Rufus Ranieri

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts by biology educators, misconceptions persist about evolution. Pop science nonsense has led people to believe that biologists don't believe evolution.

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

Definitions

It's not easy to effectively teach evolution. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even scientists use definitions that confuse the issue. This is particularly true when discussing the definition of the words.

It is therefore essential to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful manner. It is an accompanying site for the 2001 series, but it is also a resource on its own. The content is presented in a way that aids navigation and orientation.

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

You can also access a glossary that includes terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

Adaptation is the tendency of hereditary traits to become more suited to the environment. This is the result of natural selection, which occurs when organisms that are more adaptable traits are more likely survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable characteristics.

Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) is the most recent ancestor shared by two or more species. By analyzing DNA from these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.

Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that contains information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains, referred to as 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 of the other. Coevolution can be observed in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.

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 many factors, such as natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate change or competition for food or habitat, can slow or accelerate the process.

The Evolution site tracks through time the emergence of various species of plants and animals with a focus on major 에볼루션 사이트 changes within each group's past. It also focuses on human evolution as a subject that is particularly important for students.

Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. The famous skullcap, along with the associated bones, was discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now recognized as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is unlikely that Darwin was aware of the skullcap when it was published in 1858, a year following the initial edition of The Origin.

The site is mostly a biology site however it also includes many details on geology and 에볼루션코리아 paleontology. One of the most appealing features of the Web site are a timeline of events that show the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time, 에볼루션 바카라 사이트게이밍; click web page, as well as a map of the distribution of some fossil groups that are featured on the site.

The site is a companion for a PBS TV series but it could also be used as a source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides easy links to the introductory material of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) as well as the more specialized features of 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. They illustrate the importance 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 geological environment, has many advantages over modern observational or experimental methods for exploring evolutionary processes. Paleobiology can examine not just the processes and events that occur frequently 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 a variety of paths to learning evolution which 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 examines myths about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thinking.

Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, with materials that are suited to a variety of educational levels and teaching styles. The site offers a wide array of multimedia and interactive resources which include video clips, animations and virtual labs as well as general textual content. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation on the Web site.

For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms. It then narrows down to a single clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to a broad range of topics in evolutionary biology. The material includes a discussion on the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool for 무료 에볼루션 understanding evolutionary change.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolution is an underlying thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A vast collection of resources supports teaching about evolution across all life sciences.

One resource, which is the companion to PBS's TV series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that offers both depth as well as broadness in terms of educational resources. The site offers a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features a nested "bread crumb" structure that allows students to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this large Web site more closely tied to the world of research science. For instance an animation that explains the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page that focuses on John Endler's artificial selection experiments using guppies in the ponds of his native country of Trinidad.

Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this web site, which has an extensive multimedia library of resources related to evolution. The content is organized in curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in the classroom, and can be streamed for free or purchased on DVD.

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

In addition there are a myriad of ways that evolution could occur, with natural selection being the most popular theory. However scientists also study other kinds of evolution, such as genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among other things.

While many scientific fields of inquiry have a conflict with literal interpretations of the Bible, evolutionary biology has been the subject of fierce debate and 에볼루션 사이트 [Www.Bitsdujour.Com] opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have embraced their beliefs with evolutionary biology, but others haven't.