First post

What a lovely blog! I’m afraid I am not as adept at posting photos and so on.  However, perhaps my skills will evolve as this preparation progresses.  For now, I will rely on my teaching partner’s obvious skill to keep the blog interesting and pretty.

I appreciate Dr. Caruso’s dedication to the thought process behind evolution – a theory upon which virtually all science research is based. 

My most pressing thoughts regarding this course revolve around what specific concepts I should cover.  There is so much to know, so much to discuss.  Every day it seems I read more interesting findings that shed new light on the theory of evolution. 

Does one defend the theory? If so, how much class time should be taken with that? Does one teach the basic concept of evolution, that of allelic frequencies changing over time until eventually new species are created? (And what the heck are allelic frequencies, right?)

Or does one presuppose that the idea of evolution is generally understood? And the more loaded question – does one presuppose that the students “buy in”? And that gets me back to defending the theory. 

But if we presuppose the buy-in, then we can leap straight ahead and … well, still try to figure out what to teach.  The very interesting adaptations that have been developed by certain organisms to live in particular environments … the ancient organisms that are thought to be “links” between organisms which exist today … the molecular (DNA) changes that, though seemingly small, can make all the difference in a behaviour or appearance … and so on. 

In my future posts, I will probably begin sorting through my thoughts regarding all this.  Hopefully by the time the spring semester begins, I will have a good handle on the material I want to bring to class.