On 27 December Paul Smith suggested the following for a student's introduction to Darwinian evolutionary theory: > You might consider sending them to the alt.talk.origins site and have them > read and present on articles there: > > http://www.talkorigins.org/ > > Or have them just analyze the FAQ there: > > http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-qa.html
The best page on that website, I suggest, would be: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-intro-to-biology.html The introductory discussion includes not only "natural selection", also sexual selection and genetic drift. N.B. The first example given under "What is evolution?" is the famous story of the peppered moth. I had the impression that doubt had been thrown on the traditional account, but, other than in experimental details, this is not so. See: http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/Moths/moths.html http://www.geocities.com/lclane2/biston.html An anecdotal illustration of the same kind of phenomenon has occurred in my local Holland Park in London. Some years ago there were numerous grey/white rabbits in the Park, with the occasional, but rare, black one among them. In the last decade or so urban foxes have taken up residence in the park, and the proportion of black rabbits has increased so that now the rabbits are overwhelmingly black. My not-exactly-original theory is that at the time when the foxes come out (i.e., when humans have left) is when the park closes at dusk. White/grey rabbits are more easily seen in the dusk by foxes, hence a process of natural selection has led to the predominance of black rabbits. No new species, of course, but then conditions for speciation don't pertain in Holland Park. -:) Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.human-nature.com/esterson/index.html http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=10 http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=57 http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=58 http://www.srmhp.org/0202/review-01.html ------------------------------------------------------------ >Tue, 27 Dec 2005 12:35:13 -0600 >Author: Paul Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: Intro to Theory of Evolution Article > > You might consider sending them to the alt.talk.origins site and have them > read and present on articles there: > > http://www.talkorigins.org/ > > Or have them just analyze the FAQ there: > > http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-qa.html > > I'd say it's even more reliable than wikipedia. > > Paul Smith > Alverno College > Milwaukee > > On 12/27/05, Jean-Marc Perreault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Greetings all, > > I have found in the past that the Theory of Evolution is not > > well understood by most of my students (1st year psych.). I seem to give > > the > > theory as much time as I possibly can in an already overloaded course, > > without the students really grasping the importance of the theory. > > Luckily, > > they haven't heard of ID either, so that's more than half the battle won = > I > > guess! > > > > So I am on the lookout for a good article or book chapter that I > > could distribute to these students in order to give them a solid > > foundation > > on the theory. If anyone has a good source that would be accessible to > > first > > year students, I would be very interested in hearing about it! > > > > Hope you all had a Merry Christmas (Holiday). > > > > Cheers! > > > > Jean-Marc > > > > > > > > Jean-Marc Perreault > > Instructor, Psychology > > Yukon college > > Whitehorse, Yukon > > (867)-668-8867 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
