Transcript Why Study Evolution ?

Why Study Evolution ?
• To see a clearer view of God and his creative
processes.
• To understand the physical interconnectedness
between all living things.
• To see the power of life to persist
• To become more open minded and tolerant of
new ideas
How will the study of evolution
be taught and learned
• I will present to you the data and the
scientific conclusions drawn from the data.
• You should be skeptical but logical about
the conclusions drawn from the data.
• You should use that same skepticism and
logic toward preconceived biases against
evolution.
Subjects to be covered
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History of evolutionary thought
Mechanisms of Microevolution
Speciation
Macroevolution
Human evolution
The Church’s stand on evolution
Special Creation
• The Creation took place in one particular
location (The garden of Eden).
• The creation was accomplished in one
particular time period (seven days).
• The creation was directed and constructed
by God and therefore divine in nature.
The Great Chain of Being
• The hierarchal order of God’s creations
from the highest to lowest of life forms.
– Example:
God
Angels
Man
Beast
Plants
The Renaissance brought New
Scientific enquire
• Biogeography:
• Geology:
The study of the distribution of plants
and animals around the world
The study of the earths crust in order
to understand its structure and origin
• Comparative Anatomy:
Comparing similarities and
differences in the body plans of
various biological organisms
Biogeography poses hard
questions for Special Creation
• If the creation of life occurred in one particular
geographical location, how did plants and animals cross
great oceans and mountain ranges to get to isolated areas
of the earth?
• If all life radiated out from a central location, why don’t
we find life dispersed evenly from that center? How is it
that we find groups of organisms only in specific areas of
the earth i.e.…Kangaroos only in Australia, Polar bears
found only in the Artic and Penguins in the Antarctic?
Insights from Geology
A.
The earth is very old
1. The theory of Uniformitarianism: The geological
processes that are currently shaping the earth today
are the same ones that have shaped it in the past.
2. Radiometric dating, which uses the rate of
radioactive decay in rocks as a stopwatch,
convincingly dates the earth to 4.5 billion years old.
Geological insights cont.
B.
The fossil record
1. Since the conception of life on earth, many
organisms have gone extinct and many new species
have arisen to take their place.
2. Faunal Succession: Fossil record shows that life
developed from simple to complex. The Older the
geological strata, the simpler the fossil structure found
in it are.
Comparative Anatomy
– A human arm, a whale
flipper, and a bat wing all
differ in size, shape and
function, yet they consist of
the same tissues and bones
arranged in the same overall
patterns on the body.
– Why are animals that seem
so different and live in such
different habitats structured
so much alike ?
Comparative Anatomy cont.
• Vestigial organs
– Remnants of body
parts which no longer
serve a function
– Example, pelvic girdle
bones in snakes or tail
bones in humans
Comparative Anatomy Cont.
• Ontogeny begets Phylogeny
– Ontogeny is the study of the development of an embryo
through its various developmental stages
– Phylogeny is the study of the development of a species
through time
– The development of an embryo mimics the
development of that species through time
Ontogeny
New Ideas
• De Buffon
– Multiple creations
• Cuvier
– Catastrophism
• Lamarck
– Aquired Characteristics
• Darwin
– Natural Selection
Natural selection
• All organisms have the ability to out reproduce their
natural resources. Thus, there is competition for limited
resources
• There is variation among individuals in every population.
Thus, some individuals within the population will compete
better for natural resources than others
• Those who compete best will live longer and have more
off-spring than those who can’t compete as well.
• Traits and genes which allow an organism to compete
better will be passed on and become more common in the
population. Thus the population evolves.