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Let’s Mothball the Peppered Myth

Let’s Mothball the Peppered Myth

Intermediate

In his famous 1959 article, Dr. Bernard Kettlewell described his research on the peppered moth as the “consummation and confirmation” (p. 53) of Darwin’s theories. (B. Kettlewell. 1959. Darwin’s Missing Evidence. Scientific American. March pp. 4 8-53) Since then, the peppered moth has become standard fare in biology and genetics texts. Educators really like this example because it is “extremely visual” and thus easily understood and remembered. While all scientists, whether creation model support ers or evolution model supporters, agree that shifts in the proportions of various characteristics do take place in nature, only the evolutionists draw more extensive conclusions from the data. For example, Nelson Canada’s 1993 high school text Biolog y (authored by teachers from Alberta and Newfoundland), suggests that students explain the statement “Evolution and adaptation usually occur by means of small changes” in connection with the case of the peppered moth. (p. 110) Read the rest of this entry »


Monarch Butterflies: Special Orienteers!

Monarch Butterflies: Special Orienteers!

Introductory

Every September, hundreds of thousands of Ontario butterflies converge on Point Pelee, a long peninsula which projects south into one of the Great Lakes. Then away they flutter, across the water and far beyond. Thus begins the amazing mass migration of an insect which unerringly navigates 4000 kilometers to a site where these individuals have never been. The Monarch butterfly, it turns out, is an astounding phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »


One of the “top arguments” against the creation world view is the well-documented development of insect resistance to insecticides. Many Neo- Darwinists claim that the historical development of pesticide resistance in insects is actually one of the strongest evidences of Neo-Darwinian evolution by mutations: “Insects that survived insecticides did so by helpful genetic mutations, and thus they bred a new generation that was not brought down by the farmers’ poison” (Larry Witham. 2002. Where Darwin Meets the Bible. Oxford University Press p. 78) Read the rest of this entry »


Have you ever wondered how this transformation takes place?  The caterpillar makes his cocoon (or chrysalis) and out pops the butterfly – pretty simple, right?  Simple – until you realize that nearly every single organ in the caterpillar body is destroyed and then remade into a beautiful butterfly.  Eat leaves? Now change your diet to drinking nectar.  Those tiny suction-cupped feet?  Forget those – now you can fly with wings that make the whole world envious of your beauty.  Read the rest of this entry »


Rewriting the Book on Insects

Rewriting the Book on Insects

IntermediateIntroductory

Some years ago during the summer, I was a counselor at a small camp in southeastern Quebec. Nature interpretation was my specialty. It was dark each evening by the time the campers converged on the washroom after campfire. The lights of that building attracted all manner of creepy crawlies. Frequently at this time I would hear a shout “Moxie, Moxie — what is this thing in the washroom?” Read the rest of this entry »


Something Special About Bumblebees

Something Special About Bumblebees

Intermediate

An interesting article appeared recently in the journal Science that suggested that bumble bees have solved a problem that plant physiologists have been working on for one hundred years! It was in 1920 that plant physiologists Wightman W. Garner (1875-1956) and Harry A. Allard (1880-1963), while working with tobacco and flowering cosmos, discovered that the correct length of day is essential for the onset of flowering in these plants. They named the phenomenon “photoperiodism,” and it is an extremely important control on the beginning of the flowering process in many plants. Read the rest of this entry »


The ubiquitous spiders are the unsung friends of humans. Although spiders are widely feared, very few species are dangerous to people. Spiders bite humans only in self-defense, and unless you are allergic to the venom, few spider bites cause stinging worse than a mosquito bite or even a bee-sting (Vetter, 2008). Spiders feed on our most-common indoor pests, including roaches, mosquitoes, flies, and moths. Only one type is a herbivore, the rest are carnivores. An estimated up-to-800-million tons of insect prey are annually consumed by the spider community, reducing the need for dangerous pesticides (Nyffeler and Birkhofer, 2017). Read the rest of this entry »


Superior Farms

Superior Farms

Introductory

Imagine a society where there are no managers, just workers. Imagine further that all these workers know exactly what to do and they do it, as vigorously as possible. Imagine too that these workers are farmers which do not make mistakes. Read the rest of this entry »


Among the wonders of the natural world are plants that eat animals, and the best known example is the Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipula. In Charles Darwin’s book on insectivorous plants, he described the plant and its ingenious design in great detail, but did not offer even a clue about its possible evolution (Darwin, 1896, pp. 286-320). He even called the plant “one of the most wonderful plants in the world” (p. 286).

This carnivorous plant is found growing in peaty sandy soil mainly in one small place, the extreme far east coast of North Carolina (Schnell, 2003, p. 85). It catches its prey, mostly ants, beetles, spiders and other crawling arachnids, with a complex, well designed, mitt-shaped trapping mechanism located at the terminal portion of the plant’s leaf (Ellison, 2006; Ellison and Gotelli, 2009). Read the rest of this entry »


The Wonder of Boxelder Bugs

The Wonder of Boxelder Bugs

Introductory

A careful examination of objects by both telescopes and microscopes reveals a major contrast between human-constructed objects and those designed by the Creator.  Human made objects, such as a watch, reveal more imperfections as the magnification by which they are viewed is increased.  An old-fashioned gear watch is an object of beauty when viewed by the naked eye.  Under the microscope, though, the flaws in the machining process become more apparent until, under high power, a watch looks not only imperfect, but crude.

In contrast, increasing magnification of the natural world reveals new detail and perfection.  Read the rest of this entry »


Watch Out Aphids!

Watch Out Aphids!

Children

Everyone wants to go outdoors in the spring to enjoy the sunshine and the warm breezes. But what is there to do besides sit, or play ball or ride bicycles? Of course there is always garbage to pick up. After that maybe some of the dead leaves and other plant debris can be removed to tidy up the garden a bit. But wait! Under many of those dead leaves we discover adult lady bugs waiting for summer and their favourite food, aphids. There are no aphids to eat just yet as new leaves have not emerged. Let’s allow the lady bugs their peace and quiet a while longer. Soon after the fresh green leaves appear, aphids will be there on some of them and the lady bugs will surely find their way to them. Read the rest of this entry »