Evolution Presentation

MagicMarker

So, I have to show off my powerpoint skills in college this week and out of all the topics I could have chosen, I've opted for evolution! Which has absolutely zero to do with my course btw! But none the less, I may as well do something interesting to me...

The title of the presentation is ''Evolution - Theory of Fact?''

So, it's going to be pretty short, 10-12 slides. I'm going to start off with ''what is evolution'', then onto Darwin, then highlighting the evidence for evolution, which is where you guys come in. Out of the abundance of evidence that there is, where do you guys think I should specifically focus my attention? I want to wow my audience!

I'll even have a podium to preach from, maybe I'll bring animal crackers and some ribena? :pac:

dvpower

You could shock them to discover how closely related they are to to a humble ribena creature.

Zillah

People are generally too stupid to understand the mechanics of mutation and natural selection. The best bits to use to wow people are the ones where they can see it happening before their very eyes. Do a bit on antibiotic resistance, then bring in the e.coli experiment.

I'd also be tempted to talk about the question of our bodies being mere survival-shells for the genes that reside within (Dawkins portrays this rather vividly in [I think] The Selfish Gene). Many people have the notion of their genes surviving in their children. I get a kick out of suggesting that the genes have used and abused the parent and have now fled into the next generation like rats from a sinking ship and will allow you to die now that they've moved on.

Er, mass extinction bottle necks can be fun to talk about too. There is a theory that the majority of people alive today are immune to the Black Death, for example, and this has led to increased HIV resistance in some individuals. That's pretty awesome.

Perhaps emphasise the importance of geographic isolation as a driving force behind variation, be it different continents or isolated valleys.

OH! One of my favourite bits: Convergent evolution! Marsupial dogs that have no actual relationship to dogs, marsupial lions, predatory kangaroos...basically Australia's entire evolutionary history is pretty amazing and ridiculous.

And the samurai face crabs deserve a mention. Ok going to bed now.

Dave!

The samurai face crabs Zillah mentioned is a good way to illustrate it IMO

Also might want to mention that the various different breeds of dog are due to humans breeding them -- and that's only over [insert number here] years, so imagine over millions of years!

I'd mention vestigial organs and features such as our tail bones, and how they are a legacy of our evolutionary past

Might be worth devoting some time to address some of the specific anti-evolutionary claims (J C might help you out here...)

What course are you doing BTW?

Improbable

If you want to get a bit more science heavy but still leave it understandable, you could include the evolution of human chromosome 2 as a fusion of 2 different chromosomes which happened in our ancestors but not in any other member of the Hominidae family. They all have 24 pairs of chromosomes while we only have 23.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee_Genome_Project#Genes_of_the_Chromosome_2_fusion_site


If you want to stick to more easily understandable examples, talk about goosebumps and how even though we lost our long hairs that covered our bodies, the mechanism which raises them when we're threatened still remains, giving us goosebumps. You can see the mechanism in cats and porcupines where it is used to make them appear larger to scare off predators

You can also include the extrinsic ear muscles. In cats, these muscles are used to swivel their ears around in order to focus on particular sounds. The muscle still exists in humans but has become so weak that all it is good for is wiggling the ears a bit.

MagicMarker

Dave! wrote: »

What course are you doing BTW?

Accounting :pac:

I know, it's a bit silly really. The other day I learned how to create a new folder! :rolleyes:

dvpower

Zillah wrote: »

I'd also be tempted to talk about the question of our bodies being mere survival-shells for the genes that reside within (Dawkins portrays this rather vividly in [I think] The Selfish Gene). Many people have the notion of their genes surviving in their children. I get a kick out of suggesting that the genes have used and abused the parent and have now fled into the next generation like rats from a sinking ship and will allow you to die now that they've moved on.

This.
Before I read that book (and particularly that part), I considered the subject to be very dry. Looking at it from the perspective of the genes changes things.

Dave!

MagicMarker wrote: »

Accounting :pac:

I know, it's a bit silly really. The other day I learned how to create a new folder! :rolleyes:

That's some tricky sh1t man, practice makes perfect!

bnt

I have one word for you: Tiktaalik. It's a great example of a "transitional species", and a direct slap in the face to those creationists who say things like "there are no transitional fossils".

