Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution remain. People who have taken in pop science nonsense often assume that biologists are saying they do not believe in evolution.
This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources that promote evolution education and avoids the kinds of myths that make it difficult to understand. It's organized in a nested "bread crumb" format for ease of navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It is difficult to effectively teach evolution. 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 true when discussing the definition of the words.
It is therefore essential to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient way. It is an accompanying site for the 2001 series, but it is also a resource on its own. The content is presented in a structured manner that makes it easier to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, the gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relationship to evolution to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the ways in which evolution has been tested. This information can help dispel myths created by creationists.
You can also consult a glossary that contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of heritable traits to become better adaptable to a specific environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adaptable characteristics to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor): The most recent ancestor 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 the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences which are strung into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is a relation between two species in which the evolutionary changes of one species are influenced evolutionary changes of the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) change through an array of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. These changes can be caused by numerous factors, like natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate change or competition for food or habitat can slow or speed up the process.
The Evolution site follows the emergence of various species of plants and animals with a focus on major changes in each group's past. It also focuses on human evolution and is a subject that is particularly important to students.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of human beings had been discovered. The most famous among them was the skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany that is now thought to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, just one year after the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
While the site is focused on biology, it also contains a wealth of information about geology and paleontology. The site offers a number of features that are particularly impressive, including the timeline of the way that climate and geological 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 the PBS television show but it also stands on its own as an excellent resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides easy links to the introductory material of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) and the more specialized features of the museum website. These hyperlinks make it easier to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds of research science. In particular there are hyperlinks to John Endler's research with Guppies that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has led to a wide variety of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures within their natural environment, has many advantages over modern observational or experimental methods of studying evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology focuses on not just the processes and events that happen regularly or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space throughout geological time.
The site is divided into several optional paths to learning evolution which include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the nature of science and the evidence to support the theory of evolution. The path also explores common misconceptions about evolution and the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is similarly created, with resources that can support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. In addition to the standard textual content, the site features an extensive selection of multimedia and interactive resources, such as videos, animations, and virtual laboratories. The breadcrumb-like arrangement of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the large website.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms, and then zooms in to one clam that is able communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in conditions of the water that occur at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to the broad spectrum of topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes an explanation of the role of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is an important method to understand evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is an underlying thread that connects all branches of biology. A wide range of resources supports teaching about evolution across all life sciences.
One resource, which is the companion to PBS's TV series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that offers both depth as well as wide range of educational resources. The site offers a range 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 large website more closely related to the fields of research science. For 에볼루션 슬롯게임 , an animation introducing the concept of genetic inheritance links to a page that focuses on John Endler's experiments in artificial selection using guppies in the ponds of his native country of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of assets related with evolution. The content is organized in curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It includes seven short videos specifically designed for use in the classroom, and can be streamed at no cost or purchased on DVD.
Evolutionary biology is an area of study that poses many important questions, such as the causes of evolution and how fast it takes place. This is particularly relevant in the case of human evolution, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that humans have a distinct place in the creation and a soul, with the idea that innate physical traits originated from Apes.
There are also a number of other ways evolution could occur and natural selection being the most widely accepted theory. However, scientists also study other kinds of evolution like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection, among other things.
While many fields of scientific inquiry conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts Evolutionary biology has been the subject of controversial debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the theories of evolution, other religions aren't.