Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions persist about the evolution. Pop science fiction has led a lot of people to believe that biologists aren't believers in evolution.
This rich Web site, which is a companion to the PBS program offers teachers resources that promote evolution education while avoiding the types of misconceptions which undermine it. It's laid out in a nested "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
Evolution is a complex and challenging subject to teach effectively. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject, and some scientists even use a definition that confuses it. This is particularly relevant when discussing the meaning of the words themselves.
에볼루션카지노사이트 is therefore essential to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and helpful way. The site is both a companion for the 2001 series, but it is also a resource on its own. The information is presented in an organized manner that makes it simpler to navigate and understand.
The site defines terms like common ancestor and the gradual process. These terms help to frame the nature of evolution as well as its relationship to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the manner in which evolution has been tested. This information will help to dispel the myths created by creationists.
It is also possible to access a glossary of terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation: The tendency for heritable characteristics to become more suited to a particular environment. This is the result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that are more adaptable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable traits.
에볼루션카지노 : The most recent common ancestor of two or more distinct species. By analyzing the DNA from these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A large biological molecule that contains information necessary for cell replication. The information is contained in a sequence of nucleotides that are strung together into long chains, called chromosomes. Mutations are the reason behind the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution: A relationship between two species where evolutionary changes in one species are influenced by evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey or the parasite and the host.
Origins
Species (groups of individuals that are able to interbreed) develop through natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety of factors, including natural selection, genetic drift and gene pool mixing. The development of a new species may take thousands of years and the process can be slowed or increased by environmental conditions such as climate change or the competition for food or habitat.
The Evolution site tracks the development of a variety of animal and plant groups through time, focusing on the major shifts that occurred throughout the evolution of each group's history. It also focuses on the evolutionary origin of humans and humans, a subject that is particularly important for students to comprehend.
When Darwin wrote the Origin, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. Among them was the famous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany, which is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is unlikely that Darwin was aware of the skullcap, which was first published in 1858, a year after the first edition of The Origin.
The site is primarily an online biology resource however, it also has many details on paleontology and geology. The website has a number of aspects that are quite impressive, such as a timeline of the way that climate and geological conditions have changed over time. It also features maps that show the locations of fossil groups.
Although the site is a companion to a PBS television show but it also stands on its own as a valuable resource for teachers and students. The site is extremely well-organized and offers clear links between the introduction material in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specific elements of the museum 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. Particularly there are hyperlinks to John Endler's research with guppies that illustrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.
Diversity
The evolution of life has produced an array of plants, animals and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their natural environment and has a number of advantages over the modern observational and research methods in its exploration of evolutionary processes. Paleobiology can examine not just the processes and events that happen regularly or over time but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space throughout geological time.
The site is divided into various pathways to understanding evolution which include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the nature of science and the evidence supporting the theory of evolution. The path also explores common misconceptions about evolution and the history of evolutionary thought.
Each of the other main sections of the Evolution site is equally well developed, with materials that support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia content which include videos, animations, and virtual labs in addition to general textual content. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation on the Web site.
For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms. Then, it narrows down to a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in the water conditions that take place at the level of the reef. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary interactive and multimedia pages, offers a great introduction to the many areas of evolutionary biology. The content also includes an explanation of the importance of natural selection and the concept phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool to understand evolutionary change.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is a common thread that connects all branches of biology. A rich collection of resources helps teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution, is an excellent example of a Web site that offers both depth and a variety of educational resources. The site has a wide array of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements of this vast website that are closely connected to the fields of research science. For instance an animation that explains the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments in artificial selection using guppies in the ponds of his native country of Trinidad.
Another helpful resource is the Evolution Library on this web site, which has an extensive library of multimedia assets that are related to evolution. The contents are organized into curriculum-based paths that parallel the learning objectives set out in biology standards. It includes seven short videos that are designed for use in classrooms. They are available to stream or purchase as DVDs.
A variety of crucial questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, including the factors that trigger evolution and the speed at which it occurs. This is especially true for human evolution, which has made it difficult to reconcile the notion that the physical traits of humans evolved from apes with religions that believe that humanity is unique among living things and holds a a special place in creation, with soul.
In addition, there are a number of ways that evolution can be triggered with natural selection being the most popular theory. However scientists also study different types of evolution such as genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among other things.
While many fields of scientific inquiry have a conflict with the literal interpretations of religious texts, evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs with evolutionary biology, while others haven't.