Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology teachers, misinformation about evolution remain. People who have absorbed pop science nonsense often assume that biologists claim they don't believe in evolution.

This rich website - companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials that promote evolution education and avoid the kinds of misinformation that can undermine it. It's organized in the "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.

Definitions

It's not easy to effectively teach evolution. Many non-scientists are unable to grasp the concept and some scientists employ a definition that confuses it. This is particularly relevant to discussions on the definition of the word itself.

It is essential 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 serves as an accompanying site for the 2001 series, but also a resource on its own. The material is presented in a structured manner that makes it easier to navigate and comprehend.

The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process and adaptation. These terms help to define the nature of evolution and its relationship to evolution to other concepts in science. The site provides an overview of the manner that evolution has been tested. This information can help dispel myths created by creationists.

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

Adaptation: The tendency for heritable traits to become better suitable to a particular setting. This is a result of natural selection. Organisms with more adaptable characteristics are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to reproduce and survive.

Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) is the most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of those species.

Deoxyribonucleic acid: A massive biological molecule that contains the information required for cell replication. The information is contained in nucleotides arranged in sequences 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 relationship between two species, where the evolutionary changes of one species influence evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution include the interactions between predator and prey or host and parasite.

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 that include natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of genes. The evolution of a new species may take thousands of years and the process may be slowed or increased due to environmental conditions, such as climate change or competition for food or habitat.

The Evolution site tracks the evolution of a number of different animal and plant groups through time with a focus on the key transitions that occurred in the evolution of each group's history. It also focuses on the evolutionary origin of humans which is particularly important for students to understand.

When Darwin wrote the Origin, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. One of them was the infamous skullcap and bones that were discovered in 1856 in 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 a year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had ever heard of it.

While the site is focused on biology, 에볼루션 게이밍 it contains a wealth of information about geology and 에볼루션 코리아 (visit the next website) paleontology. One of the most appealing features of the website are a set of timelines that illustrate how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time as well as an outline of the geographical distribution of some fossil groups that are featured on the site.

While the site is a companion piece to a PBS television series but it also stands on its own as an excellent resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides clear links to the introductory material of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's funding) and the more specific features on the museum's website. These hyperlinks make it easier to transition 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 that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life has resulted in an array of plants, animals and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological environment, has many advantages over modern observational or experimental methods for exploring evolutionary processes. Paleobiology focuses on not only processes and events that happen regularly or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space throughout the geological time.

The site is divided into several options to learn about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the evolution of nature and the evidence of evolution. The path also reveals common misconceptions about evolution and the evolution of thought.

Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally created, with resources that can be used to support a range of different pedagogical levels and curriculum levels. The site offers a wide array of multimedia and interactive resources that include video clips, animations and virtual laboratories, in addition to its general textual content. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the vast Web site.

For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and their interaction with other organisms, then narrows down to a single clam that can communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and 에볼루션 바카라 interactive pages on the website, provide an excellent introduction to a wide variety of topics in evolutionary biology. The information also includes a discussion of the role of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is a key tool in understanding evolutionary changes.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that binds all branches of the field. A rich collection supports teaching evolution across the disciplines of life science.

One resource, which is a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of a Web site that offers both the depth and breadth of its educational resources. The site features a wealth of interactive learning modules. It also has an "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely linked to the realms of research science. For instance, an animation introducing the concept of genetic inheritance links to a page highlighting 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 with evolution. The content is organized into curriculum-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives set out in the standards for biology. It includes seven short videos that are designed for use in classrooms. They are available to stream or purchase as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology is a field of study that has many important questions, including what triggers evolution and the speed at which it occurs. This is particularly relevant in the case of human evolution where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a special position in the universe and a soul, with the notion that our physical traits originated from the apes.

Additionally there are a variety of ways that evolution could be triggered, with natural selection being the most popular theory. However, scientists also study other kinds of evolution like mutation, 에볼루션코리아 genetic drift and sexual selection, among other things.

Although many scientific fields of study conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, the concept of evolution biology has been a source of intense controversy and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolution, while others haven't.