Page 12 - FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE; EXPLORING GOD’S UNIVERSE

Science Y6 – Marvellous Me – Evolution and Intelligent Design

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Biological evolution is the change in a population's inherited traits from generation to generation. These traits are encoded
as genes that are copied and passed on to offspring during reproduction. Mutations and other random changes in these
genes can produce new or altered traits, resulting in inheritable differences (genetic variation) between organisms.
Evolution occurs when these differences become more common or rare in a population. This happens randomly through
genetic drift, and based on the reproductive value of traits through natural selection.

Natural selection occurs because organisms with traits that help them survive and reproduce tend to have more offspring.
In doing so, they will pass more copies of their inheritable traits on to the next generation. This tends to cause
advantageous traits to become more common in each generation, while disadvantageous ones become rarer. [1][2][3] Over
[4]
time, this process can result in varied adaptations to environmental conditions. As differences in and between populations
accumulate, species may split into new species. The similarities between organisms suggest that all known species are
descended from a single ancestral species through this process of gradual divergence. [1][5][6]

The theory of evolution by natural selection was first put forth in detail in Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of
Species. In the 1930s, Darwinian natural selection was combined with Mendelian inheritance to form the modern
[4]
evolutionary synthesis. With its enormous explanatory and predictive power, this theory has become the central
organizing principle of modern biology, providing a unifying explanation for the diversity of life on Earth. [7][8][9]

A Scientist looks at 'Intelligent Design'

As a boy, I was able to use a microscope to explore the world around me. It was fascinating to look at printing in books.
Under magnification, the letters are no longer crisp and well formed. Printed pictures are a chaotic mixture of coloured
dots. A razor blade has such a jagged edge that it is amazing it can cut at all!

By contrast, living things reveal exquisite details that are unsuspected without magnification. The eye of a fly, the texture
of a leaf, the surface of a butterfly wing — these evoke a growing sense of wonder as we uncover new levels of detail. The
contrast with manmade objects could hardly be missed!

Looking deeper

Our understanding of the natural world has continued to grow as scientists have painstakingly explored more and more of
these levels of detail. The human body, for example, is an extraordinary system of interdependent parts. Whether we look
at the workings of the eye, the ear, the liver, the kidneys or the heart, the closer we look the more we find systems so
complex and intricate that they boggle our minds.

Looking deeper still, we find that every living cell is a marvel of miniaturisation. Each cell has the molecular equipment to
carry out a wide variety of tasks, including the amazing ability to replicate itself. The component parts of cells have all
been studied in great detail, only to find more and more evidence of complexity.

When Charles Darwin proposed his views on origins, the cell was thought to be nothing more than a blob of jelly — a simple
building block of life. At that time, many found no reason to doubt Darwin’s mechanisms for evolutionary change.

However, as scientists got to work with microscopes and other tools, the huge complexity of the living cell emerged.
Nevertheless, these scientists were so well schooled in evolutionary theory that they never lost faith — if they looked
closely enough, they reasoned, ultimately they would find simplicity.

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