Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts by biology educators, there are still a lot of misconceptions regarding evolution. Pop science nonsense has led many people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.

This rich website - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that promote evolution education and 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. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject and some scientists use a definition that confuses it. This is particularly true when it comes to discussions about the nature of the word.

It is therefore important to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful manner. The site serves as an accompaniment to the 2001 series, and it is also a resource on its own. The content is presented in a way that assists in navigation and orientation.

The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution as well as its relation to other concepts in science. The site then offers an overview of how the concept of evolution has been tested and validated. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been created by the creationists.

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

Adaptation: The tendency of heritable traits to become better adaptable to a specific environment. This is a result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less-adapted traits to reproduce and survive.

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

Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that contains the information necessary for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences which are strung into long chains known as chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information within cells.

Coevolution: A relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are affected by changes in evolutionary processes in the other. Coevolution can be observed in the interactions between predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) develop through an array of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. The changes can be caused by a variety of factors that include natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of gene pools. The development of a new species could take thousands of years and the process can be slowed down or speeded up by environmental conditions such as climate change or competition for food or habitat.

The Evolution site tracks the evolution of a variety of groups of animals and plants over time and focuses on the most significant changes that took place in the evolution of each group's history. It also focuses on human evolution as a subject that is particularly important to students.

Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when just a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. The famous skullcap, along with the bones that accompanied it, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. click the next internet site is now regarded as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, a year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it's highly unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.

While the site focuses on biology, it contains a wealth of information on geology and paleontology. The website has several features that are particularly impressive, such as the timeline of how climate and geological conditions have changed over time. It also has an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.

The site is a companion for a PBS TV series but it can be used as a resource for 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 assistance) as well as the more specialized features on the museum's website. These hyperlinks help users move from the cartoon-like style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. In particular, there are links to John Endler's research with Guppies, which demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life has produced an array of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures within their natural environment is a superior method of study over modern observational or research methods for studying evolutionary phenomena. In addition to exploring the processes and events that happen regularly or over a lengthy period of time, paleobiology can be used to analyze the relative abundance of different groups of organisms and their distribution across the geological time.

The Web site is divided into several optional pathways to understanding evolution, including "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a liner path through the nature of science and the evidence supporting the theory of evolution. The path also explores common misconceptions about evolution as well as the history of evolutionary thought.

Each of the other major sections of the Evolution site is equally constructed, with materials that support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. In addition to general textual content, the site features a wide range of interactive and multimedia resources including videos, animations, and virtual labs. The breadcrumb-like arrangement of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the massive website.


For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms. Then, it concentrates on a specific clam that can communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in the water conditions that occur at the level of the reef. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to the broad spectrum of topics in evolutionary biology. The content includes an explanation of the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis as a key method for understanding the evolution of changes.

Evolutionary Theory

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

One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that offers both depth and broadness in terms of educational resources. The site features a wide range of interactive learning modules. It also has an "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely connected to the worlds of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics is linked to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.

Another useful resource is the Evolution Library on this web website, which includes an extensive library of multimedia assets connected to evolution. The content is organized into curricula-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in the standards for biology. It includes seven short videos specifically designed for use in classrooms. They are available to stream or purchase as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology is a field of study with a lot of important questions, including what triggers evolution and the speed at which it occurs. This is particularly relevant for the evolution of humans where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humanity has a special position in the universe and a soul, with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits originated from apes.

There are a variety of other ways evolution can take place including natural selection, which is the most widely accepted theory. Scientists also study different types like mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection.

While many fields of scientific study conflict with literal interpretations found in religious texts, evolution biology has been the subject of intense debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. While some religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the notions of evolution, others have not.