Mr. Bouyer
Day 3 - 6 |
Vocabulary Test
This Week's
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the process by which living things change over a period of time.
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Did Charles Darwin say man evolved from a monkey? |
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Like other scientific theories, several people have contributed to the theory of evolution.  To understand evolution, you must be familiar with many different terms. Any discussion of the topic is useless without an agreement on these terms.
Even the definition of evolution  can be debated.
All the Internet links you will need are located at the bottom of today's page. |
Living things change very slowly. While some changes can be observed directly, much what we know about the history of life on earth comes from the fossil record. A fosssil is any trace of a long-dead organism. Most fossils are formed when sediment is deposited by wind or water. These sedimentary fossils usually develop only from hard body parts. The soft body parts decompose before they can be replaced by hard minerals. The special conditions needed for the formation of fossils cause the fossil record to be less than complete. Because of this, the fossil record is open to interpretation. Different scientists can look at the same fossil and reach different conclusions about its place in the history of life.
In 1669, Nicolaus Steno proposed the Law of Superposition stating that successive layers of rock or soil were deposited on top of one another by wind or water. This means that the lowest layers are the oldest, while the top layers are the most recent. This law is still accepted today and allows scientists to give fossils a relative age.
Carbon dating can be used to determine the actual age of an abject. The only requirement is that the object must have carbon in its structure.
Paleontologist |
A group of organisms that mate and produce fertile offspring. |
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| The morphological concept of species uses the internal and external structure and appearance of organisms to determine a species. These characteristics are easy to observe, making species identification relatively convenient. The morphological concept of species has limitations. All individuals within a morphological species do not look alike. Humans, for example, do not all look alike. We are, however, all Homo sapiens. |
| The biological concept of species states that a species is a population of organisms that can successfully interbreed but cannot breed with other groups. Scientists who study evolution today do not like this definition because the reproductive compatibility of extinct organisms cannot be tested and the definition is unsatisfactory for organisms that reproduce asexually. |
The Linnaean Classification of Humans
two or more species changing because of changes in a species with which they are interacting.
The Hardy-Weinberg Principle:
A population will remain in genetic equilibrium if, and only if, all of the following conditions are met.
Timeline of Evolutionary Thought:
1809 - Lamarck 1844 - Darwin 1858 - Wallace 1859 - "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin July 10-25, 1925 - "Scopes Monkey Trial"
History of Man:
for more information.
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End Of Instruction practice test question #32 |
Concept Understanding: 
- What is the main limitation of the morphological species concept?
- What happens during disruptive selection.
- What does the Hardy-Weinberg Principle say about evolution?
- How is an atlatl and dart different from a bow and arrow?
Research Links:
Evolution Theory:
Creation:
Human History:
Native Americans:
Earth's Age:
(bio lab 115)