Blog entry by Archie Whitesides
Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, there are still a lot of misconceptions about the evolution. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to believe that biologists aren't believers in evolution.
This site, which is a companion to the PBS program that provides teachers with resources which support evolution education, while avoiding the kinds of misconceptions which hinder it. It's arranged in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject to teach effectively. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even some scientists use an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially true when discussing the meaning of the words themselves.
It is therefore essential to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website helps you define these terms in a simple and efficient way. The website is a companion to the series that first aired in 2001, but also functions as an independent resource. The content is presented in a way that aids navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms like common ancestor and the gradual process. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relationship to other scientific concepts. The website provides a summary of the way the concept of evolution has been tested. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been created by the creationists.
It is also possible to find the glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency for hereditary traits to become more adaptable to a specific environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted characteristics are more likely than those with less adaptable characteristics to survive and reproduce.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) is the most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of those species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that contains the information needed for cell replication. The information is contained in a sequence of nucleotides that are strung together into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the basis for 에볼루션 슬롯 new genetic information in cells.
Coevolution: A relationship between two species in which evolutionary changes in one species are dependent on evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey or parasite and host.
Origins
Species (groups which can interbreed), evolve through a series natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes can be caused by various factors, including natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The development of a new species can take thousands of years and the process can be slowed or increased due to environmental conditions, such as climate change or the competition for 무료 에볼루션 (Https://Www.Metooo.Co.Uk/U/676784F0F13B0811E9181309) food or habitat.
The Evolution site traces the emergence of a variety of animal and plant groups through time, focusing on the major transitions that occurred in the history of each group. It also explores human evolution as a subject of particular importance to students.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, 에볼루션 바카라 무료체험 when only a few antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. 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 recognized as an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, one year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is highly unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it offers a lot of information on geology and 에볼루션 바카라 paleontology. The website has a number of features that are especially impressive, such as an overview of how climate and geological conditions have changed over the course of time. It also includes maps that show the locations of fossil groups.
Although the site is a companion piece to the PBS television show but it also stands on its own as a valuable resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides clear links to the introductory content of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) and the more specialized features on the museum's website. These links facilitate the transition from the cartoon-like style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. In particular there are hyperlinks to John Endler's experiments with Guppies, which 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 geographical context and offers many advantages over the modern observational and research methods of examining evolutionary phenomena. In addition to exploring processes and events that take place regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology allows to analyze the diversity of groups of organisms and their distribution across the course of geological time.
The website is divided into various routes that can be taken to study the subject of evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," walks the reader through the nature and evidence of evolution. The course also focuses on misconceptions about evolution and the background of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the main sections of the Evolution website is equally well-developed, and includes materials that are suited to a variety of educational levels and teaching styles. The site offers a wide array of multimedia and interactive resources, including video clips, animations and virtual laboratories, in addition to its general textual content. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation within the large Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, it provides a comprehensive overview of coral relationships and their interactions with other organisms and then zooms in on one clam, which is able to communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in conditions of the water that occur 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 content also includes an overview of the significance of natural selectivity and the concept of phylogenetics which is a crucial tool to understand evolutionary change.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students, evolution is a key thread that weaves together all the branches of the field. A wide range of resources can help teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that provides the depth and the breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely linked to the fields of research science. For example an animation that introduces the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments with artificial selection with guppies from the native ponds of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website is a vast multimedia library of assets related with evolution. The content is organized into curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in biology standards. It contains seven videos designed specifically for use in classrooms, and can be streamed at no cost or purchased on DVD.
A variety of crucial questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, including what triggers evolution and how fast it occurs. This is particularly true for the evolution of humans, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humanity has a special place in creation and a soul, with the idea that innate physical traits were derived from apes.
There are a variety of other ways evolution could occur including natural selection, which is the most well-known theory. However scientists also study different types of evolution such as mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection, among others.
While many scientific fields of inquiry are in conflict with the literal interpretations of the Bible, evolutionary biology has been the subject of controversial debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have embraced their beliefs with evolutionary biology, but others haven't.