Science Is Constantly Evolving
Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and this is never more true than when examining evolution. Since 1859, unscrupulous actors have used a poor understanding of Darwin’s work to justify eugenics, subjugate other nations, and rationalize socially deleterious behaviors. (And equally unscrupulous…
I am a lineal academic descendent of the Russian-born geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky, who said in his famous 1973 essay: "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." No truer words have ever been penned in our field. Evolution holds the same position in biology as cosmology…
As a child, I thought the natural world was fascinating and full of amazing things to explore and learn, and was constantly asking questions. It wasn’t until later in life that I realized that many of my childhood questions could be answered simply by understanding evolution.
Learning about…
Why teach evolution? A school administrator might answer simply that the district teaches evolution because it a required part of the science curriculum. Evolution is in the standards and a school would be derelict in its educational duty if its textbooks and curriculum failed to include it.…
Teaching evolution is fundamental to understanding and explaining the diversity of life around us. Supported by multiple lines of evidence, evolution has the broad power to explain biological phenomena on small and large scales. By understanding how evolutionary changes occur, scientists can make…
During the summer of 2019, one of our Graduate Student Outreach Fellows planned to lead a no-conflict training with the "Graduate Outreach Club" at her university. A few days before this was scheduled, I got an email from the president of the "Share Your Science" organization at that same…
Arizona's Senate Bill 1368, introduced on January 29, 2020, by Juan Mendez (D-District 26), would, if enacted, revise the state science standards to "include instruction on climate change using the 2013 Next Generation Science Standards."
Climate change is already part of one of the "Core Ideas…
When I tell people that my sixth-grade life science course is based on evolution, I get some interesting looks. Some of those looks are because most folks think I am certifiable just for loving to teach sixth-graders! However, after they get past that, they are puzzled by the idea that I dedicate…