I'm not exactly sure why, but I get regular mailings of the "Teachers'
Guides" for series like this. This one looks especially well put together.
They're quite impressive, with explicit connections to the National Science
Education Standards, detailed indexes for the content of the shows, a
glossary, group project ideas complete with rubrics...
Paul Smith
Alverno College
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Renner, Michael [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2001 10:52 AM
> To: TIPS (E-mail)
> Subject: Evolution
>
>
> This should interest those with biological or comparative interests:
> ================
> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/about_tv.html
> About the Television Series
> Evolution will premiere on PBS September 24-27, 2001 (check
> local listings).
> Here are brief descriptions of each of the shows.
> Show 1: "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" (two-hour premiere)
> For 21 years, Charles Darwin kept his theory of evolution
> secret from all
> but a few friends. He confided to one: "It is like confessing
> to a murder."
> Why does Darwin's "dangerous idea" matter today more than
> ever, and how does
> it convey the power of science to explain the past and
> predict the future of
> life on Earth? The two-hour series premiere of Evolution
> interweaves the
> drama of Darwin's life with documentary sequences of current
> research and
> introduces core concepts of evolutionary theory.
> Show 2: "Great Transformations" (one hour)
> What caused the incredible diversity of life on Earth, and
> how have complex
> life forms, including humans, evolved? "Great
> Transformations" focuses on
> evolution's "great transformations," among them, the development of a
> standard four-limb body plan, the journey from water to land,
> the return of
> marine mammals to the sea, and the emergence of humans. Driven by a
> combination of opportunism and a genetic "toolkit," these astounding
> transformations define the arc of evolution, suggesting that
> every species
> is a variation on one grand genetic theme -- members of a
> common tree of
> life.
> Show 3: "Extinction!" (one hour)
> Ninety-nine percent of all the species that have ever lived
> are now extinct.
> While cataclysmic events on Earth have pruned the tree of
> life, extinction
> also opens the door to diversity, carving out room for new
> species to emerge
> and thrive.
> "Extinction!" explores the causes of the five mass
> extinctions that have
> occurred over the life of the planet and takes us behind the scenes to
> investigate the sources of the mass extinction happening
> today. It asks,
> What does evolutionary theory predict for the world we leave
> for future
> generations?
> Show 4: "The Evolutionary Arms Race" (one hour)
> "Survival of the fittest": Is it raw competition, or a level
> of cooperation
> indispensable to life? The theory of evolution demonstrates
> that both are
> needed.
> Interactions among species are among the most powerful
> evolutionary forces
> on Earth, and understanding them may be key to our own survival. "The
> Evolutionary Arms Race" explores our own spiraling arms race with
> microorganisms -- the only entities that can pose a threat to
> our existence.
> We follow the struggles of medical detectives uncovering the roots of
> epidemics and trace the alarming spread of resistance among
> pathogens that
> cause disease, like the new virulent tuberculosis nicknamed
> "Ebola with
> wings."
> Show 5: "Why Sex?" (one hour)
> In evolutionary terms, sex is more important than life itself
> -- without
> progeny, we are evolutionary losers. Sex fuels evolutionary
> change by adding
> variation to the gene pool and eliminating unsatisfactory
> traits. We look at
> the endless variety of sexual expression and the powerful
> hold sex exerts
> over all living things. And we explore how the need to pass
> on our genes has
> shaped our own bodies, minds, and lives. Some scientists
> believe that art,
> literature, music -- in fact all of human culture -- may be
> the ultimate
> result of our sexual drives.
> Show 6: "The Mind's Big Bang" (one hour)
> Anatomically, modern humans existed more than 100,000 years
> ago, but with no
> art and with only crude technology and primitive social
> interaction. Then
> 50,000 years ago, something happened -- a creative, technological, and
> social explosion -- and humans came to dominate the planet. This was a
> pivotal point in our development, the time when the human mind truly
> emerged. What made this moment so different? "The Mind's Big
> Bang" examines
> the forces that may have contributed to the breakthrough and
> enabled us to
> prevail over our relatives, the Neanderthals, who co-existed
> with us for
> tens of thousands of years; the show also explores where the
> power of the
> modern mind may ultimately lead us.
> Show 7: "What About God?" (one hour)
> Of all the species on Earth, we alone attempt to explain who
> we are and how
> we came to be, and we use both science and religion as our
> references. How
> has the tension between the two played out? Today the theory
> of evolution
> still is dogged by controversy. This program explores the creationist
> movement and its arguments by drawing on real human stories of people
> struggling to find a balance between faith and science. Through their
> perceptions we underscore the point that science and religion are
> compatible, although they play very different roles in
> assigning order to
> the universe and a purpose to life.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> Michael J. Renner
> Department of Psychology
> West Chester University
> West Chester, PA 19383
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Telephone: 610-436-2925
> Fax: 610-436-2846
> "The path of least resistance is always downhill."
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
>
>
