Help, I need to prove evolution to a teacher who does not believe?

Question

Here my problem for a summer class, I need to find a web sight that offers indisputable evidence of evolution.
My teacher is a skeptic, actually he does not believe it at all, so I need to find a web site that had a clear fossil link, of the different stages that some modern animal went through from its early stages till now. Most sites only show a bone fragment here or there, or some strange looking oddity, These he claims are just abnormalities that we still see today i.e.: the elephant man from the 1800’s or people today born with extra fingers etc. So to do the job the web site needs to have real artifacts that can not be anything other than one generation after another that shows a clear line from the ancestor animal to the modern day equivalent. I can not find one.

People, after reading most of these answers, I can’t believe this. Mr. Darwin said in his own writings that if his thesis is correct, that the fossil evidence would be found to prove it in its entirety. But everyone is saying there no “hard line of evidence” That’s no better than him. He says the answers can be found in genesis. When you debate how do you prove that he’s says well look at the rest of the book. Its tells of a flood, and there is evidence of a great flood throughout the world, It tells of the tower of Babel, and you can go to Iraq and see the remains today. It tells of King David, and Goliath, and now there are clay pottery shards that tell of a giant named Goliath. Of the store cities of Ramasee in Egypt. Nebbacanezer and Babylon. And on and on, that there is archeological sights all over the middle east that are proving what the Bible says, but that the best evolution has to offer is dinosaurs bones, which were clearly drowned in the flood.

that there are no fish with legs walking and then climbing trees or what ever. point that his belief has more evidence that what is there for evolution. There has to be some kind of hard evidence. By the way this is an extra-credit course over the summer, my teacher is NOT forcing his views, he just trying to make the

Answer 1

Sorry Buddy there is none, evolution doesnt exist think of this if you wanted to evolve L to P Within Millions of years there would have to be a letter with a straight line down and one sticking out of the middle (for millions of years) but they dont exist. L does... P does... and the timeline would look something like L-----------evolution---------------- P. So there should be more middlemen then L's and P's... Where are they? The missing link doesnt exist in any creatures on earth and there should be more fossils of them then anything else.

And as for Darwin... yes he was a VERY smart man and i do see his point and i see why he thinks that way, but ALL his research was based out of one small island ONE none of his research even touches anywhere else on earth... one small island that you could walk around in less than a day. DARWIN HIMSELF even stated that if the missing link doesnt exist all his work means nothing, and he is wrong.

Answer 2

Good luck with that one. If you succeed, don't tell anyone! Tell me, so I can publish the paper and make lots of money. There are gaps in the fossil record, which is to be expected, because humans have done different things with their bones, and only began preserving them (purposefully or otherwise) several thousand years ago. You won't find some kind of record of bones from one generation to the next. The Earth is not a filing cabinet for archaeologists- things erode, get destroyed, etc.

I know you won't do this, since you're asking this question here, but read _The Ancestor's Tale_ by RIchard Dawkins. It is the best modern argument for evolution from the foremost evolutionary proponent in the world.

Evolution is a theory. It has never been witnessed. It has never been proven. It is simply the best way that science can explain the progression of life from single-celled organisms to mordern-day humans. In a hundred years, it may be disproven and Darwin (who is somewhat adored by science) may become dismissed from the minds of scientists.

You should realize that and probably give up trying to "prove" these types of things to people. If someone says you're not 6'0" tall, and you have them measure you and provide health records, they still don't have to believe you. Just accept that and you'll find yourself a lot happier in life.

What you know is not definitely the truth, even when you believe you know it. What you believe is not definitely what someone else must believe.

Answer 3

First off, please tell me this isn't a science teacher who believes this.

Secondly, it's not necessary to find every transitional form that links an organism to both its parent and offspring. Transitional forms, in terms of the theory of evolution, means fossils that show a mosaic of features between previous and subsequent forms. http://talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC200.html

Third, paleontologists have just begun to scratch the surface in terms of finds of fossils. New finds that were in the past unaccessible are just now beginning to be checked.

