Evolution and Natural Selection Heres Hank https www

Evolution and Natural Selection

Here’s Hank! • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=a. Tfty. Fbo C_M

341 The beauty of the universe: The order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect and will. Catechism of the Catholic Church

• One of the oldest and most debated questions is the creation and origin of Earth and humans. • There are many theories, ideas, and thoughts on the creation of the universe and living things. • Along with creation comes the process of evolution. • One of the misconceptions about creation and evolution is that they have to be mutually exclusive and that is not the case.

• It is understood that the presence and guidance of God drives the process of evolution. • From the conception of the first living organism, God has played a role in shaping and forming new species and continues to do so. • Pope Pius XII said in 1950 that Catholics should accept what science demonstrates about evolution, while holding that God creates the human soul.

• Pope Benedict XVI, the previous pope, stated that there is plenty of scientific proof for evolution and that it is absurd to assume there is a conflict between evolution and religious faith.

What is Evolution? • Evolution is a process that involves the change in genetic material of a species over a period of time. • The central idea of biological evolution is that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor. • In the production of new generations, modifications occurred and diversity within species began appearing. • This branch of science is very dynamic as new technologies, fossil records and evidence provide additional information for scientists to analyse.

• Here is a sample of some of the early concepts about evolution and the formation of the Earth. 1. Spontaneous Generation - the idea that living matter originated out of non-living matter. (Aristotle) 2. Catastrophism - the belief that major changes in the Earth's crust destroyed all living things and that entirely new organisms appeared in place of the original living things. (Baron Georges Cuvier) 3. Actualism - theory that the same geological processes occurring in the present also occurred in the past. (James Hutton) 4. Uniformitarian - theory that the Earth's surface has always changed and continues to change through similar, uniform and very gradual process. (Sir Charles Lyell)

• The most famous scientific researcher in this area was Charles Darwin a naturalist who boarded the famous HMS Beagle in 1831 and set sail for South America to collect samples of rocks, minerals, plants, and animals. • Darwin returned from his voyage and completed the famous document “On the Origin of Species by Means of • Natural Selection or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life”. This document explained the concept of natural selection.

Natural Selection • Have you ever heard or used the phrase “survival of the fittest”? • It is often repeated in endurance events like triathlon or boxing where physical and mental strength dominate. • This idea was first coined by Charles Darwin in 1858, as the process of natural selection. • Natural selection is the idea that members of a species compete with each other for resources and the individual that is better adapted to its lifestyle has a better chance of surviving and reproducing. • Darwin did not imply that only the strongest survive, rather only those species that can better adapt to their physical environment have a better chance of surviving.

• There are two requirements for natural selection to occur: 1. There must be a heritable variation for the trait. Examples: beak size, colour pattern, thickness of skin, fleetness. 2. There must be differential survival and reproduction associated with the possession of that trait. • Unless both these requirements are met, evolution by natural selection cannot occur. • http: //science. howstuffworks. com/life/evoluti on/evolution. htm

Homework • Complete the activities from: • http: //ats. doit. wisc. edu/biology/ev/ns/ns. htm