7 Things You Didn t Know About Evolution Site

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misinformation about evolution persist. People who have been exposed to the nonsense of pop science often believe that biologists do not believe in evolution.

This rich website - companion to the PBS series - provides teachers with materials that support evolution education and avoid the kinds of myths that undermine it. It's laid out in a nested "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.

Definitions

Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject to teach effectively. Many non-scientists are unable to grasp the concept and some scientists use a definition which confuses it. This is especially relevant to debates about the meaning of the word itself.

Therefore, it is essential to define terms used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website helps you define these terms in a straightforward 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 material is presented in a structured manner that makes it easier to navigate and understand.

The site defines terms like common ancestor (or common ancestor), gradual process and adaptation. These terms help to define the nature of evolution and its relation to other scientific concepts. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and validated. This information can help dispel myths that are created by the creationists.

It is also possible to get a glossary of terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

Adaptation is the tendency of heritable traits to become better suited to an environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to reproduce and survive.

Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more distinct species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of those species.

Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that contains information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that 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 host and parasite.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) evolve through an array of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. Changes can be caused by numerous factors, like natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of new species could take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate changes or competition for food and habitat can slow or speed up the process.

The Evolution site traces the emergence of a variety of groups of animals and plants over time and focuses on the most significant changes that took place in the history of each group. It also explores human evolution as a subject that is particularly important to students.

Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, at a time when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of human beings had been discovered. The famous skullcap, along with the bones associated with it were discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now regarded as an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, which was a year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it is very unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.

While the site is focused on biology, it offers a lot of information on geology and paleontology. The most impressive features on the site are a series of timelines that illustrate how climatic and geological conditions changed over time, and an interactive map of the geographical distribution of some fossil groups listed on the site.

While the site is a companion piece to a PBS television show however, it can stand on its own as a great resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized, and provides easy links to the introductory material of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) as well as the more specialized 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. They illustrate the importance ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life has led to many species of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their natural environment offers many advantages over modern observational or research methods for exploring evolutionary processes. In addition to studying processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology is able to study the relative abundance of various species of organisms and their distribution in space over geological time.

The Web site is divided into a variety of ways to learn about evolution, including "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the science of nature and the evidence supporting the theory of evolution. The path also explores misconceptions about evolution as well as the history of evolutionary thought.

Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally developed, with materials that can be used to support a range of educational levels and pedagogical styles. The site has a range of multimedia and interactive resources which include videos, animations, and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The breadcrumb-like organization of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the massive web site.

For instance the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms. Then, it concentrates on a specific clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the water conditions that occur at the level of the reef. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to a broad variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The material includes a discussion on the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis, an important tool to understand evolutionary change.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students the concept of evolution is a major thread that binds all the branches of the field. A rich collection of resources supports teaching about evolution across all 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 depth and a variety of educational resources. The site has a wide array of interactive learning modules. It also has an encased "bread crumb" structure that allows students to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this huge site that are closer to the world of research science. For instance an animation that explains the concept of genetic inheritance links to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments with artificial selection with guppies in native ponds of Trinidad.

Another resource that is worth mentioning is the Evolution Library on this Web website, which includes an extensive library of multimedia resources that are related to evolution. The content is organized according to curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning goals set forth in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos specifically designed for classroom use. They can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.

A variety of crucial questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, including what causes evolution to occur and how fast it happens. This is particularly relevant to human evolution, where it's been difficult to reconcile the notion that the physical characteristics of humans evolved from apes and religious beliefs that claim that humanity is unique among living things and holds a a special place in creation with soul.

There are a myriad of other ways evolution could occur and natural selection being the most popular theory. Scientists also study other kinds like mutation, genetic drift, 에볼루션 바카라 무료 에볼루션 바카라 무료 (just click the up coming website) and 에볼루션 바카라 sexual selection.

While many scientific fields of inquiry have a conflict with literal interpretations of the Bible Evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, but others haven't.