Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution persist. Pop science nonsense has led many people to believe that biologists aren't believers in evolution.
This rich Web site, which is a complement to the PBS program, provides teachers with materials that support the evolution of education while avoiding the types of misconceptions that can hinder it. It's organized in a nested "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's difficult to effectively teach evolution. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject and some scientists employ a definition that confuses it. This is especially true when discussing the definition of the words.
It is therefore crucial to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and helpful manner. The site is a companion to the show that premiered in 2001, but it is also an independent resource. The material is presented in a way which aids navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relationship to evolution to other scientific concepts. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been vetted and confirmed. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been propagated by creationists.
You can also access a glossary which contains terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
The process of adaptation is the tendency of hereditary traits to become better suited to an environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) is the most recent ancestor that is shared by two or more species. By analyzing DNA from these species, it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that contains information required for cell replication. The information is contained in a sequence of nucleotides that are strung together to form long chains, called chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution is the relationship between two species, where the evolution of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution is evident in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups that can crossbreed), evolve through a series of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. The changes can be triggered by a variety of factors that include natural selection, genetic drift, and mixing of gene pools. 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.
에볼루션 사이트 traces the emergence of a variety of species of plants and animals over time, focusing on the major changes that took place in each group's history. It also explores human evolution, which is a topic that is of particular interest to students.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, at a time when only a few antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. One of them was the infamous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 at 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 is extremely unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
The site is primarily a biology site, but it also contains lots of information about paleontology and geology. The site offers several features that are especially impressive, including the timeline of how geological and climate conditions have changed over time. It also includes an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
While the site is a companion to a PBS television series but it also stands on its own as a valuable source for teachers and students. The site is very well-organized and has 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 facilitate the transition from the enthralling cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. Particularly, there are links to John Endler's experiments with guppies that 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 geological environment offers many advantages over modern observational or research methods for studying evolutionary processes. Paleobiology can examine not only the process and events that occur regularly or over time but also the distribution and frequency of different species of animals across geological time.
The site is divided into several options to gain knowledge about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the nature and evidence of evolution. 에볼루션 게이밍 explores misconceptions about evolution, and also the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other main sections of the Evolution site is equally well created, with resources that can support a variety of educational levels and pedagogical styles. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia content, including video clips, animations and virtual laboratories in addition to general textual content. The breadcrumb-like structure of the content assists with navigation and orientation on the large web site.
For instance the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms. It then narrows down to a single clam that can communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in the water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to a wide variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The material also provides an explanation of the role of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is an important tool in understanding evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A rich collection supports teaching evolution across the disciplines of life science.
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 breadth in its educational resources. The site offers a range of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely related to the worlds 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.
The Evolution Library on this website has a huge multimedia library of materials that deal with evolution. The content is organized according to curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos specifically designed for classroom use, which can be streamed at no cost or purchased on DVD.
Evolutionary biology is still a field of study that has many important questions to answer, such as what causes evolution and how fast it occurs. This is especially applicable to human evolution which has made it difficult to reconcile the idea that the physical characteristics of humans derived from apes with religious beliefs that hold that humans are unique among living things and has an exclusive place in the creation. It is soul.
There are a variety of other ways evolution could occur, with natural selection as the most well-known theory. Scientists also study other types like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.
While many fields of scientific inquiry conflict with literal interpretations of religious texts, evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs to evolution while others haven't.