The NCSE defends the teaching of evolution in public schools. They are a nationally-recognized clearinghouse for information and advice to keep evolution in the science classroom and "scientific creationism" out. NCSE, the only national organization to specialize in this issue, is devoted to defending the teaching of evolution primarily against attacks by religiously motivated anti-evolution. They provide reviews of current anti-evolution activity in the U.S. and around the world; background to the fundamentally creationist and anti-evolution movement known as "Intelligent Design"; detailed information on the creation/evolution controversy from 1859 to the present; and resources for parents, teachers, school boards, and the public. Among their many resources are: 10 Significant Court Decisions Regarding Evolution/Creationism; Brief History of Creationism -- From the Middle Ages to "Creation Science"; Creationism/Evolution 101 -- Reading List; Facing Challenges to Evolution Education; The Creation/Evolution Continuum; What’s Wrong with "Theory not Fact" Resolutions; and Why Teach Evolution? The NCSE suggests that you contact them if you need advice, information, or help in defending the teaching of evolution. Their web site is: www.natcenscied.org/
Growing Up in the Universe: 2-Disc DVD Set.The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Growing Up in the Universe is a series of lectures by Richard Dawkins as part of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures where he discussed the evolution of life in the universe. The lectures were first broadcast in 1991 in the form of five one-hour episodes. Dawkins presents lectures on life, the universe, and our place in it. The titles of the five part series are: Waking Up in the Universe, Designed and Designoid Objects, Climbing Mount Improbable, The Ultraviolet Garden, and The Genesis of Purpose (they can be viewed online for free at the website of the Richard Dawkins Foundation). With his usual clarity, Dawkins presents information and insights that will capture the minds of young and old alike. Illuminating demonstrations, wildlife, virtual reality, and special guests all combine to make this collection a highly useful resources for all ages.
The first issue of this new journal is available on-line. There you will find scientific articles; lesson plans; reflections on evolution; curricula focusing on evolution; and book reviews. According to the press release, Evolution: Education and Outreach promotes understanding and teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience. Targeting students of all ages including undergraduates, teachers and scientists alike, the journal publishes articles to aid members of these communities in the teaching of evolutionary theory. The journal connects teachers with scientists by adapting cutting-edge, peer-reviewed articles for classroom use on a variety of instructional levels. Teachers and scientists collaborate on multi-authored papers and offer tools for teachers such as unit and lesson plans and classroom activities as well as online content such as podcasts and PowerPoint presentations. The journal will be freely available on-line through 2008. For more information, visit here.
Volume 1 -- #1 -- January 2008; #2 – April 2008 --
The journal promotes accurate understanding and comprehensive teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience. Targeting K-16 students, teachers and scientists alike, the journal presents articles on the teaching of evolutionary theory. It addresses the question of why we should care about evolution by exploring the practical applications of evolutionary principles in daily life and the impact of evolutionary theory on culture and society throughout history. The journal connects teachers with scientists by adapting cutting-edge, peer reviewed articles for classroom use on varied instructional levels. Teachers and scientists collaborate on multi-authored papers and offer unit, lesson plans and classroom activities as well as online content such as podcasts and power point presentations. Free Online Journal Access: www.springer.com/life+sci/journal/12052?detailsPage=description
The second issue, now available on-line, includes articles on evolutionary medicine, evolutionary trees, and punctuated equilibrium; curriculum articles on such topics as using "Inherit the Wind" in the science classroom, molecular evolution and HIV, and hominid evolution; and reviews of a number of books. Also included is the second installment of NCSE's regular column for Evolution: Education and Outreach: "Overcoming Obstacles to Evolution Education." In "The OOPSIE Compromise -- A Big Mistake.” NCSE's Eugenie C. Scott and Glenn Branch write, in part that:
Opt-out policies are typically invoked to excuse students from activities to which they or their parents may have religious objections, such as reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, dissecting animals in a laboratory, or attending sex education classes. Occasionally, however, a school or school district allows students to opt out of academic topics, including, sometimes, evolution. Opt-out policies specifically including evolution are a big mistake -- for the students who opt out, for their classmates whose studies are disrupted, and especially for their teachers, who cannot fulfill their duty to instruct their charges about biology without emphasizing evolution.
Visit here for more infromation
This site is divided into the following areas:
Learning Evolution
Teaching Evolution
In the link to Teaching Evolution you be directed to three additional sources:
Focus on the fundamentals: The mechanism of evolution is based in these four fundamentals: variation, inheritance, selection, and time. At the same time, always keep in mind the nature of science – how we know what we know. Think of what you would like your students to know: Concepts guide your planning to the ideas that are central to the understanding of evolution. Find the resources to support their learning: Once you have identified the concepts, select the appropriate lessons.
This is a somewhat complex – but surely a most comprehensive – site. However, by following the various links, you will be led to a treasure trove of information and a huge assortment of lesson plans that you may wish to explore. There are lessons to be found for grade levels – K-2, 3-5, 6 -8, and 9 -12. For additional information, visit evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/
Edited by Eugenie C. Scott and Glenn Branch. Forward by Rev. Barry W. Lynn. (2006). Boston: Beacon Press.
