Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misinformation about evolution persist. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to believe that biologists aren't believers in evolution.
This rich Web site - companion to the PBS series offers teachers with resources that promote evolution education and avoids the kinds of misinformation that can hinder it. 에볼루션 코리아 's organized in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complex and challenging subject to teach well. It is often misunderstood even by non-scientists, and even scientists are guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially relevant when it comes to the definition of the words.
It is crucial to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. Understanding Evolution's website provides this in a straightforward and useful way. The site serves as a companion for the 2001 series, and also a resource of its own. The content is presented in a way that aids navigation and orientation.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, the gradual process and adaptation. These terms help to define the nature of evolution as well as its relation to other scientific concepts. The website then provides an overview of how the concept of evolution has been vetted and validated. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been engendered by creationists.
You can also consult a glossary that contains terms used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency of hereditary traits to become more adaptable to a specific environment. This is the result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that have more adaptable traits are more likely survive and reproduce than those with less adapted characteristics.
Common ancestor (also known as common ancestor) is the most recent ancestor that is shared by two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of the species.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A massive biological molecular that contains the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences, which are strung into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is a relation between two species where evolutionary changes of one species are influenced evolutionary changes of the other. Examples of coevolution include the interactions between predator and prey or host and parasite.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals that can interbreed) change through a series of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. These changes can be caused by various factors, including natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The development of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental circumstances, such as climate change or competition for food and habitat can impede or accelerate the process.
The Evolution site tracks the evolution of a number of different animal and plant groups through time, focusing on the major transitions that occurred in the history of each group. It also explores the evolutionary history of humans, a topic that is crucial for students to understand.
Darwin's Origin was published in 1859, when only a handful of antediluvian fossils of humans were discovered. Among them was the famous skullcap and bones that were discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. While the skullcap wasn't published until 1858, one year after the first edition of the Origin was published, it's very unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
The site is mostly one of biology, but it also contains many details on geology and paleontology. The website has a number of features that are particularly impressive, including the timeline of how geological and climate conditions have changed over time. It also features an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
The site is a companion to the PBS TV series but it can be used as a resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and has clear links between the introduction material in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more sophisticated elements of the museum's web site. These hyperlinks make it easy to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds of research science. In particular there are links to John Endler's experiments using 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 is the study of these creatures in their geological environment offers many advantages over the current observational or experimental methods of studying evolutionary phenomena. Paleobiology focuses on not only processes and events that take place frequently or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals across the geological time.
The site is divided into various paths that can be chosen to gain knowledge about evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," walks the reader through the nature and evidence of evolution. The path also reveals common misconceptions about evolution as well as the evolution of thought.
Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is equally constructed, with materials that support a variety of educational levels and pedagogical styles. The site offers a wide array of multimedia and interactive resources which include video clips, animations and virtual labs in addition to general textual content. The content is presented in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation on the Web site.
For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides an overview of coral relationships and their interactions with other organisms. Then, it narrows down to a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in the water conditions 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 overview of the importance of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis which is a crucial tool in understanding evolutionary change.
Evolutionary Theory
For biology students the concept of evolution is a major thread that weaves together all the branches of the field. A wide selection of resources helps teachers teach evolution across the disciplines of life science.
One resource, the companion to PBS's TV series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web site that provides depth as well as broadness in terms of educational resources. The site offers a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an embedded "bread crumb" structure that allows students to transition from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this huge site that are closer to the field of research science. An animation that introduces the concept of genetics links to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial-selection experiments with Guppies in native ponds in Trinidad.
Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this web site, which contains an extensive library of multimedia assets related to evolution. The content is organized into courses that are based on curriculum and follow the learning objectives outlined in biology standards. It includes seven short videos that are designed for use in classrooms. They can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
A variety of crucial questions remain at the heart of evolutionary biology, including what triggers evolution and how fast it occurs. This is particularly true for humans' evolution where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that humanity has a unique position in the universe and a soul, with the idea that innate physical traits were derived from the apes.
In addition there are a myriad of ways that evolution could be triggered, with natural selection being the most popular theory. However, scientists also study other kinds of evolution like genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.
Many fields of inquiry have a conflict with literal interpretations of the Bible, evolutionary biology has been the subject of fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, while others haven't.