Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

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

This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials which support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misinformation that can undermine it. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.

Definitions

Evolution is a complex and challenging subject to teach effectively. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even some scientists use an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly true when discussing the meaning of the words themselves.

It is therefore crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website helps you define these terms in an easy and 에볼루션 블랙잭 helpful way. The site is a companion to the series that first aired in 2001, but is also an independent resource. The material is presented in a way which aids navigation and orientation.

The site defines terms like common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution as well as its relationship to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the manner that evolution has been examined. This information can be used to dispel the myths that have been propagated by the creationists.

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

Adaptation is the process of changing hereditary traits to become more suitable to their environment. This is due to natural selection. It occurs when organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely survive and reproduce than those with less adapted traits.

Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more distinct species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of the species.

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

Coevolution is a relationship between two species in which evolutionary changes in one species are affected by changes in evolutionary processes in the other. Examples of coevolution include the interaction between predator and prey, or host and parasite.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals that can interbreed) change through an array of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. Changes can be caused by many factors, such as natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of a new species can take thousands of years and the process could be slowed down or speeded up by environmental factors like climate change or the competition for food or habitat.

The Evolution site traces through time the evolution of different groups of animals and plants and focuses on major changes in each group's past. It also explores human evolution and is a subject that is particularly important for students.

Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when only a few antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. The famous skullcap, with the associated bones, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is unlikely that Darwin knew about the skullcap, which was published in 1858, which was a year after the publication of the first edition of The Origin.

While the site is focused on biology, it also contains a wealth of information on geology and paleontology. The most impressive features of the Web site are a timeline of events that illustrate the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time and an interactive map of the geographical distribution of some of the fossil groups featured on the site.

The site is a companion to the PBS television series, but it could also be used as a source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and has clear links between the introductory information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specialized elements of the museum Web site. These links make it easier to transition from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. Particularly there are hyperlinks to John Endler's experiments using 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 natural environment and has many advantages over the modern observational and research methods for 에볼루션 코리아 analyzing evolutionary processes. Paleobiology is able to study not only the process and 에볼루션바카라 events that occur frequently or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of different groups of animals in space over the course of geological time.

The site is divided into several options to learn about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The path also reveals the most common misconceptions about evolution, 에볼루션코리아 as well as the evolution of thought.

Each of the main sections of the Evolution website is equally well-designed, with materials that are suited to a variety of educational levels and teaching styles. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia content which include videos, animations, and virtual laboratories, in addition to its general textual content. The breadcrumb-like structure of the content assists with navigation and orientation on the large web site.

The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, gives a brief overview of the relationships between corals and interactions with other organisms, and then is enlarged to show a single clam, which can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in conditions of the water that occur at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the website, 에볼루션코리아 provide an excellent introduction to a broad range of topics in evolutionary biology. The information also includes a discussion of the role of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is a crucial method to understand evolutionary changes.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students, evolution is a key thread that weaves together all branches of the field. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across the disciplines of life sciences.

One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that provides the depth and the broadness in terms of educational resources. The site offers a range of interactive learning modules. It also has a nested "bread crumb" structure that helps students move from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this large Web site closer to the world of research science. For example an animation that introduces the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial selection experiments with guppies from the native ponds of Trinidad.

The Evolution Library on this website is a vast multimedia library of materials that deal to evolution. The content is organized according to curricula-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in the biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for classroom use. These can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology remains an area of study that has many important questions to answer, such as the causes of evolution and how quickly it happens. This is particularly true for human evolution, where it's been difficult to reconcile the idea that the physical characteristics of humans derived from apes with religious beliefs that claim that humans are unique in the universe and has an enviable place in creation with soul.

In addition there are a myriad of ways that evolution could be triggered with natural selection being the most popular theory. Scientists also study different types like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.

Although many scientific fields of study conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a subject of intense debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. While some religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the theories of evolution, other religions haven't.