Evolution as a Lesson
According to Dennis O’Neill, biological evolution can be defined as, “genetic change in a population from one generation to another” (“Early theories…”, n.d.). Contrary to what some may believe or have been taught, biological evolution and evolutionary theory do not suggest that humans come from monkeys. Rather, they suggest that organisms share a common ancestor somewhere down the line, and that that common ancestor can be held accountable for similar traits among different species, like man and chimp. Evolutionary theory has struggled to be universally accepted and respected, and has been challenged by other ideas, such as creationism. Creationism suggests that all organisms were created by some divine being, not a common …show more content…
There are arguably many cases that could well-describe how evolution fits with this, two of which are peppered moths and rock pocket mice. Peppered moths are moths whose population was dominated by white/light colored moths with brown/black speckles, making them look “peppered”. These moths blended in well with birch trees they rested on before the English Industrial Revolution. When the Revolution came about, air pollution caused birch trees to go dark, causing light colored moths to stick out like sore thumbs. What happened from this was that the minority group of peppered moths, who were dark in color, ended up surviving to reproduce while the light colored moths became easy prey, and the dark moths became the new majority (“Lecture on taxonomy…”, Kuta, 2016). As for rock pocket mice, a similar situation occurred. The rock pocket mice in the Mojave desert were light colored to blend in with their sandy home, which helped them camouflage from predators. Unfortunately for them, volcanic eruptions caused patches of sand to blacken, making them easy targets. What happened was that dark-furred rock pocket mice started to appear (Rubin, Denooyer, Davies, Holt & Barrett, …show more content…
I am a nineteen-year-old sophomore in college, and this is the first time in my educational career that I have been introduced to the fact that evolution isn’t suggesting that human’s come from monkeys. I have been taught about Charles Darwin and natural selection before, and I have taken science classes since probably first grade, but if someone asked me before this school year if I thought humans came from monkeys, I probably would’ve answered yes. Not to shame my previous educators, but with the information I have now I feel strongly that we should prevent that very scenario from happening to other students. It is important for the correct information to be taught, so that misinformation does not get passed on to new generations. Further, creationism may be held true to those who are religious, but the fact of the matter is there is absolutely no way to prove it. For these reasons, I personally believe that teaching evolution, with all the evidence behind it, in schools is the best thing for students all
According to Dennis O’Neill, biological evolution can be defined as, “genetic change in a population from one generation to another” (“Early theories…”, n.d.). Contrary to what some may believe or have been taught, biological evolution and evolutionary theory do not suggest that humans come from monkeys. Rather, they suggest that organisms share a common ancestor somewhere down the line, and that that common ancestor can be held accountable for similar traits among different species, like man and chimp. Evolutionary theory has struggled to be universally accepted and respected, and has been challenged by other ideas, such as creationism. Creationism suggests that all organisms were created by some divine being, not a common …show more content…
There are arguably many cases that could well-describe how evolution fits with this, two of which are peppered moths and rock pocket mice. Peppered moths are moths whose population was dominated by white/light colored moths with brown/black speckles, making them look “peppered”. These moths blended in well with birch trees they rested on before the English Industrial Revolution. When the Revolution came about, air pollution caused birch trees to go dark, causing light colored moths to stick out like sore thumbs. What happened from this was that the minority group of peppered moths, who were dark in color, ended up surviving to reproduce while the light colored moths became easy prey, and the dark moths became the new majority (“Lecture on taxonomy…”, Kuta, 2016). As for rock pocket mice, a similar situation occurred. The rock pocket mice in the Mojave desert were light colored to blend in with their sandy home, which helped them camouflage from predators. Unfortunately for them, volcanic eruptions caused patches of sand to blacken, making them easy targets. What happened was that dark-furred rock pocket mice started to appear (Rubin, Denooyer, Davies, Holt & Barrett, …show more content…
I am a nineteen-year-old sophomore in college, and this is the first time in my educational career that I have been introduced to the fact that evolution isn’t suggesting that human’s come from monkeys. I have been taught about Charles Darwin and natural selection before, and I have taken science classes since probably first grade, but if someone asked me before this school year if I thought humans came from monkeys, I probably would’ve answered yes. Not to shame my previous educators, but with the information I have now I feel strongly that we should prevent that very scenario from happening to other students. It is important for the correct information to be taught, so that misinformation does not get passed on to new generations. Further, creationism may be held true to those who are religious, but the fact of the matter is there is absolutely no way to prove it. For these reasons, I personally believe that teaching evolution, with all the evidence behind it, in schools is the best thing for students all