Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution remain. People who have taken in the nonsense of pop science often believe that biologists are saying they don't believe in evolution.
This rich Web site, which is a complement to the PBS program that provides teachers with resources that support the evolution of education, while avoiding the kinds of misconceptions that hinder it. It's laid out in the "bread crumb" format to facilitate navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It is difficult to teach evolution well. Many non-scientists are unable to grasp the concept, and some scientists even use a definition which confuses it. This is particularly true when it comes to discussions on the meaning of the word itself.
As such, it is 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. The site is a companion site to the show that premiered in 2001, but it can also function as an independent resource. The material is organized in a manner that makes it easier to navigate and understand.
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 relationship to other scientific concepts. The site provides an overview of the manner that evolution has been examined. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been created by creationists.
You can also access a glossary that includes terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:
Adaptation is the process of changing hereditary traits to become more suited to the environment. This is the result of natural selection. It occurs when organisms that are better-adapted traits are more likely survive and reproduce than those with less adaptable characteristics.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor) is the most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. By studying the DNA of these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A huge biological molecular that contains the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences which are strung into long chains called chromosomes. Mutations are responsible for the creation of new genetic information within cells.
Coevolution is the relationship between two species in which the evolution of one species influence evolutionary changes of the other. Examples of coevolution are the interactions between predator and prey or parasite and host.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed) change through a series natural changes in the traits of their offspring. These changes are caused by a variety of factors that include natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of genes. The evolution of a new species may take thousands of years and the process could be slowed down or speeded up due to 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 shifts that occurred throughout each group's history. It also examines the evolutionary origin of humans which is crucial for students to know.
When Darwin wrote the Origin in 1859, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. The famous skullcap, along with the bones associated with it were discovered in 1856 in the Little Feldhofer Grotto of Germany. It is now known as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, just a year before the first edition of the Origin was published, it is extremely unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
While the site is focused on biology, it also offers a lot of information about geology and paleontology. The site offers several aspects that are quite impressive, including an overview of the way that climate and geological conditions have changed over the course of time. It also features maps that show the locations of fossil groups.
The site is a companion to the PBS television series, but it can also be used as an educational source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and offers clear links to the introductory information of Understanding Evolution (developed under the National Science Foundation's assistance) as well as the more specialized features of the museum's website. These hyperlinks help users move from the cartoon-like style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world 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 led to a wide variety of animals, plants, and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their natural environment offers many advantages over modern observational or experimental methods for studying evolutionary phenomena. In addition to examining processes and events that occur regularly or over a lengthy period of time, paleobiology allows to study the relative abundance of different species of organisms and their distribution across the geological time.
The site is divided into a variety of paths to learning evolution, including "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a liner path through the scientific process and the evidence supporting the theory of evolution. The course also focuses on common misconceptions about evolution as well as the evolution of thought.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, with materials that support a variety levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site offers a wide array of interactive and multimedia resources that include video clips, animations and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The content is organized in a nested, bread crumb-like fashion that helps with navigation and orientation within the vast web site.
For example, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of coral relationships and their interaction with other organisms, then narrows down to a single clam that can communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in the water conditions that occur 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 includes a discussion on the importance of natural selection and the concept of phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool to understand evolutionary change.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is a common thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A vast collection of resources helps teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.
One resource, a companion to the PBS television series Understanding Evolution KR, is an exceptional example of an Web site that offers both depth and breadth in its educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also features an "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon style that is used in Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely related to the worlds of research science. For example an animation that explains the notion of genetic inheritance leads to a page highlighting John Endler's experiments in artificial selection with guppies in native ponds of Trinidad.
Another resource that is worth mentioning is the Evolution Library on this web site, which has an extensive multimedia library of items connected to evolution. The content is organized according to curriculum-based paths that parallel the learning objectives set out in the biology standards. It contains seven videos that are designed for use in classrooms. They can be viewed online or purchased as DVDs.
Evolutionary biology is an area of study that has many important questions to answer, such as what triggers evolution and how fast it happens. This is particularly relevant for humans' evolution which 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 evolved from apes.
There are also a number of other ways evolution can take place including natural selection, which is the most widely accepted theory. Scientists also study other kinds such as mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection.
Many fields of inquiry conflict with literal interpretations of the Bible evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly fierce debate and opposition from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have reconciled their beliefs to evolution while others haven't.