Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts by biology educators, there are still a lot of misconceptions about the evolution. People who have absorbed pop science nonsense often assume that biologists don't believe in evolution.
This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of myths that hinder it. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.
Info is a complex and difficult subject to teach well. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists are guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly applicable to discussions on the nature of the word.
As such, it is essential to define terms that are used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website does this in a straightforward and useful way. The website is a companion to the show that premiered in 2001, but can also function as an independent resource. The material is presented in a nested manner that aids navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms like common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help to define the nature and relationship of evolution to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the ways in which evolution has been tested. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.
You can also access a glossary that includes terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
The process of adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to be more suitable to their environment. This is a result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted traits.
Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more species. By analyzing the DNA from these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A huge biological molecular containing the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains known as chromosomes. Mutations are the cause of new genetic information in cells.
Coevolution: A relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in 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 of individuals that can interbreed) evolve through a series of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety of causes such as natural selection, genetic drift, and gene pool mixing. The evolution of a new species can take thousands of years and the process may be slowed down or accelerated by environmental factors like climate change or the competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site traces the emergence of various animal and plant groups through time and focuses on the most significant transitions that occurred in the evolution of each group's history. It also focuses on the evolutionary origin of humans and humans, a subject that is crucial for students to comprehend.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when only a few antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. The most famous among them was the skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is highly unlikely that Darwin knew about the skullcap when it was published in 1858, a year following the initial edition of The Origin. Origin.
The site is mostly one of biology however it also includes lots of information about paleontology and geology. One of the most appealing features on the site are a timeline of events which show the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time as well as a map of the distribution of a few fossil groups that are featured on the site.
While the site is a companion piece to the PBS television show however, it can stand on its own as a valuable resource for teachers and students. The site is extremely well-organized and offers 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 move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds 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 has led to many species of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological context and has a number of advantages over modern observational and experimental methods for analyzing evolutionary processes. In addition to examining processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology can be used to study the diversity of groups of organisms and their distribution throughout the geological time.
The site is divided up into several options to learn about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the evolution of nature and the evidence of evolution. The course also focuses on misconceptions regarding evolution, and also the history of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the other major sections of the Evolution site is similarly constructed, with materials that can be used to support a range of educational levels and pedagogical styles. The site includes a variety of interactive and multimedia resources which include animations, video clips and virtual labs, in addition to its general textual content. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation on the Web site.
For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms, then zooms in on a single clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to the broad range of topics in evolutionary biology. The content includes an overview of the role of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis, an important method for understanding the evolution of changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is a common thread that runs through all branches of biology. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across the disciplines of life sciences.
One resource, the companion to PBS's TV series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that provides the depth and the wide range of educational resources. The site offers a variety of interactive learning modules. It also has an "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely related to the fields of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics links to a page about John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using Guppies living in ponds native to Trinidad.
Another useful resource is the Evolution Library on this Web site, which has an extensive collection of multimedia assets related to evolution. The content is organized into curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning goals set forth in the biology standards. It contains seven videos intended for use in the classroom. They can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology remains a field of study that has many important questions, such as what causes evolution and how quickly it happens. This is particularly applicable to human evolution where it has been difficult to reconcile the notion that the physical characteristics of humans evolved from apes with religious beliefs that claim that humanity is unique among living things and holds a a special place in creation with a soul.
There are a myriad of other ways in which evolution can occur and natural selection being the most popular theory. However, scientists also study other kinds of evolution like genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.
While many fields of scientific inquiry have a conflict with the literal interpretations of the Bible, evolutionary biology has been the subject of intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Some religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, but others haven't.