Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution persist. Pop science nonsense has led people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.

This site, a companion to the PBS program that provides teachers with resources that promote evolution education while avoiding the types of misconceptions which hinder it. It's laid out in a "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.

Definitions

Evolution is a complex and difficult subject matter to teach well. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and even some scientists use a definition that confuses 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 used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient way. The website is a companion to the show which first aired in 2001, but also functions as an independent resource. The information is presented in a structured way that makes it easy to navigate and understand.

The site defines terms like common ancestor, 에볼루션 슬롯게임 gradual process and adaptation. These terms help define the nature and relationship of evolution to other concepts in science. The site gives a comprehensive overview of the way that evolution has been examined. This information can help dispel the myths created by creationists.

You can also access a glossary that includes terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

Adaptation is the process of changing heritable traits to be more suitable to their environment. This is the result of natural selection, which occurs when organisms that have more adaptable traits are more likely survive and reproduce than those with less adapted traits.

Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) The most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of these species.

Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that contains 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 cause of new genetic information in cells.

Coevolution is a relation between two species, where the evolution of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes of the other. Examples of coevolution include the interaction between predator and prey, or parasite and host.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) develop through an array of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. The changes can be caused by a variety that include natural selection, 에볼루션코리아 genetic drift, and gene pool mixing. The development of a new species could take thousands of years and the process may be slowed or increased by environmental factors like climate change or competition for food or 에볼루션 슬롯 habitat.

The Evolution site traces through time the emergence of various groups of animals and plants and focuses on major changes within each group's past. It also explores the evolutionary history of humans which is especially important for students to know.

When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. The famous skullcap, with the bones associated with it were discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now regarded as an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, which was a year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is highly unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.

The site is primarily an online biology resource, but it also contains many details on paleontology and geology. The most impressive features of the Web site are a set of timelines which show the way in which climatic and geological conditions changed over time, and a map of the geographical distribution of some of the fossil groups featured on the site.

The site is a companion for the PBS TV series but it can be used as a source for 에볼루션코리아 teachers and students. The site is well-organized, and provides clear links to the introductory content of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) and 에볼루션코리아 the more specialized features on the museum's website. These hyperlinks help users move from the enthralling cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. There are also links to John Endler's experiments with guppies. They illustrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life on Earth has produced a diversity of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures within their natural environment offers many advantages over the current observational or experimental methods for studying evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology focuses on not just the processes and 에볼루션 룰렛 events that occur regularly or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of different species of animals in space over the course of geological time.

The site is divided up into different routes that can be taken to gain knowledge about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the nature and evidence of evolution. The path also explores the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the evolution of thought.

Each of the other main sections of the Evolution site is similarly developed, with materials that can support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. In addition to the standard textual content, the site features an array of interactive and multimedia resources including videos, animations and virtual labs. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation on the Web site.

For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms. Then, it concentrates on a specific clam that is able to communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in water conditions at the level of the reef. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages gives a good introduction to many topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes an explanation of the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis, an important tool for understanding evolutionary change.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolution is an underlying thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A vast collection of resources supports teaching about evolution across all life sciences.

One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an outstanding example of an Web site that offers both depth and a variety of educational resources. The site features a wealth of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely related to the fields of research science. For instance an animation that explains the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page highlighting 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 materials that deal to evolution. The contents are organized into curriculum-based paths that parallel the learning objectives outlined in the standards for biology. It contains seven short videos that are designed for classroom use. They are available to stream or purchase as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology remains a field of study with a lot of important questions to answer, such as what triggers evolution and how fast it happens. This is particularly true in the case of human evolution, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humans have a distinct place in creation and a soul, with the notion that our physical traits were derived from the apes.

There are a myriad of other ways evolution can occur including natural selection, which is the most popular theory. Scientists also study different types such as genetic drift, and sexual selection.

While many fields of scientific inquiry have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the theories of evolution, other religions haven't.