Modern synthesis (20th century)

The Modern Synthesis is an idea that scientists came up with in the 1900s. It helps us understand how different things in nature, like animals and plants, change and evolve over time.

Imagine you are making a puzzle. You have lots of puzzle pieces with different shapes, colors, and sizes. You start putting the pieces together, and you notice that some of the shapes fit perfectly together. Soon, you are able to connect many pieces together and start seeing a picture form. That is kind of like the Modern Synthesis.

Scientists noticed that different parts of nature seemed to fit together, like puzzle pieces. They found that things like genetics, traits, and environment all fit together to help animals and plants change and evolve over time. They discovered that random changes or mutations in genes could cause new traits to develop in different animals or plants. Over time, these traits could become more common in a species, which is how evolution happens.

Overall, the Modern Synthesis helps us understand how different things in nature work together to help us better understand how life evolves over time.