Rufus Ranieri

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 don't believe evolution.

This rich website - companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources which support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misinformation that can hinder it. It's laid out in a "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.

Definitions

It's not easy to properly teach evolution. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and even some scientists have been guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is particularly relevant when it comes to the definition of the words.

It is therefore important to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, 에볼루션 게이밍 (Hker2Uk.Com) does this in a clear and useful manner. The website is a companion to the series that first aired in 2001, but can also function as an independent resource. The content is presented in a way that aids navigation and orientation.

The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature and relationship of evolution 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 the myths that have been created by the creationists.

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

Adaptation: The tendency of heritable characteristics to become more adaptable to a specific environment. This is a result of natural selection, which happens when organisms that are better adapted characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted characteristics.

Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) is the most recent ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of these species.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A huge biological molecular that holds the necessary information for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotides arranged in sequences that are strung together to form long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information inside cells.

Coevolution: A relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are affected by changes in evolutionary processes in the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey or parasite and host.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals that can interbreed) develop through an array of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. Changes can be caused by numerous factors, like natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of a new species can take thousands of years, and the process can be slowed down or accelerated due to environmental conditions, such as climate change or the competition for food or habitat.

The Evolution site traces through time the emergence of various groups of animals and plants and focuses on major changes in each group's past. It also examines the evolution of humans, which is a topic that is of particular interest for 에볼루션코리아 students.

When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. The famous skullcap, along with the associated bones were 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 before the first edition of the Origin was published, 에볼루션 it is very unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.

While the site focuses on biology, it also contains a wealth of information on geology and paleontology. Among the best features of the Web site are a set of timelines which show how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time as well as an interactive map of the distribution of a few fossil groups listed on the site.

The site is a companion to the PBS television series, but it could also be used as a resource for teachers and students. The site is very well-organized and offers clear links between the introduction information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specialized elements of the museum's web site. These hyperlinks make it easier to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. In particular, there are links to John Endler's research with Guppies, which demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life has produced an array of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological context and has many advantages over the modern observational and research methods of examining evolutionary processes. Paleobiology can examine not only processes and events that occur regularly or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of different groups of animals in space over the course of the geological time.

The website is divided into several paths that can be chosen to gain knowledge about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the nature and evidence of evolution. The path also explores common misconceptions about evolution and the evolution theory's history.

Each of the other main sections of the Evolution site is equally well constructed, with materials that support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. The site includes a variety of multimedia and interactive resources, including animations, video clips and virtual labs as well as general textual content. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the vast Web site.

The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, 에볼루션 사이트 it gives a brief overview of coral relationships, their interaction with other organisms and then zooms in to one clam that is able communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in water conditions that occur on the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages provides an excellent introduction to a variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes 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 connects all the branches of the field. A wide range of resources supports teaching about evolution across all life sciences.

One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of an Web site that provides depth and breadth in its educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an embedded "bread crumb" structure that allows students to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this huge site that are more closely tied to the field of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics links to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.

Another useful resource is the Evolution Library on this web website, which includes an extensive multimedia library of items related to evolution. The content is organized into curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning objectives set out in 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.

A number of important questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, such as what causes evolution to occur and how fast it happens. This is particularly true in the case of human evolution where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a unique place in creation and a soul with the idea that innate physical traits originated from the apes.

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

Although many scientific fields of study are in conflict with literal interpretations found in religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a source of intense controversy and opposition from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have managed to reconcile their beliefs with the theories of evolution, others aren't.