Grade+9+1.3+Evolution

=Introduction to Evolution.=

And so we begin our last section of this unit. The concepts of evolution and Natural selection. Homer Simpson´s attempt at explaining evolution is shown below:

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But for those of you who need a bit more explanation.... I have gathered some other resources. By far the best series of videos explaining the concepts of evolution and natural selection that I have found are provided below. The first deals with the evidence relating to the age of our planet and how this was used to question the established belief system relating to the Creation story of the bible:

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The next video looks at the process of natural selection (as developed by Charles Darwin):

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But who was Darwin? Try following this animated history of his early life and some extracts from his diary about his voyage on the HMS Beagle.

[|Who was Darwin?]

And some details regarding the Galapagos islands are included in the follow up animation:

[|The Galapagos islands]

You can try to apply the concepts of natural selection in the following ´games´:

[|Who wants to live a million years?]

[|Peppered moths simulation activity]



[|Evolution lab]

Once you have mastered the concepts (in class you will learn the D.E.A.R system- Differences (variation), Environmental pressure, Adaptation and finally Reproduction). it is hard to imagine how evolution is not accepted by many. Therefore, even though this concept seems to provide a workable mechanism for evolution, it needs support in the form of evidence... and a summary of the collected evidence may be found in the following video:

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Of the evidence listed above, some students may have questions about the process of fossilization. Tim and Moby have some answers that describe the process:

[|What are fossils?]

Additionally, you can follow the process here:

[|Fossil process]

So, we should have a fairly clear idea about the process of evolution and some of the evidence that exist that allows us to treat it as accepted fact. However, some still remain unconvinced and continue to challenge Darwin´s ideas. This was exemplified by the Scope´s Monkey trial and we shall look at the events surrounding the trial next.

But first lets look at the process of human evolution dealt with in the final video by potholer 54:

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Here are the presentations we saw in 90 and 9R

Finally, here is a review of the concept:



Despite widespread acceptance by the scientific community as fact, the mechanism of natural selection as the foundation for the theory of evolution still has its critics... even today.The debate was put to the test in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925 ( in what turned out to be a massive publicity stunt) during what has become known as the ´Scope´s monkey trial´. A young teacher known as John Scopes was arrested for teaching the theory of evolution in his classroom. This subject had been banned due to the Butler Act, a law which prohibited the teaching of any evolution based theory in the classroom which contradicted the story of Genesis. The lawyers appointed for the case were well known. Clarence Darrow worked for the defence team and William Jennings Bryan (a three time presidential candidate) worked for the prosecution. One of the most noted events of the trial was when Darrow chose to cross-examine Bryan. Such a step was very unusual for the defence lawyer to call the prosecuting lawyer to the stand and though many view the trial as having been won by the pro-evolution group.. the reverse is true. View this documentary by Elena Schultz and Sammi Hoar, two high school students who created this video for a history day project...

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[|Link to Scopes trial video]

Link to BBC Bitesize to revise Evolution: [|http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa/e] [|volutiontheories/] You can revise, try the activities and do the practice test.