Web Site of the Month: Understanding Evolution
By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2005
As the long-running battle over Darwinian theory rages on across the country, scientists at the University of California Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology have launched an informational counteroffensive against the ramped up efforts of evolution's opponents.
The new Web site, "Understanding Evolution," provides K–12 educators with lesson plans and other tools they need to teach natural selection, along with strategies for countering the misconceptions that often surround this controversial issue.
To upgrade teachers' knowledge of science, the well-thought-out site provides an informal online course on six aspects of evolution—from the origins of life to the history of evolutionary thought. There's also guidance on how to overcome "roadblocks" and "pitfalls" while teaching evolution, along with clear, thoughtful lesson plans appropriate for each grade level.
"Through the process of descent with modification, the common ancestor of life on Earth gave rise to the fantastic diversity that we see documented in the fossil record and around us today," states the introductory section, "Evolution 101." "Evolution means that we're all distant cousins: humans and oak trees, hummingbirds and whales."
