Speak "Yes" To These 5 Evolution Site Tips

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts by biology teachers, there are still misconceptions regarding evolution. Pop science nonsense has led people to believe that biologists aren't believers in evolution.

This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series - provides teachers with materials which support evolution education and avoid the kinds of misinformation that can hinder it. It's laid out in a "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.

Definitions

It's not easy to properly teach evolution. Many non-scientists are unable to grasp the concept, and some scientists even employ a definition that confuses it.  무료 에볼루션  is especially relevant when discussing the meaning of the words themselves.

As such, it is essential to define terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and helpful way. It is a companion for the 2001 series, but also a resource of its own. The content is presented in a nested fashion that assists in navigation and orientation.

The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature and relationship of evolution with other scientific concepts. The site also provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been vetted and verified. This information can help dispel the myths created by creationists.

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

The process of adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to become better suited to an environment. This is due to natural selection, which happens when organisms that have better adapted characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted characteristics.

Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more distinct species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of the species.

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

Coevolution is the relationship between two species, where the evolutionary changes of one species are influenced evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution is evident through the interaction between predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals who can interbreed) change through natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. The causes of these changes are numerous factors, like natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution 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 evolution of various groups of animals and plants, focusing on major transitions within each group's past. It also explores human evolution, which is a topic that is particularly important to students.

When Darwin wrote the Origin, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. The skullcap that is famous, along with the bones that accompanied it, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, which was 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 primarily one of biology however, it also has a lot of information on paleontology and geology. The Web site has several aspects that are quite impressive, including an overview of how geological and climate conditions have changed over the course of time. It also includes an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.

While the site is a companion to the PBS television series however, it can stand on its own as a valuable source for teachers and students. The site is very well-organized and has clear links between the introduction information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specific elements of the museum Web site. These hyperlinks make it easy to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. Particularly, there are links to John Endler's experiments with Guppies, which 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 geological context and has many advantages over modern observational and experimental methods for analyzing evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology is able to study not only processes and events that take place regularly or over time but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space over the course of the geological time.

The website is divided into different options to gain knowledge about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The path also examines myths about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thinking.

Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally well created, with resources that support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. The site offers a wide array of multimedia and interactive resources that include animations, video clips and virtual labs, in addition to its general textual content. The breadcrumb-like arrangement of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the large web site.

For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of the relationships between corals and their interaction with other organisms, then narrows down to a single clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary multimedia and interactive pages, gives a good introduction to a variety 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 a key tool for understanding the evolution of change.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolution is a common thread that connects all branches of biology. A wide selection of resources helps teachers teach evolution across all disciplines of life science.

One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of a Web site that provides depth and breadth in its educational resources. The site offers a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features a "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely connected to the worlds of research science. Animation that introduces the concept of genetics is linked to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with Guppies living in ponds native to Trinidad.

The Evolution Library on this website is a vast multimedia library of materials that deal to evolution. The content is organized in the form of curriculum-based pathways that are in line with the learning goals set forth in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos that are designed for use in classrooms. They can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology is an area of study with a lot of important questions, such as what triggers evolution and how quickly it happens. This is especially true for the evolution of humans where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a unique place in the creation and a soul, with the idea that innate physical traits were derived from the apes.

In addition, there are a number of ways that evolution can be triggered with natural selection being the most popular theory. Scientists also study different types such as genetic drift and sexual selection.

Although many scientific fields of study conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a subject of intense debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. While some religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the ideas of evolution, other religions aren't.