Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misinformation about evolution persist. Pop science nonsense has led many people to believe that biologists aren't believers 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 make it difficult to understand. It's arranged in a nested "bread crumb" format for ease of navigation and orientation.

Definitions

Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject to teach well. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and even scientists have been guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly relevant when discussing the definition of the words.

It is therefore important 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 site is a companion site to the show which first aired in 2001, but also functions as an independent resource. The material is presented in a structured way that makes it easy to navigate and understand.

The site defines terms like common ancestor and the gradual process. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relationship to other concepts in science. The site gives a comprehensive overview of the way the concept of evolution has been examined. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.

You can also consult a glossary that contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

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

Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more distinct species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of those species.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A massive biological molecular that holds the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotides arranged in sequences that are strung together to form long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the cause of new genetic information within cells.

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

Origins

Species (groups that can crossbreed) develop through a series of natural changes in their offspring's traits. These changes are caused by a variety, including natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of genes. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate changes or competition for food and habitat can slow or speed up the process.

The Evolution site tracks the development of a number of different animal and plant groups through time, focusing on the major shifts that occurred throughout the history of each group. It also explores the evolutionary history of humans and humans, a subject that is especially important for students to know.

Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. Among them was the famous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany that is now thought to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is highly unlikely that Darwin was aware of the skullcap, which was first published in 1858, which was a year after the first edition of The Origin.

While the site is focused on biology, it also offers a lot of information about geology and paleontology. Among the best features on the site are a series of timelines which show how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time as well as an interactive map of the distribution of a few of the fossil groups featured on the site.

The site is a companion to a PBS television series, but it can also be used as a resource by teachers and students. The site is well-organized, and provides clear links to the introduction content of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) as well as the more specialized features of the museum's website. These hyperlinks make it easier to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. In particular 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 led to an array of plants, animals and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their natural environment is a superior method of study over the current observational or experimental methods of studying evolutionary processes. In addition to exploring processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology allows to examine the relative abundance of various groups of organisms and their distribution across geological time.

The Web site is divided into various ways to learn about evolution, including "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the scientific process and the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The path also explores common misconceptions about evolution as well as the history of evolutionary thought.

Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally created, with resources that support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. The site has a range of interactive and multimedia resources that include video clips, animations and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the vast Web site.

For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms. 에볼루션 카지노 사이트 narrows down to a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the water conditions at the level of the reef. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to the broad variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes an explanation of the role of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is a key method to understand evolutionary changes.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolution is an underlying thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across all life science disciplines.

One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an exceptional 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 features an encased "bread crumb" structure that allows students to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this massive website that are more closely tied to the field of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics is linked to a page about John Endler's experiments in artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.

Another resource that is worth mentioning is the Evolution Library on this web site, which contains an extensive library of multimedia resources that are related to evolution. The content is organized according to courses that are based on curriculum and follow the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in the classroom, and can be streamed for no cost or purchased on DVD.

Evolutionary biology remains an area of study with a lot of important questions to answer, such as what causes evolution and how fast it takes place. This is particularly true for the evolution of humans which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs 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 in which evolution could occur including natural selection, which is the most popular theory. However, scientists also study other kinds of evolution like mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection, among others.

While many fields of scientific inquiry have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts evolutionary biology has been the subject of fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, while others haven't.