Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution
Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution persist. People who have absorbed popular science myths often assume that biologists claim they do not believe in evolution.
This site, which is a companion to the PBS series It provides teachers with materials which support evolution education and avoid the kinds of myths that hinder it. It's arranged in a nested "bread crumb" format to make it easy for navigation and orientation.
Definitions
It's not easy to effectively teach evolution. It is often misunderstood by non-scientists and even scientists are guilty of using an interpretation that is confusing the issue. This is especially true when discussing the nature of the words themselves.
It 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 a companion site to the show that premiered in 2001, but can also function as an independent resource. The material is presented in a structured way that makes it easy to navigate and understand.
The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process and so on. These terms help frame the nature of evolution and its relation to other scientific concepts. The site then offers an overview of how the concept of evolution has been researched and validated. This information can be used to dispel misconceptions that have been created by the creationists.
You can also access a glossary which includes 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 due to natural selection. It occurs when organisms that have more adaptable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less adapted characteristics.
Common ancestor (also called common ancestor): The most recent ancestral ancestor shared by two or more species. By analyzing the DNA from these species it is possible to identify the common ancestor.
Deoxyribonucleic acid: A huge biological molecule that holds the information needed for cell replication. The information is stored in nucleotide sequences that are strung into long chains called chromosomes. Mutations are the cause of new genetic information in cells.
Coevolution is the relationship between two species in which the evolution of one species are influenced by evolutionary changes of the other. Examples of coevolution include the interactions between predator and prey or host and parasite.
Origins
Species (groups that can interbreed), evolve by a series of natural variations in the traits of their offspring. The causes of these changes are numerous factors, like natural selection, gene drift, and mixing of the gene pool. The development of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, such as climate changes or competition for food and habitat can slow or speed up the process.
The Evolution site follows the emergence of various animal and plant groups with a focus on major changes in each group's past. It also examines the evolution of humans as a subject that is of particular interest for students.
Darwin's Origin was written in 1859, when just a few antediluvian fossils of human beings had been discovered. Among them was the famous skullcap and bones that were discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany which is now believed as an early Homo neanderthalensis. Although find out here now was not published until 1858, which was a year before the first edition of the Origin appeared, it is very unlikely that Darwin had seen or heard of it.
While the site focuses on biology, it also includes a good deal of information about geology as well as paleontology. The Web site has numerous features that are particularly impressive, such as a timeline of how climate and geological conditions have changed over time. It also has an interactive map that shows the location of fossil groups.
While the site is a companion piece to the PBS television series, it also stands on its own as a great source for teachers and students. The site is well-organized and has clear links between the introductory content in Understanding Evolution (developed with support from the National Science Foundation) and the more specialized elements of the museum's web site. These hyperlinks facilitate the move from the engaging cartoon style of the Understanding Evolution pages to the more sophisticated world of research science. 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 resulted in an array of animals, plants and insects. Paleobiology is the study of these creatures within their geological context offers many advantages over modern observational or research methods of studying evolutionary phenomena. In addition to studying processes and events that occur regularly or over a long period of time, paleobiology is able to examine the relative abundance of various kinds of organisms as well as their distribution throughout the course of geological time.
The Web site is divided into a variety of ways to learn about evolution, including "Evolution 101," which takes the viewer on a line through the science of nature and the evidence supporting the theory of evolution. The path also explores misconceptions about evolution as well as the history of evolutionary thinking.
Each of the main sections on the Evolution website is equally well-developed, and includes materials that can be used to support a variety of levels of curriculum and teaching methods. The site includes a variety of interactive and multimedia resources, including videos, animations, and virtual labs in addition to general textual content. The breadcrumb-like arrangement of the content aids in navigation and orientation on the massive web site.
The page "Coral Reef Connections", for example, gives a brief overview of the coral's relationships and interactions with other organisms, and then zooms in on one clam, which is able communicate with its neighbors and respond to changes in the conditions of the water that occur at the reef level. This page, as well as the other multidisciplinary multimedia and interactive pages, provides an excellent introduction to many topics in evolutionary biology. The content includes an overview of the role of natural selectivity and the concept phylogenetics analysis which is a crucial tool for understanding evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary Theory
Evolution is a common thread that runs through all branches of biology. A rich collection supports teaching evolution across all disciplines of 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 as well as breadth in terms of its educational resources. The site features a wide range of interactive learning modules. It also has a "bread crumb structure" that helps students move away from the cartoon-like style of Understanding Evolution and onto elements on this large website more closely linked to the fields of research science. For instance an animation that introduces the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page that highlights John Endler's experiments with 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 contains an extensive multimedia library of resources that are related to evolution. The content is organized in curricula-based paths that correspond to the learning goals set forth in the standards for biology. It contains seven videos designed specifically for classroom use, which can be streamed for no cost or purchased on DVD.
Evolutionary biology is still an area of study with a lot of important questions, such as what causes evolution and how fast it occurs. This is particularly relevant for the evolution of humans where it was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humanity has a special place in the creation and a soul, with the notion that our physical traits originated from Apes.
In addition there are a myriad of ways that evolution could be triggered, with natural selection being the most popular theory. Scientists also study other kinds such as genetic drift and sexual selection.
Many fields of inquiry are in conflict with the literal interpretations of the Bible evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. Certain religions have embraced their beliefs to evolution while others haven't.