What is Evolution? (In Your Opinion)
An old biology teacher of mine used to tell the class that evolution was a change over time, and that everyone experienced evolution everyday. It might be a slightly simplified definition of evolution, which is defined in one way as descent with modification. Our teacher was probably just trying to fit in a motivational speech to us in the lecture. Evolution is what turned primitive single-celled life into millions of multicellular organisms. Organisms evolved to live all over the planet in extreme places like the deep ocean, and in places with extreme temperatures, hot and cold.
A scientific theory is something scientists have spend a good amount of time running experiments and gathering data for. The data will always have room to improve with advances in the technology used to record it and the understanding of the subject. With this in mind, the theory is still something we can see is happening, we just need data and concrete evidence for it to be a fact. I believe that evolution has to be a fact. Evolution can be seen through observing creatures that exist currently and in the distant past of years ago. The observations that scientists find giving evidence to evolution include fossils, human artifacts, ancient art, and the layers of sediment where the past is buried under. The layers of earth can be examined for carbon dating and depending on what substances are found in the ground, we can see what the composition of life and land in the area was and how it changed. Fossils give us an opportunity to see what life forms existed in the past and how the organisms present today came to be. by looking at genetics, physiology, composition, and many other variables, scientists and create a tree to map out the path of evolution a species took through the past 4-5 billion years. There are many different explanations as to how the process of evolution occurs. An interesting idea that is not supported by scientific evidence is Lamarck's ideas about inheritance; if an animal loses a limb, the offspring of the animal will now be born without that limb. Gregor Mendel left behind detailed and thorough data collected from breeding pea plants. The mechanism of genetic inheritance of certain traits in pea plants has been very influential in the field of genetics; which is the most important component of evolution. In conclusion, evolution is a fact the way we know what color the sky is; we just need to find evidence and data that can explain how it happens.
Hi Megan!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate how you backed up your opinions in here with science and historical examples, especially the one about inheritance! I agree with you that I believe evolution is a fact, and that there is a lot of proof to back up this process. I also like how you applied this subject to something from an old class you took because it reminded me of all the other times I've had teachers try and motivate us over the years and it made me laugh.
Hi Megan, I like that you used different examples of evolution giving a background on what it is and why it can be so important. You then later go on and use previous theories of evolution and explain how they are outdated now but that is how scientific theories work. They always leave room for new ideas and new evidence to change how we think about things. I think many people in life do not understand the difference between a hypothesis, a theory and a scientific theory.
ReplyDeleteHi Megan. I know I am late commenting but I enjoyed reading your post. I had a biology teacher and high school with a similar definition as your old biology teacher. Funny how within the first month of class my perspective regarding the fine details of evolution has changed so much. Great examples as well!
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