Science Project

The theory of evolution can be broken down into four main points.

1) The world is always changing. And as it changes, the animals and organisms living on it must adapt to these changes. Therefore, the animals that are alive today are much different from the one’s living in the past due to adaptations. Most of the animals that used to live in the past are now extinct.

The only evidence to support this view are fossil records.

2) There was originally a common ancestor and by process of evolution and adaptations, they branched out into many different species that adapted to their certain environment. They are all related because they descend from a common ancestor. This explains the similarities between animals that are classified together, that is, because they share certain traits that they inherited from their ancestor.

This also explains why similar species are usually found in the same regions.

3) Changes don’t happen overnight. They take a very, very long time. The fossil records and the fact that no one has ever seen an animal or organism suddenlt change within a short period of time into something completely different support this.

4) The process of this evolutionary change was called natural selection. It is the most important part of Charles’s Darwin’s theory of evolution

Natural Selection...

Natural selection is the name that we give to the improvement in the genes of organisms over long periods of times. This means that a creature will change over time.

This comes about as a result from the spread of genes passed on from generation to generation. Certain individuals of a species may cope better in an environment than others who aren’t as adapted and therefore will be healthier and live longer and produce more offspring. Their genes are passed on to their offspring who will be similarly adapted.

Natural selection can be put into two wide groups. Sexual and ecological selection.

Ecological selection is when only the environment that the animal is living in impacts upon the specie’s lifestyle and slowly adapt it to suit its lifestyle.

Sexual selection is when the male’s competitive nature towards each other over females develops the specie. The strongest and fittest male will be the one who will end up mating with all the females and will be the one who passes on all of his strong and fit genes on to the next generation therefore making their offspring strong and fit.

According to evolution, we do not evolve organs that are not adaptive. Therefore, evolution does not explain our using only one tenth of our brains. The belief that we use only ten percent of our brain is an urban legend and is false (Radford 2000). We use all of it. Evolution promotes racism. When understood properly, evolution refutes racism. Before Darwin, people used typological thinking for living things, considering different plants and animals to be their distinct "kinds." This gave a rise to a misleading conception of human races, in which different races are thought to be separate and distinct. Darwinism helps eliminate typological thinking and with it, the basis for racism. Evolution as a theory cannot be observed or tested? No, that is not true. The extremely rapid evolution of viruses and bacteria can be easily observed. Example: Antibiotic resistant strains of multiple types of bacteria have evolved from strains that were once very susceptible to these same antibiotics. Also, several speciation events (instances of one species evolving into another) involving multicellular organisms have been observed and documented.

FAQS

What is evolution?

Changes or adaptations that species may make over long periods of time.

What do genes have to do with evolution?

They play a major role in evolution. They are passed on from generation to generation. If one generation adapts in a certain way, their offspring will have these same adaptations.

What is natural selection?

It is when certain individuals of a population who are better adapted to a certain environment have an advantage over those who aren’t as well adapted. The advantages are ones such as survival and reproductive success. The well adapted portion of the species maybe able to find more food that will enable them to live longer and produce more offspring who will obtain their parent’s genes.

Is Evolution a random process?

No. The survival of a certain animal is related to the ways it inherits it’s traits and how it adapts to its environment.

Pre Quiz on Evolution

Answer True or False to the following statements.

1. According to the Theory of Evolution, humans evolved from monkeys. True

2. Evolution is a theory, and therefore is not considered to be a scientific truth. True

3. Charles Darwin proposed the the Theory of Evolution, but he later recanted his theory. False

4. Natural Selection is the mechanism by which evolution occurs. False

5. Theories are supported by facts and evidence, and can be revised if new evidence is found. True

6. Only atheists (those who do not believe in God) believe the Theory of Evolution. False

7. Creationism is another scientific theory that addresses the origins of humans. True

8. Because there is a ³missing link², the Theory of Evolution cannot be proven. True

9. Schools are required by law to teach the Theory of Evolution. True

10. Charles Darwin was the only scientist to propose and support the Theory of Evolution. False

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