Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution remain. People who have taken in pop science nonsense often assume that biologists do not believe in evolution.

This site, which is a complement to the PBS program, provides teachers with materials that support the evolution of education, while avoiding the kinds of misconceptions which hinder it. It's arranged in a nested "bread crumb" format for ease of navigation and orientation.

Definitions

It's not easy to teach evolution well. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even scientists are guilty of using definitions that confuse the issue. This is particularly applicable to discussions about the nature of the word.

Therefore, it is important to define terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful manner. The site is a companion site to the show which first aired in 2001, but it also functions as an independent resource. The content is presented in a structured manner that makes it easier to navigate and understand.

The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help to define the nature of evolution as well as its relation to other scientific concepts. The site gives a comprehensive overview of the way that evolution has been tested. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been propagated by creationists.

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

The process of adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to become more suited to the environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adapted characteristics 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 huge biological molecular that contains the information needed for cell replication. The information is contained in nucleotides arranged in sequences that are strung together to form long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information inside cells.

Coevolution is a relationship between two species in which the evolutionary changes of one species are influenced evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution can be seen through the interaction between predator 에볼루션 코리아 and prey, or 에볼루션코리아 parasite and hosts.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) develop through a series of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety that include natural selection, genetic drift and gene pool mixing. The evolution of new species could take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate change or competition for food or habitat, can slow or accelerate the process.

The Evolution site traces through time the emergence of various groups of animals and plants with a focus on major changes in each group's past. It also focuses on human evolution, 에볼루션게이밍 which is a topic that is of particular interest to students.

When Darwin wrote the Origin, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. One of them was the infamous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, which was one year after the first edition of the Origin was published, it's extremely unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.

While the site focuses on biology, it offers a lot of information about geology and paleontology. Among the best features on the site are a series of timelines that show how geological and climatic conditions changed over time, as well as a map of the geographical distribution of some of the fossil groups featured on the site.

The site is a companion for a PBS TV series but it could also be used as an educational resource by 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 specific elements of the museum Web site. These hyperlinks facilitate the move from the enthralling cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. Particularly there are hyperlinks to John Endler's research with Guppies that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life has resulted in a variety of plants, animals and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures in their geological environment, has many advantages over modern observational or experimental methods for studying evolutionary processes. In addition to studying processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology is able to examine the relative abundance of various groups of organisms and their distribution throughout the course of geological time.

The website is divided into different routes that can be taken to study the subject of evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the complexities and 에볼루션 블랙잭 evidence of evolution. The path also examines myths regarding evolution, 에볼루션 무료 바카라 as well as the history of evolutionary thought.

Each of the main sections of the Evolution website is equally well-developed, and includes materials that are suited to a variety of curriculum levels and teaching styles. In addition to general textual content, 에볼루션 게이밍 the site offers a wide range of multimedia and interactive content including videos, 에볼루션 게이밍 animations and virtual labs. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation within the large Web site.

The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, provides a comprehensive overview of the coral's relationships, their interaction with other organisms, and then is enlarged to show one clam, which can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in conditions of the water that occur at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the website, provide an excellent introduction to a wide range of topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes a discussion on the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics which is a crucial method for understanding the evolution of change.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that weaves together all the branches of the field. A vast collection of resources supports teaching about evolution across the life sciences.

One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an exceptional example of an Web site that provides depth and a variety of educational resources. The site offers a range of interactive learning modules. It also features a "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely related to the worlds of research science. For 에볼루션 게이밍 instance an animation that introduces the concept of genetic inheritance links to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments in artificial selection with guppies from the native ponds of Trinidad.

The Evolution Library on this website has a huge multimedia library of materials that deal to evolution. The content is organized according to the form of curriculum-based pathways that are in line with the learning objectives outlined in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in classrooms, and can be streamed at no cost or purchased on DVD.

Evolutionary biology is still a field of study with a lot of important questions, including what causes evolution and how fast it takes place. This is particularly relevant to human evolution, where it's been difficult to reconcile the notion that the innate physical characteristics of humans evolved from apes with religious beliefs that hold that humans are unique in the universe and has an exclusive place in the creation, with soul.

There are also a number of other ways evolution can occur including natural selection, which is the most widely accepted theory. However scientists also study other kinds of evolution like genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.

Many fields of inquiry are in conflict with literal interpretations of religious texts evolutionary biology has been the subject of intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, while others haven't.