In advance of Darwin Day — February 12, 2020 — NCSE is drawing attention to the critical importance of teaching evolution in our nation's schools.
As part of its #WhyTeachEvolution campaign, NCSE asked scientists, educators, authors, and science fans to write brief essays answering the question "…
Why teach evolution? Because it’s not just a topic of academic interest for pointy-headed scientists. It’s more than figuring out the history of life through time: how ancestral microbes evolved into complex organisms, how aquatic animals conquered the land, and how we arose from our primate…
Why teach evolution? Evolution isn’t just a unifying concept that connects elements of the natural world: It’s also the link among science, our students, and their world. Why is that important? Evolution can be used as a “hook,” a way to show how the natural interests of all students—not…
As a scholar of human evolution, I’m biased in thinking that our own evolutionary history is the most compelling example of evolution that teachers can draw on to engage students in learning about evolution—and counter common misconceptions.
Senate Bill 7341, introduced by Andrew Gounardes (D-District 22) in the New York Senate on January 21, 2020, and referred to the Senate Committee on Education, would, if enacted, require the establishment of "a model environmental curriculum on climate change to be taught in all public elementary…
NCSE's Glenn Branch and Lin Andrews contributed "Climate change education: Are your teachers prepared?" to District Administration, a trade publication for education leaders in public K-12 school districts.
Observing that "the reality of anthropogenic climate change is explicitly…
Why teach evolution? Here is one reason, from the introduction to the textbook, Evolution, that I coauthored:
Because closely related organisms tend to have similar biological features, evolutionary classification can help predict the biology of an organism through comparison with its…
South Dakota's Senate Bill 59, which would allow the misrepresentation of science in the classroom, was introduced on January 21, 2020.
If enacted, SB 59 would provide, "No teacher may be prohibited from assisting students to understand, analyze, critique, or review, in an objective scientific…
Why teach evolution? Let me answer this question, first, as an educator, and, second, as a Christian theologian interested in the relationship of science to religion. As an educator I believe students need to understand the story of life on our planet accurately. By ignoring evolution, schools and…