7 Practical Tips For Making The Most Of Your Evolution Site

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution persist. Pop science nonsense has led people to think that biologists don't believe in evolution.

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

Definitions

Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject matter to teach well. People who are not scientists often have a difficult time understanding the subject and some scientists employ a definition that confuses it. This is particularly true when it comes to discussions on the definition of the word itself.

It is crucial to define the terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a clear and useful manner. The site is a companion site to the show which first aired in 2001, but can also function as an independent resource. The material is presented in an organized manner that makes it easier to navigate and comprehend.

The site defines terms like common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help to define the nature and relationship of evolution to other concepts in science. The site then offers an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and validated. This information can be used to dispel the myths that have been created by the 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 suitable to a particular setting. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms that have better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adapted characteristics to survive and reproduce.

Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more different species. By analyzing DNA from these species it is possible to determine the common ancestor.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A large biological molecular that holds the information required for cell replication. The information is contained in a sequence of nucleotides that are strung together into long chains, also known as chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information inside cells.

Coevolution is the relationship between two species in which the evolution of one species influence evolutionary changes in the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey, or parasite and host.

Origins

Species (groups of individuals that can interbreed) change through a series of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. The changes can be caused by a variety of causes, including natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of genes. The development of a new species could 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 through time the evolution of various animal and plant groups, focusing on major transitions in each group's history. It also focuses on human evolution as a subject that is of particular interest for students.

When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been found. The famous skullcap, with the bones that accompanied it, was 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 appeared, it is highly unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.

The site is mostly one of biology however, it also has many details on paleontology and geology. The most impressive features of the website are a set of timelines which show how climatic and geological conditions have changed over time and an interactive map of the geographical distribution of some fossil groups listed on the site.

The site is a companion to the PBS TV series but it can also be used as a resource for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and provides clear links to the introductory content of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's support) as well as the more specialized features of the museum's website. These hyperlinks facilitate the move from the enthralling cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. In particular, there are links to John Endler's experiments with Guppies that demonstrate the importance of ecology in evolutionary theory.

Diversity

The evolution of life on Earth has led to a wide variety of plants, animals, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their geological context and has many advantages over the current observational and experimental methods of examining evolutionary phenomena. In addition to studying processes and events that take place regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology allows to study the relative abundance of different species of organisms and their distribution in space over geological time.

The site is divided up into different options to study the subject of evolution. One of the paths, "Evolution 101," guides the user through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The course also focuses on common misconceptions about evolution as well as the evolution theory's history.

Each of the main sections of the Evolution website is equally well-designed, with materials that are suited to a variety of curriculum levels and teaching styles. In addition to the general textual content, the site features a wide range of interactive and multimedia resources, such as videos, animations and virtual labs. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation on the web site.

The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and interactions with other organisms and then zooms in to a single clam, which is able to communicate with its neighbors and react to changes in conditions of the water at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the site, provide an excellent introduction to a broad spectrum of topics in evolutionary biology. The material also provides an overview of the importance of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is a key tool in understanding evolutionary changes.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students, evolution is a key thread that connects all the branches of the field. A rich collection of resources supports teaching 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 and wide range of educational resources. The site has a wide array of interactive learning modules. It also features an "bread crumb structure" that allows students to move away from the cartoon-like style used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely linked to the realms of research science. An animation that introduces students to the concept of genetics, which links to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments with artificial selection using Guppies in native ponds in Trinidad.

sneak a peek at this web-site.  is the Evolution Library on this website, which includes an extensive library of multimedia assets connected to evolution. The content is organized according to courses that are based on curriculum and follow the learning goals established in the standards for biology. It includes seven short videos that are designed for classroom use. They can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology remains an area of study that has many important questions to answer, such as the causes of evolution and how fast it occurs. This is particularly true for humans' evolution where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humanity has a unique place in creation and a soul with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits were derived from Apes.

There are also a number of other ways evolution can take place, with natural selection as the most widely accepted theory. However, scientists also study other kinds of evolution like genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection, among others.

Although many scientific fields of study are in 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. While certain religions have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the notions of evolution, other religions have not.