction between predator and prey or host and parasite.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed), evolve through a series of natural changes in their offspring's traits. The changes can be triggered by a variety of causes that include natural selection, genetic drift, and mixing of gene pools. The evolution of a new species may take thousands of years, and the process can be slowed down or accelerated by environmental factors like climate change or the competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site follows the evolution of different species of plants and animals with a focus on major changes within each group's past. It also focuses on human evolution as a subject of particular importance for students.
When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. The famous skullcap, along with the bones that accompanied it, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now recognized as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is highly unlikely that Darwin was aware of the skullcap when it was published in 1858, a year after the first edition of The Origin.
The site is mostly an online biology resource however, it also has many details on geology and paleontology. The site offers several aspects that are quite impressive, such as an overview of how geological and climate conditions have changed over time. It also features a map showing the distribution of fossil groups.
Although the site is a companion to the PBS television series however, it can stand on its own as a great source for teachers and students. The site is extremely well-organized and offers clear links between the introduction content in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specialized elements of the museum's web site. 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, which illustrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life has resulted in a variety of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures within their geological environment, has many advantages over modern observational or research methods for exploring evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology focuses on not just the processes and events that happen regularly or over time but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space over the course of the geological time.
The site is divided into several paths that can be chosen to learn about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The path also reveals the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the evolution of thought.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, with materials that can be used to support a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. In addition to the general textual content, the site features an array of multimedia and interactive resources, such as videos, animations and virtual laboratories. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation on the Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, it provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and interactions with other organisms and then zooms in to one clam that can communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in conditions of the water that occur at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary multimedia and interactive pages, gives a good introduction to a variety 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 changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that weaves together all branches of the field. A wide range of resources supports teaching about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that offers both depth as well as broadness in terms of educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also has an embedded "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 field of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics is linked to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.
Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this site, which has an extensive collection of multimedia items related to evolution. The content is organized in curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in the standards for biology. It contains seven short videos specifically intended for use in the classroom. These can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology is still an area of study that poses many important questions, such as the causes of evolution and how quickly it happens. This is especially true for human evolution, which has made it difficult to reconcile that the physical traits of humans were derived from apes and religions that believe that humans are unique in the universe and has an exclusive place in the creation with soul.
There are a variety of other ways in which evolution can take place and natural selection being the most well-known theory. However, scientists also study other types of evolution such as mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection, among others.
While many fields of scientific inquiry conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts evolutionary biology has been the subject of fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Some religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, but others haven't.