Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts by biology teachers, there are still misconceptions about the evolution. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to believe that biologists aren't believers in evolution.
This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that promote evolution education and avoid the kinds of myths that make it difficult to understand. It's laid out in a "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complicated and challenging subject to teach effectively. Many non-scientists are unable to grasp the concept and some scientists employ a definition that confuses it. This is especially applicable to discussions on 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 simple and efficient way. The site is a companion to the show which first aired in 2001, but is also an independent resource. The content is presented in a structured manner that makes it simpler to navigate and comprehend.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution as well as its relationship to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the way in which evolution has been examined. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.
You can also access a glossary that includes terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to be better suited to an environment. This is a result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less-adapted traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more species. By analyzing DNA from these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A huge biological molecular that holds the necessary information for cell replication. The information is stored in sequences of nucleotides that are strung together to form long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is a relation between two species, where the evolution of one species are influenced evolutionary changes of the other. Examples of coevolution include the interactions between predator and prey, or the parasite and the host.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed) change by a series of natural variations in the traits of their offspring. The changes can be triggered by a variety of factors that include natural selection, genetic drift, and mixing of gene pools. The development of a new species may take thousands of years, and the process may be slowed down or speeded up by environmental factors like climate change or competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site traces through time the emergence of various animal and plant groups, focusing on major transitions in each group's history. It also examines the evolutionary history of humans and humans, a subject that is especially important for students to comprehend.
Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when just a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. One of them was the infamous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, which was one year after the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.
The site is primarily an online biology resource however, it also has many details on paleontology and geology. The site offers a number of features that are especially impressive, including an overview of how geological and climate conditions have changed over the course of time. It also includes a map showing the distribution of fossil groups.
While the site is a companion to a PBS television show, it also stands on its own as a valuable source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and offers easy links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) and the more specialized features on the museum's website. These hyperlinks facilitate the move from the engaging cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. Particularly there are links to John Endler's experiments with guppies that illustrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life has resulted in a variety of plants, animals and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geographical context and offers numerous advantages over the modern observational and research methods in its exploration of evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology focuses on not only processes and events that take place regularly or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space throughout geological time.
에볼루션코리아 is divided into several optional pathways to understanding evolution which include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the scientific process and the evidence to support the theory of evolution. The path also examines myths about evolution and the background of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-designed, with materials that can be used to support a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia content that include animations, video clips and virtual laboratories, in addition to its general textual content. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation within the large web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, gives a brief overview of the relationships between corals, their interaction with other organisms, and then is enlarged to show one clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in conditions of the water at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the website, provide an excellent introduction to a wide spectrum of topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes an explanation of the role of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is a key tool for understanding the evolution of changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students the concept of evolution is a major thread that binds all the branches of the field. A wide selection of resources helps teachers teach evolution across the life science disciplines.
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 a variety of educational resources. The site features a wide range of interactive learning modules. It also features an embedded "bread crumb" structure that allows students to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this huge site that are more closely linked to the world of research science. For example, an animation introducing 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.
The Evolution Library on this website has a huge multimedia library of materials that deal to evolution. The content is organized in the form of curriculum-based pathways that are in line with the learning objectives set out in biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in the classroom, and can be streamed for free or purchased on DVD.
Evolutionary biology is still a field of study with a lot of important questions to answer, such as what triggers evolution and the speed at which it happens. This is especially relevant to human evolution, where it's been difficult to reconcile the idea that the physical traits of humans evolved from apes with religions that believe that humans are unique among living things and has an exclusive place in the creation, with soul.
In addition there are a variety of ways in which evolution could be triggered with natural selection being the most popular theory. However, scientists also study other types of evolution such as genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.
Although many scientific fields of study are in conflict with literal interpretations found in religious texts, evolution biology has been a subject of intense debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolution, while others haven't.