NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/11/07
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-11-07 16:35.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Ohio's antiscience bill is passed by a committee. Efforts to ban creationism from Scotland's public schools are under way. And a preview of Niles Eldredge's Extinction and Evolution.
OHIO'S ANTISCIENCE BILL PROGRESSES Ohio's House Bill 597 -- which if enacted would require students in the state's public schools to "review, in an objective manner, the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories in the [state science] standards" -- was passed on a 7-2 vote by the House Rules and Reference committee on November 5, 2014, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (November 5, 2014). As NCSE previously reported, HB 597, aimed primarily at eliminating Common Core, also contained a provision requiring the state's science standards to "prohibit political or religious interpretation of scientific facts in favor of another." A sponsor of the bill, Andy Thompson (R-District 95), explained that local school districts would be allowed to teach creationism along with evolution and global warming denial alongside climate science. The objectionable provision was removed in committee, but it was replaced with the "strengths and weaknesses" language, familiar from antiscience bills across the country. NCSE's deputy director Glenn Branch commented, "If the sponsors of the bill are trying to reassure the public that they're not trying to open the classroom door to creationism, climate change denial, and pseudoscience of all kinds, they're not doing a good job." After the committee's passage of the bill, Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-District 26), who voted against HB 597, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that she doubted that the bill would progress further. Although the committee's vote was on party lines, with Republicans uniformly supporting the bill, "[s]he said there is little support for it from Republican leaders in the Ohio Senate and she doubts there are enough votes for it in the House as a whole." For information about Ohio's House Bill 597 from the legislature, visit: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_597 For the story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, visit: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/bill_to_kill_the_common_core_w.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Ohio, visit: http://ncse.com/news/ohio BANNING CREATIONISM IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS? A petition calling on the Scottish government to ban creationism from Scottish public schools is to receive a hearing in the Scottish parliament on November 11, 2014. Filed on behalf of the Scottish Secular Society, the petition asks the parliament "to bar the presentation in Scottish publicly funded schools of separate creation and of Young Earth doctrines as viable alternatives to the established science of evolution, common descent, and deep time," adding, "Nothing in this request precludes the discussion of such doctrines in their proper place, as part of the study of ideas, neither does it nor can it infringe on individual freedom of belief." Such a ban is in place elsewhere in the United Kingdom. In 2007, as NCSE previously reported, the Department for Children, Schools, and Families in England issued a statement explaining that creationism and "intelligent design" are not legitimate scientific theories and "therefore do not form part of the science National Curriculum programmes of study." Subsequent actions by the government added evolution to the national curriculum at the primary level and required that free schools and church academies in England -- the equivalent of charter schools in the United States -- teach evolution and not creationism. As the Glasgow Herald (August 30, 2014) reported, the petition to enact a similar ban in Scotland was endorsed by three Nobel laureates, Harold Kroto, Richard Roberts, and John Sulston. Roberts commented, "This is really an important issue. One should be teaching facts to children, not religion." A spokesperson for the Scottish government, however, replied, "Teachers, head teachers and professional educationalists decide what is taught in Scotland's schools. This longstanding tradition that politicians should not determine the curriculum is highly valued and remains a cornerstone of Scottish education." Part of the impetus for the petition was recent creationist incursions into the Scottish classroom. In 2013, for example, as the Telegraph (September 13, 2013) reported, it was discovered that a school chaplain in East Kilbride distributed creationist literature calling evolution a myth. The petitioners fear that such incidents may have been just the tip of the iceberg. As the Reverend Michael Roberts, writing on behalf of the British Centre for Science Education, told the parliament, "It is almost impossible to determine the extent to which such creationism has influenced classroom teaching." "NCSE applauds the effort to ensure that students in Scotland can learn science without the interference of creationists," NCSE's executive director Ann Reid commented. "It's entirely appropriate for the government to ensure that science and only science is taught in the science classroom. Without official guidance from the Scottish government, the risk is that schools will fail to present evolution to their students altogether, or present it alongside a pseudoscientific alternative such as 'creation science' or 'intelligent design,' or fail to present it forthrightly -- as happens all too often in the United States." For the petition (PDF) and related documents, visit: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/gettinginvolved/petitions/petitionPDF/PE01530.pdf http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/gettinginvolved/petitions/creationismguidance For NCSE's coverage of the cited events in England, visit: http://ncse.com/news/2007/02/guidance-creationism-british-teachers-001170 http://ncse.com/news/2012/06/evolution-coming-early-to-england-007448 http://ncse.com/news/2012/11/closing-creationist-loophole-britain-0014651 For the story in the Glasgow Herald, visit: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/nobel-laureates-ban-creationism-in-scottish-schools.25189508 For the story in the Telegraph, visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10307520/Head-teachers-removed-in-row-over-creationist-church.html For Michael Roberts's comments (PDF), visit: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_PublicPetitionsCommittee/General%20Documents/PE1530_B_British_Centre_for_Science_Education_17.10.14.pdf And for NCSE's previous coverage of events outside the United States, visit: http://ncse.com/news/international A PREVIEW OF EXTINCTION AND EVOLUTION NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of Niles Eldredge's Extinction and Evolution: What Fossils Reveal about the History of Life (Firefly, 2014). The preview consists of the first pages of chapter 6, "Extinction," in which Eldredge explains, "Extinction is not news to a paleontologist. It is a fact of life ... One can't understand evolution, really, without understanding extinction." Extinction and Evolution was praised by Donald C. Johanson as "a splendidly illustrated and thoughtfully constructed account of one of the greatest ideas ever conceived by the human mind -- evolution." A curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History and a prolific author, Eldredge is a member of NCSE's Advisory Council and a recipient of its Friend of Darwin award. For the preview of Extinction and Evolution (PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/book-excerpt For information about the book from its publisher, visit: http://www.fireflybooks.com/index.php/catalogue/adult-books/nature-and-science/dinosaurs/product/11009-extinction-and-evolution-what-fossils-reveal-about-the-history-of-life 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: * Ann Reid lamenting Buzz Aldrin's reported climate change denial: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/10/buzz-say-it-aint-so-0015961 * Josh Rosenau pondering science education in the wake of the recent election: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/11/election-aftermath-science-education-0015970 * Mark McCaffrey exploring the effectiveness of the Alliance for Climate Education: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/11/climate-shift-0015964 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
» 3103 reads