More than 80 years after the Scopes trial, creationism is alive and well. Through local school boards, sympathetic politicians, and well-funded organizations, a movement has developed to encourage the teaching of the latest incarnation of creationism -- intelligent design -- as a scientifically credible theory alongside evolution in science classes. Although intelligent design suffered a serious defeat in the recent Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, its proponents continue their assault on evolution education. In Not in Our Classrooms, parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens have a much-needed tool to use in the argument against teaching intelligent design as science.
Where did the concept of intelligent design originate? How does it connect with, and conflict with, various religious beliefs? Should we "teach the controversy" in our science classrooms? In a series of well-written essays, a team of experts answers these questions and many more, describing the history of the intelligent design movement and the lack of scientific support for its claims. Most importantly, the contributors -- authorities on the scientific, legal, educational, and theological problems of intelligent design -- speak specifically to teachers and parents about the need to defend the integrity of science education by keeping intelligent design out of science curriculums. A concluding chapter offers concrete advice for those seeking to defend the teaching of evolution in their own communities. For additional information about this book, visit www.ncseweb.org/nioc/
Eugenie C. Scott. (2004). Westport, CN: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. [Also available in paperback, University of California Press, 2005]
The debate over the teaching of evolution continues to rage. There is no easy resolution for it is a complex topic with profound scientific, religious, educational, and legal implications. How can a student or parent come to grips with this issue? Evolution vs. Creationism provides a comprehensive and balanced introduction to the many facets of the current debate -- the scientific evidence for evolution, the legal and educational basis for its teaching, and the various religious points of view -- as well as a concise history of the evolution-creationism controversy. A section of primary source documents from all sides of the issue is included.
Each of the four sections of the book provides a resource that will assist the reader in better understanding these issues. The first section addresses the nature of how evolution works as part of the scientific enterprise as well as a summary of the relationship between religious beliefs and science. A section on the history of the controversy provides a synopsis of the lengthy struggles, from before Darwin to the present day, between advocates of creationism and the proponents of evolution. A collection of primary source documents addressing cosmology, law, education, and religious issues from all sides of the debate constitute the third section. The book concludes with a selection of resources for further information for those who wish to study the topic in more depth.
Eugenie C. Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, has written extensively on this issue and is past president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. For additional information, visit www.ncseweb.org/evc/
This very interesting web site provides updated information on the scientific view of hominid evolution. It is an extremely insightful video with valuable comments and backup data. It is well-organized and includes some fascinating information. Also view the sections on the Learning Center and Resources. Check the web site: http://www.becominghuman.org/
by Larry Flammer, Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes (ENSI)
Synopsis: Students gradually build a realistic sense of deep, geological time from familiar linear analogs, e.g. calendars and football fields. They also learn to associate the earliest fossils of specific groups of vertebrates with the geologic time of their emergence, on the now-familiar scale of relative distances from their school. From this, they discover the pattern of gradual vertebrate emergence and how well it consistently fits vertebrate phylogeny.
Principal concept: The fossil record shows a pattern of increasing diversity and large-scale changes through time.
Associated concepts: (1) The vast dimensions of deep geological time can be understood on a recognizable scale of familiar dimensions. (2) There are vast periods of time (tens of millions of years) that separate the emergence of each major vertebrate group. (3) Each successive vertebrate group possesses characteristics of the previous group, plus a few key modifications unique to the new group. For the complete lesson plan, see: www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/pat.in.time.html
by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC., 2008.
This is the third edition of the NASA's Science & Creationism. It is more comprehensive yet brief enough to use as a classroom supplement. It clearly presents and explains the essential features of the nature of science, evolution, creationism in all its variations, and their critical interactions. Highlights include a discussion of evolution as fact and theory, and an example of an industrial application of natural selection. There are excellent explanations of how molecular biology repeatedly confirms evolution.
This resource from Nature is intended "for those wishing to spread awareness of evidence for evolution by natural selection." In the introduction, the developers -- Henry Gee, Rory Howlett and Philip Campbell -- state:
Most biologists take for granted the idea that all life evolved by natural selection over billions of years. They get on with researching and teaching in disciplines that rest squarely on that foundation, secure in the knowledge that natural selection is a fact, in the same way that the Earth orbits the Sun is a fact. Given that the concepts and realities of Darwinian evolution are still challenged, albeit rarely by biologists, a succinct briefing on why evolution by natural selection is an empirically validated principle is useful for people to have to hand. We offer here 15 examples published by Nature over the past decade or so to illustrate the breadth, depth and power of evolutionary thinking. We are happy to offer this resource freely and encourage its free dissemination.
The 15 examples are as follows:
Gems from the fossil record
1 Land-living ancestors of whales
2 From water to land
3 The origin of feathers
4 The evolutionary history of teeth
5 The origin of the vertebrate skeleton
Gems from habitats
6 Natural selection in speciation
7 Natural selection in lizards
8 A case of co-evolution
9 Differential dispersal in wild birds
10 Selective survival in wild guppies
11 Evolutionary history matters
Gems from molecular processes
12 Darwin's Galapagos finches
13 Microevolution meets macroevolution
14 Toxin resistance in snakes and clams
15 Variation versus stability
For a detailed account of these 15 examples, see: www.nature.com/evolutiongems
