Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions persist about evolution. People who have taken in pop science nonsense often assume that biologists claim they don't believe in evolution.

This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that support evolution education and avoids the kinds of myths that make it difficult to understand. It's arranged in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.

Definitions

Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject to teach effectively. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and even scientists have been guilty of using definitions that confuse the issue. This is especially true when it comes to debates about the meaning of the word itself.

It is therefore crucial to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and 에볼루션코리아 (Daoqiao.Net) useful way. The website is a companion to the series that first aired in 2001, but is also an independent resource. The material is presented in a nested manner that assists in navigation and orientation.

The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution and its relation to other concepts in science. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and validated. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been engendered by creationists.

It is also possible to find a glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

Adaptation: The tendency of heritable characteristics to become more suitable to a particular setting. This is the result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that are better adapted traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable characteristics.

Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more distinct species. By analyzing the DNA from these species, it is possible to identify the common ancestor.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A large biological molecular that contains the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences, which are strung into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the basis for new genetic information in cells.

Coevolution: A relationship between two species in which evolutionary changes in one species are dependent on evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interactions between predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.

Origins

Species (groups that can interbreed) change by a series of natural variations in their offspring's traits. The changes can be triggered by a variety of causes, including natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of genes. The development of a new species could take thousands of years and the process can be slowed down or accelerated due to environmental conditions, such as climate change or competition for food or habitat.

The Evolution site tracks the evolution of various groups of animals and plants over time and focuses on the most significant shifts that occurred throughout the evolution of each group's history. It also explores the human evolutionary roots and humans, a subject that is crucial for students to understand.

Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. The most famous among them was the skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany which is now believed to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, just one year after the first edition of the Origin was published, 에볼루션 바카라카지노; simply click the next internet page, it is very unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.

The site is mostly a biology site however it also includes a lot of information on paleontology and geology. The website has numerous features that are especially impressive, including the timeline of how geological and 에볼루션카지노 climate conditions have changed over time. It also features a map showing the distribution of fossil groups.

The site is a companion to a PBS TV series but it could also be used as an educational resource by teachers and students. The site is extremely well organized and provides 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 of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. Particularly, 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 produced a variety of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geographical context and offers numerous advantages over the modern observational and research methods of examining evolutionary processes. Paleobiology is able to study not only the process and events that happen regularly or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of different groups of animals in space throughout the geological time.

The site is divided into various pathways to understanding evolution that include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the nature of science and the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The path also reveals the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the evolution theory's history.

Each of the other major sections of the Evolution site is similarly developed, with materials that can be used to support a range of educational levels and pedagogical styles. In addition to the general textual content, the site offers an extensive selection of multimedia and interactive resources including videos, animations and virtual labs. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the large Web site.

For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of the relationships between corals and their interaction with other organisms. It then concentrates on a specific clam that can communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in the water conditions that occur at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary multimedia and interactive pages, 에볼루션게이밍 gives a good introduction to a variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes a discussion on the importance of natural selection and the concept phylogenetics analysis, an important tool for 바카라 에볼루션 understanding evolutionary changes.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students, evolution is a key thread that connects all branches of the field. A rich collection supports teaching evolution across all disciplines of life sciences.

One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web site that provides depth as well as breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site has a wide array of interactive learning modules. It also has an encased "bread crumb" structure that helps students move from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this large Web site more closely tied to the world of research science. Animation that introduces the concept of genetics, which links to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments in artificial selection using Guppies in native ponds in Trinidad.

Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this web site, which contains an extensive collection of multimedia resources that are related to evolution. The content is organized into curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in the biology standards. It includes seven short videos designed for classroom use. They can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.

Many important questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, including the factors that trigger evolution and how fast it happens. This is especially applicable to human evolution which has made it difficult to reconcile the idea that the physical characteristics of humans evolved from apes with religious beliefs that claim that humans are unique in the universe and has an enviable place in creation, with soul.

In addition there are a myriad of ways that evolution can occur, with natural selection being the most popular theory. Scientists also study other kinds like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.

While many fields of scientific study conflict with literal interpretations found in religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a source of intense controversy and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have embraced their beliefs with evolutionary biology, but others haven't.