Educational Model: Development of Life on Earth

Part of the IUMC (Innovative Educational and Methodological Complex) "Ecology: Constructing the Biosphere," developed in 2008 by D. A. Shabanov, A. G. Kozlenko, and M. A. Kravchenko by order of the NTFP (National Training Foundation) of the Russian Federation (more about this project is in the article "Innovation and Reality"; reasons why this complex is not used are briefly described in the column "Textbooks: Straight into the Day After Tomorrow"). This model is posted here for use in the educational process. Instructions for working with the model are located at the very bottom of its window; if the instructions do not fit in the window, they can be scrolled up and down with the arrows to their right. The upper part of the model window contains a brief description of key events in the history of life (for details, see the Geochronological Scale section of the manual "Ecology: Biology of Interactions"). Below are two scales. The lower one corresponds to eons and eras of Earth's history; the upper one to finer subdivisions. By selecting relevant sections on the lower and upper scales with the mouse (or moving step by step with the "Back" and "Forward" buttons), you can familiarize yourself with the key events of these time intervals. Some tasks that can be solved while working with the model: 1. Examine changes in conditions on Earth in the course of its historical development. Which changes were caused by the activity of living organisms? 2. Indicate which outcomes (products) of the activity of some life forms made possible the development of other life forms. 3. Using the fact that lengths of geochronological scale segments are proportional to the duration of corresponding time subdivisions, determine whether morphological evolution of life accelerated or slowed down.