Without it, the facts seem counter-intuitive and they don't connect. Lerner noted that the distribution of grades was not as regional as might be expected. There were As in the Bible Belt of the Midwest and Southeast and Fs in the Northeast, he noted. Evolution is especially important in raising students' awareness about the changing environment around them, Lerner said. Humans, of course, have a more diverse effect on the environment than any other living thing.
Most species are highly specialized for their environments and evolve as the environments change.
If the environmental changes are too rapid or too profound, the species becomes extinct. The island fox, for example, successfully inhabited the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California for 16,000 years. In the past five years, four of six island fox populations have declined by 90 percent. A principal reason for this decline may be the introduction of golden eagles into the area beginning in the early 1990s, scientists say. The foxes had no vigilant response.