15 Startling Facts About Evolution Site That You Didn t Know

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions persist regarding evolution. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to think that biologists don't believe in evolution.

This rich Web site, which is a complement to the PBS program offers teachers resources that promote evolution education while avoiding the types of misconceptions that undermine it. It's laid out in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.

Definitions

It's not easy to teach evolution well. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, 에볼루션 and even scientists are guilty of using a definition that confuses the issue. This is especially relevant 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 clear and 에볼루션 바카라 무료 useful manner. The site serves as an accompanying site for the 2001 series, and it is also a resource on its own. The content is presented in an organized manner that makes it easier to navigate and understand.

The site defines terms like common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution and its relation to other scientific concepts. The site provides an overview of the way in which evolution has been examined. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been created by the creationists.

It is also possible to get a glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

Adaptation: The tendency of heritable characteristics to become more suitable to a particular setting. This is a result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that have more adaptable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable traits.

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

Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large 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 source of new genetic information in cells.

Coevolution is a relationship between two species where evolutionary changes of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes of the other. Examples of coevolution include the interactions between predator and prey, or host and parasite.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) develop through natural changes in the traits 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 new species could take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate changes or competition for food and habitat, can slow or accelerate the process.

The Evolution site traces the emergence of a number of different animal and plant groups through time and focuses on the most significant shifts that occurred throughout each group's history. It also examines the evolution of humans, which is a topic of particular importance for students.

When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. Among them was the famous skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, one year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, 에볼루션 사이트 it is very unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.

The site is mostly an online biology resource, but it also contains many details on geology and paleontology. One of the most appealing features on the site are a timeline of events that show how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time and an interactive map of the distribution of a few fossil groups that are featured on the site.

The site is a companion to a PBS TV series but it could also be used as a source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides clear links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) and the more specific features on the museum's website. These hyperlinks help users move from the enthralling cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. 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 produced a diversity of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their natural environment and has numerous advantages over modern observational and experimental methods for analyzing evolutionary processes. Paleobiology focuses on not only the process and events that happen frequently or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of different species of animals across the geological time.

The site is divided into different routes that can be taken to study the subject of evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," walks the reader through the nature and evidence of evolution. The course also focuses on the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thought.

Each of the other main sections of the Evolution site is equally well developed, with materials that can support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia content, including animations, video clips and virtual labs as well as general textual content. The breadcrumb-like organization of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the large website.

The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, provides an overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms and then zooms in to a single clam, which is able communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in the conditions of the water at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to the broad range of topics in evolutionary biology. The information also includes an explanation of the role of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is a key tool for understanding the evolution of changes.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolution is an underlying thread that runs through all branches of biology. A rich collection of resources can help teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.

One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of an Web site that provides the depth and 에볼루션 바카라 무료바카라 에볼루션 (simply click the up coming internet site) breadth of its educational resources. The site offers a variety 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 of this vast website that are closely related to the realms of research science. For example, an animation introducing the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial selection experiments with guppies from the native ponds of Trinidad.

Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this web site, which contains an extensive library of multimedia items connected to evolution. The content is organized into curriculum-based paths that parallel the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It includes seven short videos that are designed for use in classrooms. They can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology is still an area of study that poses many important questions to answer, such as what causes evolution and the speed at which it happens. This is especially true for humans' evolution, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humanity has a unique place in creation and a soul, with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits evolved from Apes.

There are a variety of other ways evolution can occur including natural selection, which is the most widely accepted theory. However scientists also study other kinds of evolution, such as mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection, among others.

While many fields of scientific study have a conflict with literal interpretations in religious texts, evolution biology has been a subject of intense debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the notions of evolution, others have not.