Warmup 12/1/15
What is your appendix for? What do you know about that
organ? Explain as best as you can.
Objective
To learn how small changes
affect organisms
Tonight’s Homework
Summarize everything we’ve found
so far. What seems like a good
explanation for where life comes
from?
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
If we see something happen in a small way, it’s
not impossible to think that it could happen in a
big way, too.
For example, let’s say you go on a diet. In the
first two weeks you see great progress and lose
5 lbs. It’s not impossible to think that you could
continue this pattern and lose a ton of weight
over a few months.
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
If we see something happen in a small way, it’s
not impossible to think that it could happen in a
big way, too.
For example, let’s say you go on a diet. In the
first two weeks you see great progress and lose
5 lbs. It’s not impossible to think that you could
continue this pattern and lose a ton of weight
over a few months.
This same idea gets applied to living organisms
as well. We see small changes over a few
hundred years. Is it impossible to believe, then,
that these little changes over hundreds of years
could turn one creature into another?
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
This idea is called microevolution.
Humans exhibit a few things along these lines
as well. Wisdom teeth and the appendix appear
to be useless. Maybe as humans we’re just
“evolving” out of them?
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
This idea is called microevolution.
Humans exhibit a few things along these lines
as well. Wisdom teeth and the appendix appear
to be useless. Maybe as humans we’re just
“evolving” out of them?
This may or may not be true, but we can’t
scientifically prove it. Additionally, there are a
few things here we need to make sure are clear.
Microevolution is not against creationism. If God
chooses to let us change AFTER creation, that
doesn’t violate or go against anything.
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
Microevolution just changes traits that are
already there or removes traits. It can’t add any
new information or things to a creature.
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
Microevolution just changes traits that are
already there or removes traits. It can’t add any
new information or things to a creature.
For example, all dogs have the genetics to have
long hair. Dogs that have lived near the equator
for a long time though don’t have long hair
because they don’t need it. But if that species of
dog began migrating north, they’d slowly regain
their long hair.
In no way have we seen the dog “evolve”. We’re
just mixing around traits that are already there.
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
So what does this tell us about where life came
from?
All we can say is that not everything is as it
looks. Just because we’re seen some creatures
change in little ways now doesn’t mean they’ve
changed in bigger ways in the past. This is bias
again.
Notes on Evidence - Microevolution
Additionally, if we look at some animals, they
can’t “microevolve” unless many parts evolve at
the same time. In other words, for
microevolution to work on a large scale, we
have to have lots of parts all mutate at the
same time in a way that lets them all work
together.
While not strictly impossible, this seems
extremely unlikely. Add in the fact that this has
happened not once, but apparently millions of
times with thousands of species and things start
sounding VERY unlikely.
Notes on Evidence – Microevolution
Conclusion
(I want you to spend the next 10 minutes
looking over these notes. Answer the following
questions at the end, in a part called
“conclusion”.
1) What’s the basic idea behind microevolution?
2) What can microevolution tell us about the
history of a creature and what it came from?
3) Are there any other topics, questions, or data
relating to any of the topics we’ve covered
this week?
4) What’s your conclusion? What does the data
say?
Exit Question
What's an example of microevolution in humans?
a) That some people are born without wisdom teeth
b) That some people are born deformed
c) That some people are born with extra teeth
d) That some people are born with extra toes
e) All of the above are examples of microevolution
f) None of the above are examples of microevolution