Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution remain. Pop science nonsense has led people to think that biologists don't believe in evolution.
This rich Web site, which is a complement to the PBS program offers teachers resources that promote evolution education while avoiding the types of misconceptions that can hinder it. 바카라 에볼루션 laid out in the "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's difficult to teach evolution well. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and even some scientists use an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially true when it comes to debates about the meaning of the word itself.
It is therefore crucial 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 way. The site is a companion site to the show that premiered in 2001, but it can also function as an independent resource. The material 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 with other scientific concepts. The site then offers an overview of how the concept of evolution has been vetted and validated. This information can help dispel myths that are created by the creationists.
It is also possible to find a glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation is the process of changing heritable traits to become more suited to the environment. This is the result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that are better-adapted characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable characteristics.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) The most recent ancestor that is shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of the species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large 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, called chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information inside 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 include the interaction between predator and prey or the parasite and the host.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) evolve through a series of 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 mixing of genes. The evolution of a new species can take thousands of years, and the process may be slowed down or speeded up due to environmental conditions, such as climate change or competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site tracks the evolution of a variety of animal and plant groups through time, focusing on the major changes that took place in the evolution of each group's history. It also examines the human evolutionary roots, a topic that is crucial for students to comprehend.
When Darwin wrote the Origin of Species, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. The famous skullcap, with the bones associated with it, was 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 after the first edition of the Origin was published, it is highly unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
The site is mostly a biology site however, it also has a lot of information on geology and paleontology. The Web site has numerous features that are particularly impressive, such as a timeline of how climate and geological conditions have changed over time. 에볼루션카지노 features an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
Although the site is a companion to the PBS television series however, it can stand on its own as a great source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized, and provides clear links to the introductory material of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) and 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. They demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has produced a diversity of plants, animals, and insects. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures within their natural environment, has many advantages over the current observational or experimental methods of studying evolutionary processes. Paleobiology can examine not just the processes and events that happen regularly or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different species of animals in space throughout the geological time.
The site is divided up into different options to gain knowledge about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the evolution of nature and the evidence of evolution. The path also reveals common misconceptions about evolution and the evolution theory's history.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-designed, with materials that support a variety educational levels and teaching styles. In addition to the standard textual content, the site also has an extensive selection of multimedia and interactive resources like videos, animations and virtual laboratories. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation within the large Web site.
For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms, then narrows down to a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the water conditions at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to a wide variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The material includes an overview of the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis, an important tool for understanding evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students, evolution is a key thread that binds all branches of the field. A wide range of resources supports teaching about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an outstanding example of an Web site that provides the depth and breadth of its educational resources. The site offers a range of interactive learning modules. It also features an "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon-like style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely connected to the fields of research science. For instance an animation that explains the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page that focuses on John Endler's experiments in artificial selection with guppies in native ponds of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website has a huge multimedia library of materials that deal with evolution. The content is organized into curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning goals set forth in biology standards. It includes seven short videos designed specifically for use in the classroom, and can be streamed for no cost or purchased on DVD.
Many important questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, such as the factors that trigger evolution and how fast it happens. This is particularly relevant in the case of human evolution, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that humans have a distinct position in the universe and a soul with the notion that our physical traits originated from Apes.
There are also a number of other ways evolution could occur and natural selection being the most well-known theory. However scientists also study other kinds of evolution, such as mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection, among other things.
Many fields of inquiry have a conflict with literal interpretations of religious texts Evolutionary biology has been the subject of fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Some religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolution, while others haven't.