Decoding Neanderthals: NOVA Resources on Evolution

Tonight at 9pm, WGBY will broadcast NOVA:  Decoding Neanderthals, a program that will allow viewers to find out what happened when the first modern humans encountered Neanderthals 60,000 years ago.  You can also find seemingly inexhaustible resources at NOVA’s beta site.  Here are just a few, all of which have related links:

Homo Sapiens Versus Neanderthals  (Teacher Video) Fossil evidence from Middle East caves and elsewhere has revealed some competitive advantages modern humans, known as Homo sapiens, are believed to have held over the more archaic human species, Neanderthals. This video segment explores the origins of modern humans.

Are Neanderthals Human?  (Article and Related Content) Bones discovered in a cave in the German valley of Neander — Neanderthal in German — that looked vaguely human, eventually made their way to an anatomist in Bonn named Hermann Schaafhausen.

Ten Great Advances in Evolution  (Text and Photographs) To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Origin of Species in 2009, NOVA prepared this list, by no means exhaustive, to reveal some of the biggest advances in evolutionary biology over the past decade as well as insights into the evolutionary process itself. In some cases those insights would have given Darwin himself a pleasant jolt of surprise!

You can also explore other NOVA’s educator sites such as NOVA science NOW and NOVA education.

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Video Lending Library Feature: NOVA scienceNOW’s “Where Did We Come From?” teaches evolution

Teaching about evolution can be challenging; it’s a controversial issue in some quarters. But the task is often easier when factual information is presented. NOVA scienceNow offers a one hour, 4-part examination of the question: Where Did We Come From? presented in the following sections:

• Revealing the Origins of Life — No one knows how life began billions of years ago. But now chemist John Sutherland has created the conditions in which the building blocks of RNA, one of the key molecules of life and the probable precursor to DNA, assemble themselves naturally.
• Origins of the Solar System — Combining chemical evidence from meteorites with the latest computer simulations, scientists show how, nearly five billion years ago, a supernova shock wave could have swept through a cloud of dust and gas and caused it to collapse, eventually forming the sun and planets.
• Lice and Human Evolution — After sucking our blood for millions of years, lice are suddenly proving their value: their DNA turns out to hold a treasure trove of clues about our evolution.
• Profile: André Fenton — Mr. Fenton’s work with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients may one day illuminate the biological root of memory itself.

This DVD is now in our lending library. Title: Where Did We Come From? ID number 2060.

To Order, visit the Video Lending Library and follow the simple instructions.

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