It's also interesting for how it was found, and the conversation goes something like this: "we have fossils from 380 million years, and fossils from 365 million years ago, so can we find something in rocks from between those ages? Preferably somewhere nice and warm? OK, the geology says Ellesmere Island, where's that? 80 degrees north, is that cold? Oh, heck ... " :cool:

Improbable

bnt wrote: »

I have one word for you: Tiktaalik. It's a great example of a "transitional species", and a direct slap in the face to those creationists who say things like "there are no transitional fossils".

It's also interesting for how it was found, and the conversation goes something like this: "we have fossils from 380 million years, and fossils from 365 million years ago, so can we find something in rocks from between those ages? Preferably somewhere nice and warm? OK, the geology says Ellesmere Island, where's that? 80 degrees north, is that cold? Oh, heck ... " :cool:

Ah, but where are the transitional species between the original species and the tiktaalik? And the transitional species between the new species and the tiktaalik.

Of course I don't believe that but I've actually come across the argument more times than I care to count

Zillah

Dave! wrote: »

Also might want to mention that the various different breeds of dog are due to humans breeding them -- and that's only over [insert number here] years, so imagine over millions of years!

Along those lines.

Dades

+2 for Samurai crabs !

A great example for natural selection noobs (though is it actually genuine?)

Dades

Dades wrote: »

+2 for Samurai crabs !

A great example for natural selection noobs (though is it actually genuine?)

Are you accusing Carl Sagan of lying?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiNKt6gcEM8

Dades

^^ I first read it in Cosmos.

I have a vague recollection since of hearing something that suggested the story was not much more than that, a story.

Happy to be wrong, though.

Pushtrak

Another post referencing Sagan. Great video on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q55z6EsL8M

robindch

Seem to recall that there were intractable problems with the crab story. Prof google should be able to help.

Other than that, the best easily observable evidence for evolution is the geographical distribution of species. But I can't see you fitting that into ten slides.

Try Ring Species instead.

Fluffybums

I seem to remember there is a moth which has change its colouring in cities so that it is camouflaged from predators on trees stained by traffic pollution but the country cousins retain the lighter original colouring. I'm not sure if the advent of DNA sequencing has supported this as a true example of natural selection, but after quite a period of time I still remember it which suggests that it made an impression. Now if only I could remember the name of the moth....................

Thank goodness for Google - Peppered moth.

Since the darker, city, peppered moth can still breed with its country cousin, this may be an example of evolution in progress. A new species has not been produced and as the air quality improves it may not, in addition there may not be sufficient isolation of the population for natural selection to produce another species.

Improbable

Fluffybums wrote: »

I seem to remember there is a moth which has change its colouring in cities so that it is camouflaged from predators on trees stained by traffic pollution but the country cousins retain the lighter original colouring. I'm not sure if the advent of DNA sequencing has supported this as a true example of natural selection, but after quite a period of time I still remember it which suggests that it made an impression. Now if only I could remember the name of the moth....................

Thank goodness for Google - Peppered moth.

That one is always used in LC biology classes. The other stuff mentioned here will probably turn more heads.

mikhail

Fluffybums wrote: »

I seem to remember there is a moth which has change its colouring in cities so that it is camouflaged from predators on trees stained by traffic pollution ...

Is that not a famous example of something falsely claimed to be an example of evolution, which creationists use as a stick to beat about the bush?

Fluffybums

mikhail wrote: »

Is that not a famous example of something falsely claimed to be an example of evolution, which creationists use as a stick to beat about the bush?

