Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution remain. Pop science nonsense has led people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.
This site, which is a companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources that support evolution education and avoid the kinds of myths that undermine it. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's not easy to effectively teach evolution. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even some scientists are guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly relevant to discussions on the meaning of the word itself.
Therefore, it is crucial to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient manner. The site serves as a companion for the 2001 series, and it is also a resource on its own. The material is presented in a nested fashion that assists in navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, the 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 that evolution has been examined. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been engendered by creationists.
You can also access a glossary that includes terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of heritable traits to become better suitable to a particular setting. 에볼루션 바카라사이트 is the result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted characteristics are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) The most recent ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified through analyzing the DNA of these species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that contains the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotides arranged in sequences that are strung together into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information inside cells.
Coevolution is a relation between two species in which the evolutionary changes of one species influence evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed) develop through a series natural changes in their offspring's traits. These changes can be caused by numerous factors, like natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The development of a new species may take thousands of years and the process could be slowed down or accelerated by environmental conditions such as climate change or competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site tracks through time the emergence of various species of plants and animals and focuses on major changes within each group's past. It also explores the evolutionary history of humans, a topic that is especially important for students to comprehend.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when just a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. The skullcap that is famous, along with the bones that accompanied it were discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now regarded as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, one year after the first edition of the Origin was published, it's extremely unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
The site is mostly a biology site, but it also contains many details on geology and paleontology. The website has numerous features that are especially impressive, including the timeline of how geological and climate conditions have changed over the course of time. It also has an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
Although the site is a companion to a PBS television series however, it can stand on its own as a great source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides clear links to the introduction content of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) as well as the more specialized features of the museum's website. 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 links to John Endler's experiments with Guppies that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has resulted in a variety of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures within their geological environment is a superior method of study over modern observational or experimental methods for studying evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology focuses on not just the processes and events that take place regularly 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 various pathways to understanding evolution that include "Evolution 101," which takes the user on a linear path through the nature of science and the evidence to support the theory of evolution. The path also explores misconceptions about evolution and also the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is similarly created, with resources that can be used to support a range of educational levels and pedagogical styles. The site has a range of interactive and multimedia content which include animations, video clips and virtual laboratories, in addition to its general textual content. The breadcrumb-like arrangement of the content assists with navigation and orientation on the massive Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, provides an overview of the relationships between corals, their interaction with other organisms, and then zooms in on one clam that is able communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in conditions of the water at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to a broad spectrum of topics in evolutionary biology. The material includes a discussion on the significance of natural selectivity and the concept of phylogenetics, an important method for understanding the evolution of changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that runs through all branches of biology. A wide selection of resources helps teachers teach evolution across the disciplines of life sciences.
One resource, the companion to PBS's television show Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that offers both depth as well as wide range of educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely related to the realms of research science. Animation that introduces the concept of genetics links to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using Guppies living in ponds native to Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website is a vast multimedia library of materials that deal with evolution. The contents are organized into curriculum-based paths that parallel the learning goals established in the standards for biology. It contains seven short videos intended for use in the classroom. These can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.
A number of important questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, including the factors that trigger evolution and how fast it happens. This is especially true in the case of human evolution which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a unique place in creation and a soul, with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits were derived from the apes.
In addition there are a myriad of ways that evolution can occur, with natural selection being the most popular theory. However scientists also study different kinds of evolution like mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection, among others.
While click through the up coming website of inquiry have a conflict with literal interpretations of the Bible evolutionary biology has been the subject of intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While some religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the theories of evolution, other religions aren't.