生物学の大きなアイデア ― 進化

The Theory of Evolution is accepted by most scientists, but remains a theory because it cannot be fully proven.  Evidence points to evolution being truth, but we can't go back or forward in time to see it happening.
In this hour, the class will learn about the evidence of evolution having happened in the past, and happening currently.  Examples used will be Galapagos finches, peppered moths, horses, dinosaurs/birds, vertebrate embryology, and some others.  Humans will be mentioned briefly, but will not be the focus of the class.  (Humans could not have evolved FROM apes or monkeys because then apes and monkeys would be extinct. Humans, apes and monkeys are believed to have evolved from a common ape-like ancestor.)
Students will understand that evolution does not happen to the individuals of a species.  Evolution happens in a population of a species and generally takes many years, many generations, to achieve.  Natural selection is the accepted mechanism of evolution.  Individuals either survive to reproduce and pass on their traits, or they die.  Those that survive must have been slightly better suited, by random genetic mutation, to their environment or situation.
This class will be taught be discussion & lecture, PowerPoint slides of information, evidence and examples, and an activity comparing natural selection with common perceptions of the process of evolution.