Why All The Fuss About Evolution Site?

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions persist about evolution. 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 It provides teachers with materials that support evolution education and help avoid the kinds of misconceptions that make it difficult to understand. It's laid out in the "bread crumb" format to aid in navigation and orientation.

Definitions

Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject matter to teach well. Non-scientists often misunderstand the subject and some scientists employ a definition that confuses it. This is particularly relevant when discussing the nature of the words themselves.

Therefore, it is essential to define terms used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient way. It is an accompaniment to the 2001 series, and also a resource of its own. The information is presented in an organized way that makes it easy to navigate and comprehend.

The site defines terms like common ancestor, the gradual process and adaptation. These terms help to define the nature of evolution as well as its relationship to other concepts in science. The website provides a summary of the way the concept of evolution has been tested. This information can be used to dispel myths that have been propagated by the creationists.

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

Adaptation: The tendency of heritable traits to become better suitable to a particular setting. This is due to natural selection, which happens when organisms with better-adapted traits are more likely survive and reproduce than those with less adapted traits.

Common ancestor: The most recent common ancestor of two or more species. The common ancestor can be identified by analyzing the DNA of those species.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A massive biological molecular that contains the necessary information for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences which are strung into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the cause of new genetic information in cells.

Coevolution is a relationship between two species, where the evolutionary changes of one species influence evolutionary changes of the other. Coevolution can be seen in the interactions between predator and prey, or parasites and hosts.

Origins

Species (groups that can interbreed) develop through a series natural changes in their offspring's traits. The changes can be triggered by a variety of causes that include natural selection, genetic drift and mixing of gene pools. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, such as climate changes or competition for food resources and habitat can slow or speed up the process.

The Evolution site tracks through time the evolution of different animal and plant groups, focusing on major transitions within each group's past. It also focuses on human evolution and is a subject that is of particular interest to students.

Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when just a few antediluvian fossils of humans had been found. The skullcap that is famous, along 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. Although the skullcap was not published until 1858, which was a year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is highly unlikely that Darwin had heard or seen of it.

While the site focuses on biology, it also offers a lot of information about geology and paleontology. The most impressive features of the website are a series of timelines which show the way in which 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.

Although the site is a companion to the PBS television show but it also stands on its own as a valuable 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 specialized features on the museum's website. These hyperlinks make it easy to move from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds 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 has produced a variety of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures in their natural environment and has numerous advantages over modern observational and experimental methods of examining evolutionary processes. Paleobiology can examine not just the processes and events that take place regularly or over time, but also the distribution and frequency of different groups of animals in space throughout the geological time.

The website is divided into various paths to learning evolution that include "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the nature of science and the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. The path also examines myths about evolution and the background of evolutionary thought.

Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, with materials that can be used to support a variety of curriculum levels and teaching styles. The site has a range of multimedia and interactive resources, including videos, animations, and virtual laboratories in addition to general textual content. The breadcrumb-like structure of the content helps with navigation and orientation on the massive website.

For example, the page "Coral Reef Connections" gives a brief overview of the relationships between corals and their interactions with other organisms. Then, it concentrates on a specific clam that is able to communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the water conditions that take place at the reef level. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia and interactive pages on the website, provide an excellent introduction to a wide range of topics in evolutionary biology.  Evolution KR  provides an explanation of the role of natural selection as well as the concept of phylogenetic analysis, which is a crucial tool in understanding evolutionary change.

Evolutionary Theory

Evolution is a common thread that is found throughout all branches of biology. A wide range of resources can help teachers teach about evolution across the life sciences.

One resource, the companion to PBS's television series Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of a Web page that offers both the depth and the breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site features a wealth of interactive learning modules. It also features a "bread crumb structure" that assists students in moving away from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this site that are more closely connected to the worlds of research science. For example an animation that introduces the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page highlighting John Endler's artificial selection experiments with guppies from the native ponds of Trinidad.

The Evolution Library on this website contains a large multimedia library of resources that are associated with evolution. The contents are organized into curriculum-based paths that parallel the learning objectives outlined in the biology standards. It contains seven short videos that are designed for use in classrooms. They can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.

Evolutionary biology is an area of study that poses many important questions, such as what causes evolution and how fast it takes place. This is especially relevant to human evolution, where it has been difficult to reconcile that the physical characteristics of humans were derived from apes and religious beliefs that hold that humanity is unique in the universe and has a special place in creation with a soul.

There are a variety of other ways evolution could occur and natural selection being the most popular theory. Scientists also study different types like mutation, genetic drift, and sexual selection.

While many fields of scientific study are in conflict with literal interpretations in religious texts, 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 theories of evolution, other religions haven't.