Evolution

Speciation For example, these happy face spiders look different, but since they can interbreed, they are considered the same species: Theridion grallator. Also, many plants, and some animals, form hybrids in nature. Hooded crows and carrion crows look different, and largely mate within their own groups—but in some areas, they hybridize. If two lineages of oak look quite different, but occasionally form hybrids with each other, should we count them as different species?

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history (phylogeny). Each page contains information about a particular group, e.g., salamanders, segmented worms, phlox flowers, tyrannosaurs, euglenids, Heliconius butterflies, club fungi, or the vampire squid. ToL pages are linked one to another hierarchically, in the form of the evolutionary tree of life. Starting with the root of all Life on Earth and moving out along diverging branches to individual species, the structure of the ToL project thus illustrates the genetic connections between all living things.

Lesson: evolution mini-lesson: A Step in Speciation Time: Two 50-minute periods Preparation: 1. Make color copies of the salamander sheets (one per team of 2-4); place these in non-glare transparent plastic notebook sleeves to protect from wear and tear as they are re-used every period and year. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. COMMENT: This lesson demonstrates how speciation occurs and should emphasize for students that a scientist's real work begins when she/he starts to organize and analyze data. PRESENTATION: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. RECENT DEVLOPMENTS AND CURRENT STUDIES OF ENSATINA at ENSATINA UPDATE: Confirmation of hypothesized relationship from DNA analyses and other studies (added February, 2010).

100 Best (Free) Science Documentaries Online No matter how much you know, there is always something new to learn about science. While your college courses may cover the basics, you can get a more in-depth look at a wide variety of topics from Internet resources such as these great documentaries. These selections will help you explore everything from the inner reaches of the human mind to the outer areas of our universe and just about everything else in between. Better yet, they’re all free to watch online so you can learn more without spending a dime. Health and Medicine These documentaries cover topics like health care, diseases, nutrition, nursing, and more so you can get great insights into health and medicine. Super Size Me: In this movie, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock attempts to subsist on only a diet of McDonald’s for a full month. Drugs Learn how drugs impact the brain and the variety of legal restrictions imposed upon them from these documentaries. Genetics Evolution and Biological History Physics The Quantum Revolution: Dr. Geology

Understanding Evolution The bacteria that changed the world - May, 2017 The make-up of Earth's atmosphere, once the domain of Earth science textbooks, has become an increasingly "hot" news topic in recent decades, as we struggle to curb global warming by limiting the carbon dioxide that human activity produces. While the changes that humanity has wrought on the planet are dramatic, this isn’t the first time that one species has changed Earth’s atmosphere. Three billion years ago, there was no free oxygen in the atmosphere at all. Life was anaerobic, meaning that it did not need oxygen to live and grow. That all changed due to the evolution of Cyanobacteria, a group of single-celled, blue-green bacteria. Read the rest of the story here | See the Evo in the News archive

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