Fourth, fossils don't just form for every organism in every ecosystem. There are only a few ecosystems that will well preserve fossils, and only then if the animal's bones are not preyed upon. http://talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC200_1.html

Fifth, the theory of evolution does not rest on fossil evidence alone. There are a number of pieces of evidence that support evolution. http://talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA202.html

I'm sure I'm missing other pertinent observations...these are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Each of the above websites cite sources for the information from various peer-reviewed research artilcles, science texts, and other sources. For more information, check the TalkOrigins.org website--very good stuff there in point-counterpoint format to most arguments against evolution.

**Edit (in response to your additional details): Do not get dismayed by the naysayers and neophytes that tell you there is no proof. We have only been looking for and finding fossils for about 150 years. The more fossils that are found, the better the case becomes, and paleontologists are making discoveries at an ever increasing rate.

Do not let your teacher's evidence for other parts of the Bible lead you to discount evolution. The evidence that many of these dinosaur and other fossils being found are over 7000 years old is just one contradiction to the creation story. Archeological evidence for the tower of Babel, of Goliath, and of Nebuchanezer does not mean that any evidence for creation has been found. If we could infer that, then we should be able to infer that Gone With The Wind and Cold Mountain were completely and without a doubt true accounts, becuase they were based on some true facts about the Civil War. The same logic could be applied to hundreds (if not thousands) of historical based fiction, all the way back to at least the Iliad. http://talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH120.html

In terms of Ark sitings, none have been corroborated, and most are inconsistent. http://talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH500.html

A great deal of the evidence creationists use to support a gloabl flood are inaccurate or misunderstood. See this page under CH500: http://talkorigins.org/indexcc/list.html

Answer 4

If your teacher has his mind set on not believing in evolution, all the web sites that you show him won't make him change his mind- he will have ready-made arguments to disbelieve all that.
Richard Dawkins, arguably the greatest living writer on evolution, said that, for all his eloquence the only person who he really convinced is Douglas Adams.

You could ask your teacher to read "The Selfish Gene" or "The Ancestor's Tale" with an open mind and then decide for himself.

Me, I think evolution happened but don't think it is relevant anymore. I don't think that work on a cure for cancer or reducing dependence on fossil fuels will be enhanced due to a belief in evolution. So I am not exactly sure why you want to waste your breath trying to convince a skeptic.

Answer 5

I could name you half a dozen sites right off the top of my head to show to him, however I've yet to actually come across someone who is smart enough to actually sit down and give it a chance if they already have it in their mind that they don't want to think it's true.

Most people like that don't understand it and never will and there for don't want to hear about it, and no matter what you tell them he wont give in.

But hey think of it this way, you're smarter then your teacher.

And I'm not saying the evolution is the only thing that's right or that there isn't a god just that those who think evolution is right normally allow the possibility that they are wrong and maybe there's something else. However those who think that god made it all never alow themself to think they could ever be wrong and never listen to other ideas.

Answer 6

Bring him a copy of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species". It is NOT an easy read by any means, but it contains all evidence that evolution is true. For more modern evidence, take him to the museum of Natural History.

Here is an online copy:

http://www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-origin-of-species/

I would recommend he reads Chapter 4: Natural Selection, BEFORE he declares it heresy and smashes the computer.


My personal opinion is that that there was a God who created this niverse, but left it to run on its own, like setting up a toy train track and letting the train run, to see where it ends up. Any God who would interfere with the course of nature would have done so by now. And by the way, there is even LESS evidence of Creation than of Evolution.

Answer 7

You won't find one. The jury is still out on the details--Darwin's work is a framework that is used by scientists to organize and categorize, but there is no "indisputable evidence" -- just an idea to hang facts on to see how the world works. There are all kinds of gaps in the fossil record you are looking for--some of which get filled in by new discoveries. Sometimes a fossil, like the recent big bird/dino, that doesn't fit with the current understanding of how evolution has happened through time, and forces paleontologists to try to figure out why.

Evolution as the origin of the species is still somewhere between hypothesis and theory--evidence is coming in all the time, but it is not even close to being proven. There has been evidence of natural selection occuring, and methods of dating fossils that are probably accurate, but I think you'll have to wait another hundred years before you see the chain of evidence you are looking for--and maybe when the evidence is finally in, our ideas about where the variation of life on earth comes from will have changed a bit from what is believed today.

