WHY IS EVOLUTION IMPORTANT? By Eleanor Oskorep

How Science Works After observations from nature are made, scientists develop questions about the world. By testing these questions with experiments and more observations, scientists can eventually begin to develop an explanation for their question. If the explanation has a lot of evidence supporting it with little contradiction, the explanation can become a scientific theory. In science theory means “a comprehensive explanation of an important feature of nature that is supported by any facts gathered over time.” They allow scientists to predict information about unknown criteria. An example of a scientific theory is the theory of gravity. Many observations and experiments have been made so that many basic factors of gravity, which make up the theory, are understood. Scientists use this theory to predict how gravity will act in certain circumstances.

The Theory of Evolution Had Been Repeatedly Tested and Confirmed Have knowledge that biological traits are passed from parents to offspring Observed that some traits change generations If new trait allows the offspring to survive better and reproduce more offspring, then the trait will be passed throughout its many offspring and become widespread. If the new trait does the opposite, then it will fade out of existence because there will be less offspring that survive and be able to pass it on. Natural selection is this process where some traits allow some to succeed and some to fail in their environment.

The Fossil Record Evolution is supported by fossils that are found in different layers of rock from different times on earth. Fossils that are more like existing organisms are found in newer rock layers. Based on the fossils, it has been suggested that species evolve over time mostly because of natural selection. Scientists have found a plethora of fossils in the different layers of rock that continue to confirm the theory of evolution.

DNA Research DNA, which directs how all cells reproduce and grow, has shown that traits are passed from parent to offspring. Studies of DNA support that the farther away species are in the strata layers the less related they are. These species’ DNA differs more than species that are more closely related in the fossil record. When human and chimp DNA sequences for the gene for hormone leptin is compared, only five differences are found in the 250 nucleotides. Where these different cases a gorilla’s DNA matches with either the chimp’s or the human’s nucleotide.

Common Ancestry Although a human, a cow, a whale, and a bat have different functions and do different things, their limb bone structures are surprisingly similar. When fossils are compared in structure and age, there is evidence that there is a common ancestor for these organisms that shared a similar arrangement of the limb bones. The majority of any two species today can be traced back to a common ancestor, where their lines intersect. The evidence from common ancestry, fossil records, and DNA research, along with other data, add up to a lot of supporting evidence for the theory that evolution by ways of natural selection made life on earth exist and become diverse.

Creationism Does Not Belong in the Science Classroom Some people believe that life did not evolve through natural processes, and they want creation to be taught in science with biological evolution, but creationism is not science because it relies on an supreme being that exists outside our world that scientists can not experiment about or observe. Creationists Arguments Against Evolution Evolution is not true because of the gaps (where there is a lack of an intermediate species between two related species) in the fossil record. Certain features of organisms are too complex to have been created through evolving over time. Structures such as the human eye or bacterium’s flagella are thought to be too complex and must have been created by a higher, more intelligent being. Based on scripture, the Earth cannot be old enough for life to have emerged through evolution But all of these arguments can be answered. There is an increasing amount of intermediate forms being found. Biologists have discovered parts of the flagellum have their own functions and intermediates forms of flagella have been found. Plus through geology, astronomy, and other sciences have confirmed again and again that the Earth is appx. 4.5 billion years old. Because creationist ideas can’t be accepted or refuted, they should not be in taught in classrooms along with the teaching of evolution. Unscientific concepts should not be thought in science class so that students don’t become confused.

Science and Religion Offer Different Ways of Understanding the World Science and religion address different parts of our existence. Many scientists claim that their studies of biological evolution have helped to enhance their religious faith while many religions also accept some evidence of evolution. But science not religion should continue to be taught in science classrooms.

Evolution in Action Medicine’s Challenge in Countering Resistant Strains of Harmful Bacteria In 2002, a severe form of pneumonia caused by unknown means that was later called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) struck China and spread to Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Canada. In 2003 researchers took samples of the virus from a SARS patient and compared it to known viruses. They soon assigned it to a specific family of viruses based on its evolutionary relationship to them. This lead to treatments and vaccines for the virus. Certain bacteria have evolved resistance to antibiotics. This allows them to survive and produce more of itself. The bacteria that cause tuberculosis, meningitis, and other ailments are evolving to resistance antibiotics and are becoming a big problem. By knowing the evolutionary origins of pathogens, it will be easier to cure and avoid new threats.

Tiktaalik By using evolution, scientists can predict what fossils may be found in the future such as the fossils between ancient fish and the four-limbed land dwellers. Evolutions predicts that there was a species that shared characteristics of both species. A team of scientists started looking in rock layers were they proposed such an intermediate species should have lived in, about 375 million years ago. In 2004, they found a fossil of a creature with scales and fins (fish) along with simple lungs, flexible neck, and fins altered to support weight (land-dwellers). Named Tiktaalik, the bones its limbs resemble those in land animals today. By using evolution and geology to predict what type of organism existed and where it could be found led to the discovery of Tiktaalik, another intermediate species to help fill the gap in the fossil record.

My Opinion on the Theory of Evolution I believe that theory of evolution is mostly true. I believe that species have changed/evolved over time in order to survive and through natural selection. This is because of the overwhelming evidence in fossils and organisms around today. I also think that humans are not just a fluke of evolution. All other species have existed and flourished without becoming like us so there is some importance in how we can to be that isn’t just evolution.