Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, there are still a lot of misconceptions about evolution. People who have been exposed to pop science nonsense often assume that biologists do not believe in evolution.
This site, which is a companion to the PBS program that provides teachers with resources which support evolution education, while avoiding the kinds of misconceptions that can make it difficult to understand. It's laid out in the "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.
Definitions
It's not easy to teach evolution well. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject and some scientists use a definition which confuses it. This is particularly relevant when it comes to the nature of the words themselves.
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 clear and useful manner. It is an accompanying site for the 2001 series, but it is also a resource on its own. The material is presented in a structured manner that makes it simpler to navigate and understand.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and adaptation. These terms help frame the nature of evolution as well as its relationship to other scientific concepts. The site provides an overview of the way in which evolution has been examined. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been created by creationists.
무료 에볼루션 can also access a glossary that includes terms used in evolutionary biology. 무료 에볼루션 include:
Adaptation: The tendency of heritable characteristics to become more suitable to a particular setting. This is the result of natural selection, which happens when organisms with better-adapted traits are more likely survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable characteristics.
Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) is the most recent ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of those species.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that contains the information needed for cell replication. The information is contained in sequences of nucleotides that are strung together to form long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the basis for new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is a relation between two species, where the evolutionary changes of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes of the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interaction of predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.
Origins
Species (groups which can interbreed), evolve by a series of natural variations in their offspring's traits. The changes can be caused by a variety that include natural selection, genetic drift and gene pool mixing. The evolution of a new species may take thousands of years, and the process can be slowed down or accelerated by environmental conditions such as climate change or the competition for food or habitat.
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 evolution of each group's history. It also explores the human evolutionary roots which is especially important for students to know.
When Darwin wrote the Origin of Species, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. Among them was the famous 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, just a year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it also offers a lot of information about geology and paleontology. Among the best features of the Web site are a set of timelines that illustrate how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time and an outline of the geographical distribution of some of the fossil groups featured on the site.
The site is a companion for a PBS television series, but it can also be used as a source for teachers and students. The site is extremely well-organized and offers clear links between the introductory information in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more sophisticated elements of the museum Web site. These links make it easier to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated realms of research science. There are links to John Endler's experiments with guppies. They illustrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life on Earth has resulted in a variety of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological context and has a number of advantages over the modern observational and research methods in its exploration of evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology can examine not only the process and events that occur 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 different paths that can be chosen to gain knowledge about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the nature and evidence 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 well developed, with materials that support a variety of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. The site includes a variety of multimedia and interactive resources, including videos, animations, and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The breadcrumb-like organization of the content assists with navigation and orientation on the large website.
For example, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of coral relationships and their interactions with other organisms. It then concentrates on a specific clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in water conditions that take place at the level of the reef. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages, provides an excellent introduction to the many areas of evolutionary biology. The content also includes an explanation of the role of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is an important tool for understanding the evolution of changes.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students, evolution is a key thread that connects all branches of the field. A wide range of resources helps teachers teach about evolution across all life sciences.
One resource, which is the companion to PBS's television show Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web site that provides depth as well as broadness in terms of educational resources. The site offers a range of interactive learning modules. It also has an embedded "bread crumb" structure that allows students to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this massive website that are closer to the world of research science. For instance an animation that introduces the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page that focuses on John Endler's artificial selection experiments with guppies in native ponds of Trinidad.
The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of materials that deal with evolution. The contents are organized into curricula-based pathways that correspond to the learning goals established in biology standards. It contains seven short videos designed for classroom use. These can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.
A number of important questions remain at the core of evolutionary biology, such as what triggers evolution and how fast it happens. This is especially relevant to human evolution, where it's been difficult to reconcile the idea that the physical characteristics of humans derived from apes with religious beliefs that hold that humans are unique among living things and has an enviable place in creation. It is a soul.
There are a variety of other ways evolution can occur including natural selection, which is the most popular theory. Scientists also study other types such as genetic drift and sexual selection.
While many scientific fields of study have a conflict with literal interpretations in religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a subject of intense debate and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have embraced their beliefs with evolution, but others haven't.