Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions persist about the evolution. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.
This rich Web site, which is a complement to the PBS program that provides teachers with resources that promote evolution education while avoiding the types of misconceptions that can undermine it. It's laid out in a "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.
Definitions
It's not easy to teach evolution well. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists use an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly true when it comes to discussions about the definition of the word itself.
Therefore, it is crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and helpful way. The website is a companion to the show which first aired in 2001, but can also function as an independent resource. The content is presented in a nested manner that assists in navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relation to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the way the concept of evolution has been tested. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been engendered by creationists.
You can also access a glossary which contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to become better suited to an environment. This is a result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted characteristics are more likely than those with less adapted characteristics to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of the species.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A large biological molecular that contains the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences which are strung into long chains known as chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution is a relationship between two species in which evolutionary changes in one species are influenced by evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey, or host and parasite.
Origins
Species (groups that can crossbreed) change by a series of natural variations in the traits of their offspring. These changes can be caused by various factors, including natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of a new species may take thousands of years, and the process can be slowed down or accelerated by environmental factors like climate change or competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site tracks the development of a number of different animal and plant groups through time and focuses on the most significant changes that took place in each group's history. It also explores the evolutionary origin of humans, a topic that is crucial for students to comprehend.
When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. One of them was the infamous skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany which is now believed as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, one year after the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it includes a good deal of information about geology and paleontology. Among the best features of the Web site are a set of timelines that show how geological and climatic conditions have changed over time and a map of the distribution of some fossil groups that are featured on the site.
The site is a companion for the PBS TV series but it can also be used as an educational source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and offers easy links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) as well as the more specialized features of the museum website. These links make it easier to transition from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds 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 resulted in an array of plants, animals and insects. 에볼루션 바카라 사이트 is the study of these creatures in their geographical context and offers numerous advantages over modern observational and experimental methods of examining evolutionary phenomena. In addition to examining processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology is able to examine the relative abundance of various kinds of organisms as well as their distribution in space over the course of geological time.
The site is divided up into various paths that can be chosen to learn about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the nature and evidence of evolution. The path also reveals the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally well developed, with materials that support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. In addition to the general textual content, the site features an array of multimedia and interactive content like video clips, animations, and virtual labs. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation on the Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, provides a comprehensive overview of coral relationships and interactions with other organisms and then zooms in on one clam, which is able to 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, provide an excellent introduction to a broad range of topics in evolutionary biology. The material includes a discussion on the role of natural selectivity and the concept of phylogenetics, an important tool to understand evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is a common thread that runs through all branches of biology. A rich collection of resources can help teachers teach about evolution across all life sciences.
One resource, the companion to PBS's television show Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that provides depth and breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site features a wide range of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely related to the fields of research science. For instance an animation that explains the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial selection experiments using guppies in the ponds of his native country of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of materials that deal to evolution. The content is organized in curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in classrooms. They are available to stream or purchase as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology is still a field of study that has many important questions, such as what triggers 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 were derived from apes with religious beliefs that claim that humans are unique among living things and holds a a special place in creation with soul.
Additionally, there are a number of ways in which evolution could occur with natural selection being the most widely accepted theory. However scientists also study different types of evolution such as mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection, among others.
While many fields of scientific study have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a subject of intense controversy and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs to evolution while others haven't.