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Contents
K-12 Teaching
Tools
The American Institute of Biological Sciences held a special symposium at the NABT meeting in October 2005 on the topic of Evolution and the Environment and Defending the Teaching of Evolution. Presentations from the meeting are available online and include the diversification of flowering plants, a curriculum study workshop, and several other evolutionary topics.
ActionBioscience.org provides
original peer-edited lessons on evolution for high school and
undergraduate levels. The site’s resources are also available in Spanish
here.
The
National Center for Science Education defends
the teaching of evolution in public schools. The Center’s
Resources page offers a
wealth of information: advice for teachers and interested activists on
the Cans and Can’ts of Teaching Evolution, Dissecting the Disclaimer, 10
Tips for Writing a Letter to the Editor, 12 Tips for Testifying at
School Board Meetings and more.
The National Academy of Sciences
has issued a teacher’s
handbook
called Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science. The
book offers help on selecting instructional materials and suggests
effective ways to engage in classroom discussion on evolution. NAS also
provides a list of
reports, statements, research papers, and other outside resources on
evolution which are free to download. Former
NAS President Bruce Alberts and Jay Labov have also published an article
in
Cell Biology Education on the topic of teaching the science of
evolution. It focuses on the Academies’ efforts to address challenges to
the teaching of evolution in the nation's public schools and offers ways
to combat these challenges.
The
National Science Teachers Association site has
a
Q & A on the teaching of evolution, addressing why it is a
controversial subject and has become increasingly challenged, and how to
respond to questions from students on alternative theories of biological
evolution.
The National Association of Biology
Teachers has an
evolution page with links to various papers, resources, and facts.
The Society for the Study of Evolution web site has various resources for educators, including an online course
for K-12 teachers hosted by Cal State–Fullerton and a list of essays
addressing evolution, intelligent design, and the works of Darwin.
A web site funded by NSF,
Teach
Evolution and Make It Relevant, offers resources and
materials for teachers at the pre-college level, including a 2-week
classroom unit on applied evolution.
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has
a well-developed site on evolution
here,
including a list of evolution FAQs and lessons for both students and
teachers.
UC–Berkeley’s
Understanding Evolution web site is aimed at teachers. It
includes sections on how to avoid potential pitfalls in the classroom,
overcome roadblocks, and prevent confusion in students. Sections on how evolution impacts everyday life, the evidence for evolution, and the history of evolutionary theory are also helpful tools.
Statements by
Scientific Societies
FASEB
has issued a statement in support of the teaching of evolution
The American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
has played a major role in fighting efforts to weaken the teaching of
evolution in public classrooms. In 2002 the Board released a
resolution on intelligent design theory, urging policymakers to
oppose its teaching within science classrooms.
The American Institute of Physics
(AIP) Governing Board views with alarm the recent action taken by the
Kansas State Board of Education to remove biological and cosmological
evolution from the State Science Standards. The AIP Governing Board
endorses the American Geophysical Union Position Statement on
‘Creationism is Not Science,’ and the “Statement of the Society of
Physics Students Regarding Science Education Standards,” and the
statement by Jerome Friedman, President of the American Physical
Society. The Council of the American
Physical Society opposes proposals to require “equal time” for
presentation in public school science classes of the biblical story of
creation and the scientific theory of evolution.
The
National Association of Biology Teachers firmly supports the
teaching of evolution. The group states, “Explanations or ways of
knowing that invoke non-naturalistic or supernatural events or beings,
whether called “creation science,” “scientific creationism,”
“intelligent design theory,” “young earth theory,” or similar
designations, are outside the realm of science and not part of a valid
science curriculum.
The
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) strongly supports the
position that evolution is a major unifying concept in science and
should be included in the K-12 science education framework and
curricula. The group signed an
amicus brief
in June 2005 in support of a recent U.S. District Court decision,
Selman v. Cobb County School District, which ruled that the
evolution “warning labels” required in Cobb County, Georgia, public
school textbooks were unconstitutional.
In August 2005, the
American Institute of
Biological Sciences released a
statement expressing concern over the Kansas State Board of
Education vote to adopt a curriculum that questions evolution and allows
intelligent design to be taught.
The
American Society of Agronomy,
the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of
America have adopted a
statement in support of teaching evolution, stating that intelligent
design is not a scientific discipline and should not be taught in the
K-12 curriculum. The societies note that at least 70 different
scientific societies are united against intelligent design.
The National Academy of Sciences issued a
letter in March 2005 to NAS members asking to be alerted if the
teaching of evolution is challenged in their school districts.
The
American Association of University Professors issued a
statement denouncing efforts to require public teachers to make
students aware of intelligent design theory.
Other Resources
of Interest
The interim President of Cornell
University, Hunter R. Rawlings III, focused his
State of the University Address in October 2005 on what he called
“the challenge to science posed by religiously-based opposition to
evolution, described, in its current form, as ‘intelligent design.’” The
brewing controversy is about the tensions between science and belief,
reason and faith, public policy and private religiosity, said Rawlings,
and it could have an effect on what is taught in universities.
A
brief history of creationism from the Middles Ages to ‘Creation
Science’ is available on the NCSE web site. The site also contains a
news room
which lists state-by-state activities related to evolution, including
antievolution proposals and legislation, op-eds, and newspaper articles.
The New York Times has been
running a series of
articles on the debate between intelligent design and evolution.
Full access requires a subscription.
The Creation vs. Evolution Forum offers a
discussion board for those
interested in debating the controversy online.
The AAAS
Evolution press
room is a catch-all resource with information ranging from recent
court decisions to historical AAAS resolutions on evolution.
APS, the
American
Physiological Society, has an online compilation of resources for
teaching evolution.
The American Society of Human Genetics
has an ongoing
series of
essays describing the connection between genetics and evolution.
The FASEB Journal has published an
editorial by Editor Gerald Weissmann called “The Facts of
Evolution: Fighting the Endarkenment.” This op-ed raises several
points, outlines what is taken to be fact—common descent and natural
selection—and discusses the darkening atmosphere we now face in
teaching evolution.
The UC-Berkeley Museum of Paleontology hosts a website version of a publication called This is Science! which describes how scientists do science, different approaches to its study, and the science of evolution. A good beginning piece for both scientists and non-scientists.
Resources for
Scientists
HHMI sponsored two lectures
on new discoveries that have transformed our understanding of how
animals, plants, and humans develop and evolve. Sean Carroll, PhD, and
David Kingsley, PhD, spoke Dec. 1-2, 2005, as part of the Holiday
Lectures on Science. The lectures are available through web cast
and DVD.
Read an
interview with Massimo Pigliucci, professor of evolution and ecology
at SUNY-Stony Brook. He discusses evolution’s role in agriculture and
the environment and its importance to other disciplines.
Selected papers and commentary on the
scientific basis
of evolution are available on a site hosted by Donald Forsdyke, who
runs a laboratory of bioinformatics and theoretical biology at Queens
University in Canada.
Kenneth Miller, a professor of biology at
Brown University, operates a web page that compiles
evolution
information, including articles on the failure of intelligent design
and his personal defense of evolution.
AAAS has a page dedicated to a
dialogue on science, ethics, and religion. Essays include “Does God
Play Dice? Divine Providence and Chance” and Ken Miller’s keynote
address, “Finding Darwin’s God: The New Battle Over Evolution.”
PBS provides a round-up of frequently
asked questions about evolution
here.
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