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Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution persist. Pop science nonsense has led people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.

This rich Web site, a companion to the PBS program that provides teachers with resources which support evolution education, while avoiding the kinds of misconceptions that can undermine it. It's organized in a "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.

Definitions

Evolution is a complex and challenging subject to teach effectively. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists have been guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially true when discussing the meaning of the words themselves.

It is important to define terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient way. The site is both an accompanying site for the 2001 series, and also a resource on its own. The content is presented in a structured manner that makes it simpler to navigate and understand.

The site defines terms like common ancestor and the gradual process. These terms help frame the nature of evolution as well as its relation to other concepts in science. The site also provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and validated. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been engendered by the creationists.

It is also possible to access a glossary of terms 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 the result of natural selection. Organisms with more adaptable characteristics are more likely than those with less adapted traits to survive and reproduce.

Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) The most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. By analyzing the DNA from these species, it is possible to determine the common ancestor.

Deoxyribonucleic acid: A huge biological molecule that contains the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains called chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information inside cells.

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

Origins

Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) change through natural changes in the traits of their offspring. The changes can be caused by a variety of factors that include natural selection, genetic drift and gene pool mixing. 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 traces through time the evolution of different groups of animals and plants and focuses on major changes in each group's history. It also explores the human evolutionary roots which is particularly important for students to comprehend.

When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. The famous skullcap, along with the bones associated with it, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now regarded as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is unlikely that Darwin knew about the skullcap, which was published in 1858, one year after the first edition of The Origin.

The site is mostly one of biology, but it also contains lots of information about geology and paleontology. One of the most appealing features of the Web site are a series of timelines that illustrate the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time, as well as an interactive map of the distribution of some fossil groups listed on the site.

While the site is a companion piece to the PBS television show however, it can stand on its own as a great resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and offers easy links to the introductory material of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's support) as well as the more specialized features of the museum website. These hyperlinks help users move from the engaging 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 led to a wide variety of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their natural environment offers many advantages over modern observational or experimental methods of studying evolutionary phenomena. In addition to examining processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology is able to study the relative abundance of different species of organisms and their distribution in space over geological time.

The Web site is divided into several optional paths to learning evolution that include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a liner path through the scientific process and the evidence to support the theory of evolution. The path also explores the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the evolution theory's history.

Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, and 에볼루션 게이밍 슬롯 (Danler.pro) includes materials that can be used to support a variety of educational levels and teaching styles. The site includes a variety of interactive and multimedia content that include video clips, animations and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The content is organized in a nested, 에볼루션 슬롯게임 bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the vast web site.

The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms, and then zooms in to one clam, which is able communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in the water conditions that occur on the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to a wide spectrum of topics in evolutionary biology. The material also provides an overview of the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is an important tool for understanding the evolution of change.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students the concept of evolution is a major thread that weaves together all branches of the field. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across all disciplines of life science.

One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television show Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that provides depth as well as broadness in terms of educational resources. The site offers a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an encased "bread crumb" structure that helps students move from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this massive website that are more closely tied to the world of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics links to a page about John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.

Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this Web website, which includes an extensive multimedia library of assets connected to evolution. The content is organized according to the form of curriculum-based pathways that are in line with the learning objectives outlined in biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in classrooms, and can be streamed for no cost or purchased on DVD.

Many important questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, such as what causes evolution to occur and 무료 에볼루션 how fast it happens. This is especially true in the case of human evolution which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humanity has a special position in the universe and a soul with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits evolved from the apes.

Additionally, there are a number of ways that evolution can be triggered and natural selection is the most popular theory. However scientists also study other types of evolution such as genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.

Many fields 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 ideas of evolution, other religions have not.