INTRODUCTION TO EVOLUTION : TEACHER'S NOTES.

Evolution for elementary school
Evolution for secondary school

Evolution simply means the changes that happen to a population over time. It could happen as a mutilation of genes or the recombination of genes to produce future generations. Evolution is not a theory that is not unproven though it has its loopholes. For example there are missing links from one lower organism to the immediate higher organism according to this theory. In the theory all organisms are related though they may not necessarily be of common ancestory. In a family, members such as cousins, aunts, uncles are related by blood. A grand parent is shared by some members of that family. Despite this fact cousins, aunts, uncles etc are not the ancestors in that family (cf. Frequently Asked Questions About Evolution; click on Goodall video clip under question 3, "Are all species related?").

Evolution is not a random process since the the survival and reproductive process of an organism is directly related to the inherited traits in its local environment. It is also not the same as "survival of the fittest".

WHY TEACH EVOLUTION. ?

The evolution of one specie affects that of another because no specie can exist in a vacuum. The population of organisms in an eco-system affects the population of others. For example when there are more predators there will be less preys. This means predators will reduce over time and then there'll be an increase of preys. Imagine preys developing an adaptation such as camouflage or an escape strategy, then their population will increase while that of predators will decrease for the reason of starvation.

Some scientists believe that humans have stopped evolving. Evolution is prompted by the need to survive or by a genetic issue. For humans technology hasn't allowed evolution to be as dynamic. Evolution is now taking place with our modern day equipments/technology slowly and silently.

The example of designing our own babies can be used to buttress the fact that humans are still evolving through technological advancement.

Evolution affects each and everyone of us in our daily lives because we experience the indirect effects on a regular basis. For instance the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and the use of pesticides in agriculture has also caused the evolution of resistant insects. This has necesitated the use of harsher chemicals to eradicate them. Another example of how evolution affects us these days is the walking fish which can walk on land for up to 3days and is calledsnakehead . This is new to us in this part of the world.

This page was created by Tunde and Tola Oronti on 08/01/02.

DEDICATED TO TUNATOL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, NIGERIA.

TUNATOL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL GRADUATION CEREMONY JULY 2002.