Yep - did a google, I've since edited a new species has not evolved so it not the best example.

lynski

i presume you mean ''Evolution - Theory or Fact?''
If that is the case why not stay away from explaining what Evolution is and where the theory came from, and giving examples of it, and concentrate on the theory or fact bit? as you are not a scientist and the explanation of the theory is complex, why not concentrate on the other problem people have with Evolution - understanding what a theory is, how it becomes an accepted theory, why it is not fact, what it would take to make it fact, why is so widely accepted and why other competing 'theories' are not theories?
just a thought

Galvasean

One word: DINOSAURS.
Everybody likes dinosaurs. Tell the people how certain dinosaurs evolved into birds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_birds#Features_linking_birds_and_dinosaurs

axer

Might be worth pointing out the difference between common use of the word theory and the scientific use of the word theory.

darjeeling

Fluffybums wrote: »

I seem to remember there is a moth which has change its colouring in cities so that it is camouflaged from predators on trees stained by traffic pollution [...]

Thank goodness for Google - Peppered moth.

mikhail wrote: »

Is that not a famous example of something falsely claimed to be an example of evolution, which creationists use as a stick to beat about the bush?

Fluffybums wrote: »

Yep - did a google, I've since edited a new species has not evolved so it not the best example.

There were some controversies surrounding the classic 1950s peppered moth studies, but these were blown out of proportion. Thankfully, the experiments were repeated in the early 2000s (without the earlier minor flaws) and the results vindicated the '50s findings. The peppered moth story is true.

Wikipedia gives an overview of the recent work (link).

drkpower

Wow - I never knew the accountancy curriculum was so broad.

Surely you need to bring it back to accountancy in some way. What do accountants need that wouldnt be possible without evolution? While tempted to list some dull accountant stereotypes, what about doing something on the evolution of the opposoble thumb, without which those poor accountants wouldnt be able to write out your little sums....;)

axer

drkpower wrote: »

Wow - I never knew the accountancy curriculum was so broad.

Surely you need to bring it back to accountancy in some way. What do accountants need that wouldnt be possible without evolution? While tempted to list some dull accountant stereotypes, what about doing something on the evolution of the opposoble thumb, without which those poor accountants wouldnt be able to write out your little sums....;)

Could he not just add "This accounts for the vast range of species on the planet today" at the end. :pac:

drkpower

axer wrote: »

Could he not just add "This accounts for the vast range of species on the planet today" at the end. :pac:

You should hang your head in shame, young man....
Of course, such an ending would require a set of drums for the requisite 'badabum tsch'.....

jayzusb.christ

Why not just invent an insect called 'a count ant', and force a contrived pun into the speech? You could make a Wikipedia page about it in case anyone checks it up. If you're photoshopping it, it would look something like a death's head moth, except with a big dracula on its back instead of a skellington face.
Ok, i'm leaving now.

ColmDawson

drkpower wrote: »

You should hang your head in shame, young man....
Of course, such an ending would require a set of drums for the requisite 'badabum tsch'.....

Ahem.

Scarinae

As long as you do better than Mrs Garrison did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfreMMJP6C4

bnt

Before I forget: some general advice about giving Powerpoint presentations:
- keep slides short and simple - a few choice words per slide is enough. Large, clear typeface over big, bold images.
- You're talking over the slides, not reading from them! Learn the material, let the slides prompt you.
- Head up, address the audience. The whole audience - left, right, and centre.
- Do a rehearsal, to make sure you have the talk down in your head, and that the length and pacing are correct.
- If using Powerpoint 2007 with a projector, learn to use Presenter View in dual display mode - very useful.

Examples of good modern presentations: TED Talks, Apple launches ... and Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth.

caffrey

Since one of the largest opponents to evolution are creationists this might interest the OP. Creationists believe that since we(all life) are so perfect in our being and so good at what we do then we must have been engineered as such. The recurrent laryngeal nerve is an example of what could only be described as bad engineering, one of the big holes in the creationist theory.

http://darwins-god.blogspot.com/2009/10/richard-dawkins-and-recurrent-laryngeal.html

I was actually discussing this a few days back and possibly why some people don't accept evolution like a lot of other science could be because of a lack of everyday examples. People accept magic invisible waves traveling through space because they can hear the person on the phone. Everyday examples are few and far between, someone mentioned antibiotic resistence, another example is viral evolution. If getting the flu shots it is necessary to get it every year because the virus will have changed since then.