15 Shocking Facts About Evolution Site That You Never Knew
Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misinformation about evolution remain. People who have been exposed to pop science nonsense often assume that biologists do not believe in evolution.
This rich website - companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources which support evolution education and avoids the kinds of misconceptions that make it difficult to understand. It's arranged in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's difficult to properly teach evolution. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even some scientists have been guilty of using a definition that confuses the issue. This is especially relevant when discussing the definition of the words.
As such, it is crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful way. It is an accompanying site for the 2001 series, and also a resource of its own. The material is presented in a nested manner that aids navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms like common ancestor and the gradual process. These terms help frame the nature and relationship of evolution with other scientific concepts. The site provides an overview of the manner in which evolution has been examined. This information can be used to dispel the myths that have been propagated by creationists.
It is also possible to find a glossary of terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation is the process of changing hereditary traits to become better suited to an environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted characteristics are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to reproduce and survive.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) is the most recent ancestor shared by two or more species. By analyzing DNA from these species, it is possible to determine the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that holds the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotides arranged in sequences that are strung together to form long chains, called chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is a relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are affected by changes in evolutionary processes in the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasite and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups that can crossbreed) change by a series of natural variations in their offspring's traits. The causes of these changes are many factors, such as natural selection, 에볼루션 게이밍 (Http://Press.sportedu.Ru/) gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The development of a new species can take thousands of years, and the process may be slowed or increased by environmental factors like climate change or the competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site tracks the evolution of a variety of animal and plant groups through time with a focus on the key shifts that occurred throughout the history of each group. It also examines the human evolutionary roots, a topic that is particularly important for students to comprehend.
When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. One of them was the infamous skullcap and associated bones found in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany that is now thought to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, which was one year after the first edition of the Origin was published, 에볼루션 바카라 무료 (Suggested Online site) it's highly unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it also contains a wealth of information about geology and paleontology. The site offers a number of features that are particularly impressive, including a timeline of how geological and climate conditions have changed over time. It also includes an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
The site is a companion to a PBS television series, but it can be used as a source for teachers and students. The site is very well-organized and has clear links between the introduction content in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more sophisticated elements of the museum Web site. These hyperlinks facilitate the move from the engaging cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. In particular there are links to John Endler's experiments with Guppies, which 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. Paleobiology, the study of these creatures in their geological context is a superior method of study over modern observational or experimental methods of studying evolutionary processes. In addition to exploring the processes and events that happen frequently or over a long period of time, paleobiology is able to study the diversity of kinds of organisms as well as their distribution in space over geological time.
The site is divided into several optional paths to learning evolution that include "Evolution 101," which takes the user on a linear path through the science of nature and the evidence to support the theory of evolution. The path also examines myths regarding evolution, and also the history of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the other major sections of the Evolution site is equally developed, with materials that can be used to support a range of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. The site includes a variety of multimedia and interactive resources that include videos, animations, and virtual labs as well as general textual content. The breadcrumb-like organization of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the massive web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections" For instance, it gives a brief overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms and then zooms in on a single clam, which is able communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in the conditions of the water at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages, gives a good introduction to many topics in evolutionary biology. The content also includes a discussion on the role of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis, an important method for understanding the evolution of changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that weaves together all branches of the field. A vast collection of resources helps teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that offers both depth and broadness in terms of educational resources. The site features a wide range of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely connected to the fields of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics is linked to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with guppies on native ponds in Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website has a huge multimedia library of materials that deal to evolution. The content is organized in curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It contains seven videos specifically designed for use in classrooms, and can be streamed for no cost or purchased on DVD.
Evolutionary biology remains an area of study that poses many important questions to answer, such as the causes of evolution and how quickly it happens. This is particularly relevant for humans' evolution which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a special place in creation and a soul with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits evolved from Apes.
There are also a number of other ways evolution can occur, with natural selection as the most widely accepted theory. However scientists also study different kinds of evolution like 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 intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While some religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the notions of evolution, others aren't.