15 Top Documentaries About Evolution Site

Evolution Site - Teaching About Evolution

Despite the best efforts of biology educators, misconceptions about evolution remain. People who have been exposed to popular science myths often assume that biologists are saying they don't believe in evolution.

This site, which is a companion to the PBS series - provides teachers with materials that promote evolution education and avoid the kinds of misconceptions that undermine it. It's organized in a "bread crumb" format to make navigation and orientation easier.

Definitions

Evolution is a complicated and difficult subject matter to teach effectively. Many non-scientists are unable to grasp the concept and some scientists use a definition which confuses it. This is especially applicable to discussions about the meaning of the word itself.

It is therefore important to define the terms that are used in evolutionary biology. The website for the PBS show, Understanding Evolution, does this in a simple and efficient way. The site is a companion site to the show that premiered in 2001, but it is also an independent resource. The content is presented in an organized way that makes it easy to navigate and understand.

The site defines terms such as common ancestor, gradual process, and adaptation. These terms help to define the nature of evolution and its relation to other concepts in science. The site provides an overview of the manner that evolution has been tested. This information can help dispel myths created by creationists.

You can also access a glossary which includes terms that are used in evolutionary biology. These terms include:

Adaptation is the process of changing heritable traits to be more suited to the environment. This is the result of natural selection. Organisms with better-adapted traits are more likely than those with less adaptable traits to reproduce and survive.

Common ancestor: The latest common ancestor of two or more distinct species. The common ancestor can be identified by studying the DNA of the species.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: A large biological molecular that contains the information required for cell replication. The information is stored in a sequence of nucleotides that are strung together into long chains, referred to as chromosomes. Mutations are the source of new genetic information in cells.

Coevolution is a relationship between two species in which the evolution of 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) evolve through a series of natural changes in the characteristics of their offspring. These changes can be caused by various factors, including natural selection, gene drift and mixing of the gene pool. The evolution of new species can take thousands of years. Environmental conditions, like climate changes or competition for food and habitat can impede or accelerate the process.

The Evolution site traces through time the emergence of various species of plants and animals and focuses on major changes in each group's past. It also focuses on human evolution and is a subject that is of particular interest to students.

When Darwin wrote the Origin, only a handful of antediluvian human fossils had been discovered. One of them was the infamous skullcap and the associated bones discovered in 1856 at the Little Feldhofer Grotto in Germany which is now believed to be an early Homo neanderthalensis. It is unlikely that Darwin knew about the skullcap, which was published in 1858, one year after the first edition of The Origin. Origin.

While the site is focused on biology, it includes a good deal of information about geology and paleontology. One of the most appealing features on the site are a timeline of events which show how geological and climatic conditions have changed over time and an outline of the distribution of a few fossil groups that are featured on the site.

The site is a companion for a PBS TV series but it could be used as a source 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 assistance) and the more specialized features of the museum website. These hyperlinks make it easy to transition from the cartoon-style Understanding Evolution pages into the more sophisticated worlds of research science. In particular there are links to John Endler's research with guppies that illustrate 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 within their natural environment and has many advantages over the current observational and experimental methods in its exploration of evolutionary phenomena. In addition to examining the processes and events that happen frequently or over a long period of time, paleobiology can be used to study the relative abundance of different species of organisms and their distribution in space over the course of geological time.

The website is divided into several routes that can be taken to gain knowledge about evolution. One of these paths, "Evolution 101," takes the viewer through the complexities and evidence of evolution. The path also examines myths regarding evolution, and the background of evolutionary thinking.

Each of the other sections of the Evolution site is similarly constructed, with materials that support a variety of curriculum levels and pedagogical styles. The site offers a wide array of multimedia and interactive resources which include animations, video clips and virtual laboratories as well as general textual content. The content is laid out in a nested bread crumb fashion that aids navigation and orientation within the large Web site.

For example the page "Coral Reef Connections" provides a comprehensive overview of the relationships between corals and their interaction with other organisms. Then, it zooms in on a single clam that is able to communicate with its neighbours and respond to changes in the water conditions that take place at the level of the reef. This page, along with the other multidisciplinary, multimedia, and interactive pages on the site, offer an excellent introduction to the broad variety 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 crucial method to understand evolutionary changes.

Evolutionary Theory

For biology students evolution is a crucial thread that binds all branches of the field. A vast collection of books helps in teaching evolution across the disciplines of life science.

One resource, the companion to PBS's television show Understanding Evolution is an excellent example of an Web page that offers both depth as well as broadness in terms of educational resources. The site has a variety of interactive learning modules. It also has an encased "bread crumb" structure that allows students to move from the cartoon style of Understanding Evolution to elements on this massive website that are closer to the field of research science. For instance, an animation introducing the idea of genetic inheritance connects to a page highlighting 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 website, which includes an extensive library of multimedia items connected to evolution. The content is organized according to curricula-based pathways that correspond to the learning objectives outlined in the biology standards. It contains seven videos that are designed for classroom use. They can be streamed or purchased as DVDs.

A number of important questions remain in the midst of evolutionary biology, such as what causes evolution to occur and how fast it happens. This is particularly relevant in the case of human evolution which was a challenge to reconcile religious beliefs that held that humanity has a unique position in the universe and a soul with the notion that human beings have innate physical traits were derived from the apes.

There are a myriad of other ways in which evolution can occur including natural selection, which is the most well-known theory. Scientists also study different types such as genetic drift and sexual selection.

Many fields of inquiry conflict with the literal interpretations of the Bible evolutionary biology has been the subject of particularly intense controversy and resistance from religious fundamentalists. While  click the next internet site  have been able to reconcile their beliefs with the notions of evolution, others aren't.