I used to think Genesis and Darwin could live in harmony, until they did discover that fish with legs. It seemed so simple before that--God makes a list of different types of creatures he created, and you can find fossil records for most of them that will show that it is likely (but still not proven) that all fish came from the same ancestral fish, and all "crawling things" came from the same crawling thing, etc. This would both give credit to God for the design, and show that some of the impossible leaps of faith evolution theory requires you to make shouldn't be taken. Then some fish with legs fossil shows up--which doesn't kill my theory on it, but does shed some doubt on it. (It is still unknown whether the fish with legs was a precursor to land animals--it could be an adaptation that went nowhere, and this fossil is just a freak like the frankenfish that walk on land today.)

Answer 8

Your teacher should not be teaching his personal opinion. Get books by Charles Darwin or Google Charles Darwin the father of evolution! You should not have to prove evolution to your teacher! You should report him to the school board and he should go live under a cave.

What is wrong with America!! Why are we going backwards? You poor children!

Answer 9

coopracy is the act of evolution evolution is an observable fact of existence all organisms have a culture cultures evolve due to environmental fluctuations evolution is the coopracy between energies that have the genetic imperative for survival that is no organism evolves on its own it evolves alongside other organisms within the changing paradigm all those who will argue that evolution does not exists have a problem coming to terms with the evidence that is all. I have written a book called One Law which is a description of how we influence our genetic future by the actions we take now I am now putting together another book that will be called Coopracy and Universal Capitalism that shows how we can use the knowledge about evolutionary mechanics to take the human being onto the next step to neo civilisation and we become Homo Wisdom Wisdom your teacher is best ignored if he does not grasp how evolution works you will not convince him with fossil evidence, what I can suggest to you is that you read Darwins theory and then Eisteins theories then imagine a conversation betwen the two, because evolution is a series of quantum adjustments brought on by environmental influences that may be like a virus, that has its imperative for survival inprinted into its own basic code this virus when it comes in contact with a far more complex organism any mammel will do will affact the DNA of that host this affect can become a source of mutation if the host then is isolated from the genetic cultural group, a change of food source can alter DNA because of the different mineral content of the local soils isolation then causes any alteration to the original program to become steatopyged, that is accumulated as offspring inbreed the DNA change. after about three generations there is no going back, breed these in isolation and after some time you will end up with a new race, speciation occurs after very long periods of isolation, of genetic cultures in particular environments that they must find their niche in, that is the formatting is strengthened . I do not know who you are. but if you get in touch throu 'mycoopracy@yahoo,com.au' I can supply written text that will help you come to terms with evolution. understanding the quantum moments of evolution requires one to never disagree with their intuition, evolution is the incremental accumulation of information that adds to the orginal pattern through the genetic imperative for survival you could ask your teacher <"why does he insult god so easily, is your teacher saying that god was not the omnipotent being he is made out to be and made life so that it could not evolve to suit the environmental fluctuations as far as finding all links you cannot, because there are none, there is only flux so one can hardly tell through fossil evidence what is written in the DNA it is impossible there are no missing links, also massive shifts in climate , cause massive extinctions then the geological upeveal basicaly destroys the evidence. the life forms that survive can be known to be related to previous lifeforms, through fossil evidence but because the original survival group was so isolated and evolved within the niche available. to be the form that nature caused them to be. they are vitualy impossible to find. ninety nine percent of all life has no fosssil evidence because of geological upheaval to conclude all modern life forms began in some primordal gene pool this pool was disturbed and the orginal organisms being far more simple were far quicker to evolve. the greater the complexity of life forms the slower the evolution. the less complex the quicker. just look at insects that become imune to pesticides. Humans, being the most complex being, are evolving culturally {i hope any way, it is an intellectual evolution, we are now going through, which is in fact a bio physical one at a atomic level who ever he is, why is he teaching when he denies knowledge or discourages people from gaining knowledge. knowledge is power

Answer 10

Basically outline the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_for_evolution

This gives a good overview of the evidence. If he questions it, research each topic. There is more then enough science to support each piece of evidence.

Answer 11

That's the problem. There is not clear, indisputible fossil record showing the progression of a species. While there is much evidence pointing to the validity of evolution, there is no indisputible record that will convince those who wish not to believe.