Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution remain. People who have been exposed to the nonsense of pop science often believe that biologists do not believe in evolution.
This rich website - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that promote evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misconceptions that hinder it. It's organized in a "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.
Definitions
Evolution is a complex and difficult subject matter to teach well. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists are guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially relevant when discussing the nature of the words themselves.
As such, it is important to define terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient manner. The site is a companion to the series that first aired in 2001, but also functions as an independent resource. The information is presented in an organized manner that makes it simpler to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relationship to other scientific concepts. The site also provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and confirmed. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.
It is also possible to get a glossary of terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
The process of adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to become better suited to an environment. This is a result of natural selection, which occurs when organisms with more adaptable characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable characteristics.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more species. By analyzing DNA from these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that holds the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences, which are strung into long chains known as chromosomes. Mutations are the cause of new genetic information in cells.
Coevolution is the relationship between two species in which the evolutionary changes of one species influence evolutionary changes of the other. 에볼루션 게이밍 of coevolution include the interactions between predator and prey, or host and parasite.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) change through natural changes in the traits of their offspring. The changes can be caused by a variety such as natural selection, genetic drift and gene pool mixing. The development of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate changes or competition for food and habitat, can slow or accelerate the process.
The Evolution site traces through time the evolution of various groups of animals and plants and focuses on major changes in each group's past. It also focuses on human evolution as a subject that is of particular interest for students.
Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when just a few antediluvian fossils of human beings had been discovered. The most famous among them was the skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, one year after the first edition of the Origin was published, it is extremely unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it also includes a good deal of information about geology as well as paleontology. One of the most appealing features of the Web site are a set of timelines that illustrate the way in which climatic and geological conditions changed over time, and a map of the distribution of some fossil groups listed on the site.
Although the site is a companion piece to a PBS television series but it also stands on its own as a valuable resource for teachers and students. The site is very well organized and provides clear links between the introduction information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more sophisticated elements of the museum's web site. These links make it easier to transition from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. There are also links to John Endler's experiments with guppies that illustrate the importance ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has led to a wide variety of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological context and has numerous advantages over the current observational and experimental methods of examining evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology focuses on not only 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 geological time.
The site is divided into various paths that can be chosen to learn about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," walks the reader through the evolution of nature and the evidence of evolution. The course also focuses on misconceptions regarding evolution, and also the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, with materials that are suited to a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site includes a variety of interactive and multimedia content that include animations, video clips and virtual laboratories, in addition to its general textual content. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb style that facilitates navigation and orientation on the Web site.
For example, the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms. It then concentrates on a specific clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in water conditions that occur at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to a broad range of topics in evolutionary biology. The information also includes an overview of the importance of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is a key tool in understanding evolutionary change.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that connects all branches of biology. A rich collection supports teaching evolution across all disciplines of life sciences.
One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of an Web site that provides the depth and breadth of its educational resources. The site has a wide array of interactive learning modules. It also has an "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely linked to the fields of research science. For example an animation that introduces the concept of genetic inheritance links to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments with artificial selection with guppies in native ponds of Trinidad.
Another resource that is worth mentioning is the Evolution Library on this web site, which has an extensive multimedia library of resources connected to evolution. The content is organized according to curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in biology standards. It contains seven short videos specifically designed for classroom use. These can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
Many important questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, such as what causes evolution to occur and how fast it occurs. This is particularly applicable to human evolution which has made it difficult to reconcile that the physical traits of humans derived from apes, and the religions that believe that humans are unique among living things and holds a an exclusive place in the creation, with a soul.
There are a variety of other ways in which evolution can take place including natural selection, which is the most well-known theory. Scientists also study different types such as genetic drift, and sexual selection.
While many scientific fields of study conflict with literal interpretations found in religious texts, evolution biology has been the subject of intense 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.