Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts by biology educators, misconceptions persist regarding evolution. People who have taken in popular science myths often assume that biologists are saying they do not believe in evolution.
This rich Web site, a companion to the PBS program, provides teachers with materials which support evolution education while avoiding the types of misconceptions that hinder it. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It is difficult to properly teach evolution. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists use a definition that confuses the issue. This is especially relevant to debates about the nature of the word.
It is therefore essential to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful way. The website is a companion to the show which first aired in 2001, but can also function as an independent resource. The content is presented in a nested fashion that aids navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature and significance of evolution to other concepts in science. The site also provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been vetted and confirmed. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been propagated by creationists.
You can also consult a glossary that contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of hereditary traits to become more adaptable to a specific environment. 에볼루션 바카라 무료 is a result of natural selection. 에볼루션 바카라 무료체험 occurs when organisms that have more adaptable characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted characteristics.
Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more different species. The common ancestor can be identified through analyzing the DNA of the species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A huge biological molecule that contains the information necessary for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences, which are strung into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the source of new genetic information within 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 include the interaction between predator and prey, or parasite and host.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed) develop through a series of natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes can be caused by many factors, such as natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of new species could take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like changes in the climate or competition for food or habitat can slow or speed up the process.
The Evolution site tracks the development of various species of plants and animals over time with a focus on the key changes that took place in the evolution of each group's history. It also explores human evolution and is a subject that is of particular interest to students.
When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. The most famous among them was the skullcap and bones that were discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, which was a year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
The site is primarily an online biology resource, but it also contains many details on paleontology and geology. The site offers several aspects that are quite impressive, such as a timeline of the way that climate and geological conditions have changed over time. It also has an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
While the site is a companion piece to a PBS television show, it also stands on its own as a great source for teachers and students. The site is well organized and provides 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 easy to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. In particular there are hyperlinks to John Endler's research with Guppies that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has resulted in a variety of plants, animals, and insects. 에볼루션 게이밍 , the study of these creatures within their geological environment, has many advantages over the current observational or experimental methods for exploring evolutionary processes. Paleobiology can examine not only the process and events that happen regularly or over time but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space throughout the geological time.
The website is divided into a variety of ways to learn about evolution which include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the science of nature and the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The course also focuses on the most common misconceptions about evolution, as well as the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other main sections of the Evolution site is equally constructed, with materials that can support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. In addition to the standard textual content, the site also has an array of multimedia and interactive resources, such as videos, animations, and virtual laboratories. The breadcrumb-like structure of the content assists with navigation and orientation on the massive Web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, it gives a brief overview of coral relationships, their interaction with other organisms and then is enlarged to show one clam that is able to communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in water conditions that occur on the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages, provides an excellent introduction to a variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The material also provides an explanation of the role of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is a crucial tool in understanding evolutionary change.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is a common thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A wide selection of resources helps teachers teach evolution across the disciplines of life science.
One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an exceptional example of a Web site that provides depth and breadth in its educational resources. The site has a wide array of interactive learning modules. It also features an "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely linked to the fields of research science. For example an animation that introduces the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial selection experiments with guppies in native ponds of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website is a vast multimedia library of assets related with evolution. The content is organized according to courses that are based on curriculum and follow the learning goals established in biology standards. It includes seven short videos designed specifically for use in classrooms, and can be streamed for free or purchased on DVD.
A number of important questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, including what triggers evolution and how fast it happens. This is especially true in the case of human evolution, where it was difficult to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a special place in creation and a soul with the notion that our physical traits were derived from the apes.
In addition there are a myriad of ways that evolution could be triggered with natural selection being the most widely accepted theory. However, scientists also study other types of evolution such as mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection, among others.
While many scientific fields of inquiry have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the theories of evolution, other religions haven't.