2006-04-18t16:25:05Z
| TAGS: Education. Evolution. Flash.
Interactive evolution and education
There's a very nice bit of education interactive Flash on Evolution: evolution - what next? [johnkyrk.com/evolution.html]. I personally love it.
What get's me is the corresponding MeFi thread: Take that Intelligent Design - It's flash so it must be true [metafilter.com/mefi/50988]. They're whining about the lack of a play button! So here's what I told them:
Quit whining about the lack of a play button you passive TV wimps! It's called "interaction". Here's a little list about educational media (like museum exhibits or flash):
- It just sits there.
- It has some text.
- It plays some audio or video when you click.
- It does several things when you interact with it.
- It does variable things but you have to figure out how interact with it.
- It demands that you learn and practice to use it.
- It is a real person.
I hope you get the general idea. Of course there are different degrees of quality at each level (e.g. shallow versus deep text), but generally when it comes to educational material: doing, interacting, practicing is vital.
As far as Kyrk's evolution piece, obviously he wants you to take the time to read the stuff. Plus we're talking about time here and getting a sense of the passage of time on cosmic, geologic, and paleontologic scales.
By coincidence, I was poking around human taxonomy and evolution this weekend so his piece is much more interesting for me. Here's a little list I made this weekend for my own entertainment:
- Domain Eukaryota. A eurkaryote is an organism with a nucleus or nuclei.
- Kingdom Animalia. An animal does not have cell walls and is a heterotroph that ingests food.
- Phylum Chordata. A chordate has a notochord (rod shaped backbone like thing) and a muscular tail.
- Subphylum Vertebrata. A vertebrate has a backbone or spinal column.
- Class Mamallia. A mammal has mammary glands, hair, and is endothermic (warm blooded).
- Order Primates. A primate has five fingers, and fingernails. Includes the suborders: Strepsirrhini (non-tarsier prosimians) and Haplorrhini (Tarsiers, Monkeys, and Apes). This split occurred 63 MYA.
- Suborder Haplorrhini. Haplorrhines, the "dry-nosed" primates include the infraorders: Tarsiiformes (Tarsiers) and Simiiformes (Simians). This split occurred 58 MYA.
- Infraorder Simiiformes. Simians include the parvorders: Platyrrhini (New World monkeys) and Catarrhini. This split occurred 40 MYA.
- Parvorder Catarrhini. Includes the superfamilies: Cercopithecoidea (Old World Monkeys) and Hominoidea (Apes). This split occurred 25 MYA.
- Superfamily Hominoidea. Hominoids are the apes and include the families: Hylobatidae (the Lesser Apes or Gibbons) and Hominidae (the Great Apes). This split occurred 18 MYA.
- Family Hominidae. Hominids are the great apes and include the subfamilies: Ponginae (Orangutans) and Homininae (Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Humans). This split occurred 14 MYA.
- Subfamily Homininae. Hominines include the tribes: Other subtribes: Gorillini (Gorillas) and Hominini (Chimpanzees and Humans). This split occurred 7 MYA.
- Tribe Hominini. Hominins include the subtribes: Paninina (Chimpanzees) and Homonina (Humans and extinct relatives). This split occurred 5/3 MYA.
- Subtribe Homonina. Hominans include the following genera, all of which are extinct except for Homo:
- Sahelanthropus. This genus has a singular species, Sahelanthropus tchadensis. Like a mix between Chimpanzee and human. Controversy. 7/6 MYA.
- Orrorin. This genus has a singular species, Orrorin tugenensis. Controversy. 6.1/5.8 MYA.
- Ardipithecus. The size of a Chimpanzee but bipedal and with teeth more like the Australopithecus. 5.8/4.2 MYA.
- Two genera are both called australopithecines and are considered the immediate ancestors of Homo. Brain cavity: 400-430 cm3.
- genus Australopithecus. The famous "Lucy" of 3.9/3 MYA was a specimen of Australopithecus afarensis. 4.4/1.7 MYA.
- genus Paranthropus. 2.7/1.3 MYA.
- Kenyanthropus. This genus has a singular specimen, Kenyanthropus platyops, which if not its own genus, then may be a australopithecines or a homo. 3.5/3.2 MYA.
- Homo.
- Genus Homo. Homos include the following species, all of which are extinct except for Homo sapiens.
- Homo habilis (Man with ability). Tool user but possibly not of the genus homo. Brain cavity: 590-650 cm3. 2.5/1.8 MYA.
- Homo rudolfensis (Rudolf Man)
- Homo ergaster (Working Man). Alternatively, may be Homo erectus ergaster. 1.8/1.24 MYA.
- Homo erectus (Upright Man). An ancestor of modern man. Includes famous finds such as Java Man, Peking Man, and Turkana Boy. Brain cavity: 950-1100 cm3. 1.25/0.07 MYA.
- Homo heidelbergensis (Heidelberg Man). An ancestor of modern man. Brain cavity: 1100-1400 cm3. 800/300 KYA.
- Homo antecessor (Explorer Man). Brain cavity: 1000-1150 cm3. 600-250 KYA.
- Homo rhodesiensis (Rhodesia Man)
- Homo cepranensis (Ceprano Man)
- Homo georgicus (Georgia Man)
- Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man). Alternatively, may be Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Tool user that coexisted in time with Homo sapiens for quite a while. 230/30 KYA.
- Homo floresiensis (Flores Man, discovered 2003). Halfling size. The last of the other species of the genus Homo. 18/15 KYA.
- Homo sapiens (Wise Man, modern humans). 200/ KYA.
- Species Sapiens. Includes the following subspecies, all of which are extinct except for Homo sapiens sapiens.
- Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man). Alternatively, may be of the species Homo neanderthalensis. Tool user that coexisted in time with Homo sapiens for quite a while. 230/30 KYA.
- Homo sapiens sapiens (Wise wise Man, modern humans). 195/ KYA.
- Homo sapiens idaltu (Elderly Wise Man, discovered 1997). 160/150 KYA.
- Subspecies Sapiens. Brain cavity: 1400 cm3 average.
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