Five Evolution Site Lessons From The Professionals

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution persist. People who have absorbed popular science myths often assume that biologists don't believe in evolution.

This rich Web site, which is a companion to the PBS program, provides teachers with materials that support the evolution of education while avoiding the types of misconceptions which hinder it. It's laid out in a nested "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.

Definitions

It is difficult to effectively teach evolution. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject, 에볼루션 블랙잭 게이밍 [https://evolutionkr48468.mywikiparty.com] and some scientists even use a definition that confuses it. This is especially true when it comes to discussions about the nature of the word.

As such, it is important to define terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient manner. The site is a companion to the show which first aired in 2001, but it can also function as an independent resource. The material is presented in a structured manner that makes it simpler to navigate and comprehend.

The site defines terms such as common ancestor and the gradual process. These terms help frame the nature of evolution as well as its relationship to other scientific concepts. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and confirmed. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been propagated by the creationists.

You can also consult a glossary that contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

Adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to be more suitable to their environment. This is the result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted characteristics.

Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) The most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or 에볼루션 more species. By studying the DNA of these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A huge biological molecular that contains the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains called chromosomes. Mutations are the cause of new genetic information in cells.

Coevolution is a relationship between two species, where the evolutionary changes of one species are influenced evolutionary changes in the other. Coevolution is evident in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.

Origins

Species (groups that can crossbreed) develop by a series of natural variations in their offspring's traits. Changes can be caused by many factors, such as natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of a new species could take thousands of years, and the process could be slowed down or 에볼루션 룰렛 speeded up by environmental factors like climate change or the competition for food or habitat.

The Evolution site traces the emergence of various species of plants and animals over time with a focus on the key changes that took place in the history of each group. It also examines the evolutionary origin of humans, a topic that is crucial for students to know.

Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when only a few antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. The skullcap that is famous, along with the associated bones, was 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, just a year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it is highly unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.

While the site is focused on biology, it contains a wealth of information about geology as well as paleontology. Among the best features of the Web site are a series of timelines which show the way in which climatic and geological conditions have changed over time, and an outline of the distribution of some of the fossil groups featured on the site.

While the site is a companion piece to the PBS television show however, it can stand on its own as a valuable source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides clear links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) and the more specific features of the museum website. These hyperlinks facilitate the move from the cartoon-like style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. There are links to John Endler's experiments with guppies that illustrate the importance ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life on Earth has produced a diversity of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geographical context and offers a number of advantages over the current observational and experimental methods of examining evolutionary processes. Paleobiology is able to study not only the process and events that take place regularly or over time, but also the relative abundance and distribution of different groups of animals in space throughout 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 course also focuses on common misconceptions about evolution as well as the history of evolutionary thought.

Each of the other major sections of the Evolution site is similarly developed, with materials that can be used to support a range of educational levels and pedagogical styles. In addition to the standard textual content, the site features a wide range of interactive and multimedia resources, such as video clips, animations, and virtual laboratories. The breadcrumb-like organization of the content assists with navigation and orientation on the massive website.

The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of the relationships between corals and interactions with other organisms and is enlarged to show one clam, which can communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in conditions of the water 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 significance of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis, an important method for understanding the evolution of changes.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolution is an underlying thread that connects all branches of biology. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across the life science disciplines.

One resource, the companion to PBS's television show Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that provides depth as well as breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site features a wealth of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon-like style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely linked to the realms of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics links to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments in artificial selection using guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.

The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of resources that are associated to evolution. The content is organized in curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in biology standards. It contains seven videos designed specifically for use in classrooms, and can be streamed for no cost or purchased on DVD.

Evolutionary biology is still an area of study that poses many important questions, such as what triggers evolution and the speed at which it happens. This is especially true in the case of human evolution where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a unique position in the universe and a soul, with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits originated from apes.

There are a myriad of other ways evolution can occur, with natural selection as the most well-known theory. Scientists also study different types like mutation, genetic drift and sexual selection.

Many fields of inquiry have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts Evolutionary biology has been the subject of intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the ideas of evolution, other religions have not.