NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/10/03
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-10-03 14:41.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, NCSE's Rosenau and McCaffrey contribute a column on climate change in social studies textbooks to Texas's largest newspaper. Plus a new issue of Reports of the NCSE and a new member of NCSE's board.
NCSE'S ROSENAU AND MCCAFFREY IN THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE NCSE's Josh Rosenau and Mark McCaffrey were invited by theHouston Chronicle (September 30, 2014) to discuss the controversy over the treatment of climate science in social studies textbooks now under consideration by the Texas state board of education. "Today, climate change isn't just a scientific issue," they explained: "critical debates about our response to climate change belong in textbooks covering civics, economics, history and geography, rooted in the social and political context while always informed by accurate science." "Unfortunately, many of the social studies textbooks under consideration simply ignore climate change, depriving students of the tools they'll need to become tomorrow's leaders," they continued. "But there's a problem that publishers and the board can solve today: the factual errors in the books that cover climate change. Most egregiously, several of these books claim that there is active dispute among scientists about the primary cause of climate change. That's simply wrong." Previously, NCSE and the Texas Freedom Network announced in a joint press release that "an examination of how proposed social studies textbooks for Texas public schools address climate change reveals distortions and bias that misrepresent the broad scientific consensus on the phenomenon." A number of errors about climate science were present, as well as a quotation from a notorious climate change denial organization presented in rebuttal of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Rosenau and McCaffrey concluded, "Tomorrow's Texans will have big decisions to make -- in deciding how to confront rising seas and declining freshwater, in choosing between the fuels of the future and those of the past, in creating new businesses and new kinds of jobs in the new world ahead. Social studies classrooms and textbooks are the perfect place to explore those questions and to prepare our students to build the future they deserve." The Texas state board of education is expected to make a decision on the textbooks in November 2014. For Rosenau and McCaffrey's column, visit: http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Rosenau-McCaffrey-Climate-change-debate-belongs-5792366.php For the press release from NCSE and the Texas Freedom Network, visit: http://ncse.com/climate/proposed-texas-textbooks-distort-climate-change-facts And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Texas, visit: http://ncse.com/news/texas RNCSE 34:5 NOW ON-LINE NCSE is pleased to announce that the latest issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education is now available on-line.The issue -- volume 34, number 5 -- contains William D. Anderson's "Evolution in the Sunshine State: Brandon Haught's Going Ape," Gregory Sandstrom's "Programming College Students with 'Intelligent Design' Ideology," and David E. Seidemann's "How to Determine Earth's Age: A Small Correction and a Big Lesson for The New York Times." And for his regular People and Places column, Randy Moore discusses the ornithologist David Lack. Plus a host of reviews of books on creationism: Leah Ceccarelli reviews Thomas M. Lessl's Rhetorical Darwinism, Kevin Padian reviews Cyrille Baudouin and Olivier Brosseau's Enquête sur les Créationnismes, Carlos A. Quintana reviews Evoluzionismo: Il Tramonto di una Ipotesi, Laurel Saiz reviews Lauren Grodstein's The Explanation for Everything, Adam R. Shapiro reviews Edward Caudill's Intelligently Designed, and George Webb reviews Adam R. Shapiro's Trying Biology. All of these articles, features, and reviews are freely available in PDF form from http://reports.ncse.com. Members of NCSE will shortly be receiving in the mail the print supplement to Reports 34:5, which, in addition to summaries of the on-line material, contains news from the membership, a regular column in which NCSE staffers offer personal reports on what they've been doing to defend the teaching of evolution, a regular column interviewing NCSE's favorite people, and more besides. (Not a member? Join today!) For the table of contents for RNCSE 34:5, visit: http://reports.ncse.com/index.php/rncse/issue/current/showToc For information about joining NCSE, visit: http://ncse.com/join HAAS JOINS NCSE BOARD NCSE is pleased to announce the addition of Michael Haas, a businessman, entrepreneur, and climate activist, to its board of directors. "In the fight with climate change, knowledge is power," Haas explained. "But too many students are not learning what they need to know about climate change and the solutions. That's why I'm pleased to join NCSE's board of directors and to support its diverse efforts to defend the integrity of science education." NCSE's executive director Ann Reid commented, "With climate change denial still prevalent in our country, and especially with recent attacks on climate science education in states such as Michigan, Texas, and Wyoming, it's clear that NCSE's work is needed now more than ever." She added, "Thanks to Haas's vision and passion for climate science education, I feel renewed confidence that we will be able to continue our efforts to defend the teaching of climate science as well as the teaching of evolution." Brian Alters, the president of NCSE's board of directors, was also enthusiastic. "The business community is beginning to wake up to the fact that the fate of the economy is linked to the fate of the environment," he commented. "But what Michael Haas understands -- for which he deserves great credit -- is that both are linked to the fate of science education, because it's the next generation that needs to be equipped to face the challenge of climate change." Haas is the founder of Orion Renewable Energy Group LLC and the co-founder of RDC Developments Ltd., companies that help to meet the growing worldwide demand for low-cost non-polluting renewable energy. He is also the founder of Alliance for Climate Education, a non-profit organization that presents climate change and solutions to millions of high school students, putting young people at the center of the story and giving every student a chance to take action. On NCSE's board of directors Haas joins president Brian Alters of Chapman University, vice president and treasurer Lorne Trottier of Matrox, secretary Robert M. West of Informal Learning Experiences, Francisco J. Ayala of the University of California, Irvine, Barbara Forrest of Southeastern Louisiana University, Richard B. Katskee of Mayer Brown LLP, and Benjamin D. Santer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. For information about NCSE's board of directors, visit: http://ncse.com/about/board WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Stephanie Keep explaining that evolution happens to populations: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/misconception-monday-no-one-is-evolutionary-island-0015895 * Ann Reid reviewing the evolution of antibiotic resistance: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-youand-your-neighbor-0015883 * Glenn Branch pondering the inside-out earth of Koreshanity: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/inside-out-round-part-1-0015891 http://ncse.com/blog/2014/09/inside-out-round-part-2-0015892 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x303 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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