NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2018/06/15
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2018-06-15 19:48.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Colorado adopts a new set of state science standards, complete with climate change. But the treatment of climate change in Michigan's social studies standards is under attack. Meanwhile, the creationist resolution in Louisiana briefly resurfaced.
NEW COLORADO SCIENCE STANDARDS INCLUDE CLIMATE CHANGE The Colorado state board of education voted to adopt a new set of state science standards on June 13, 2018, despite opposition from members of the board who "disliked the way the standards treated climate change as a real phenomenon," according to Chalkbeat (June 14, 2018). Based in part on the National Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education, on which the Next Generation Science Standards are also based, the new standards recognize, at both the middle school and the high school level, the impact of human activities on the global climate system. In contrast, the previous standards were "pretty wishy-washy" on climate change, as NCSE's Glenn Branch told the Aurora Sentinel in 2017. By way of example, he cited the inclusion of the word "might" in a standard reading, "Human actions such as burning fossil fuels might impact Earth's climate." The new standards received "overwhelming support ... from science teachers" in Colorado, according to Chalkbeat. Voting to accept the new standards were Val Flores, Jane Goff, Rebecca McClellan, and Angelika Schroeder; voting against were Steve Durham, Joyce Rankin, and Debora Scheffel. For the story from Chalkbeat, visit: https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2018/06/14/colorado-adopts-new-science-standards-that-focus-on-inquiry-not-memorization/ For the new standards (PDF), visit: https://www.boarddocs.com/co/cde/Board.nsf/files/AZFPKR6125EB/$file/Science%20-%20CAS%20-%20Spring%202018%20Committee%20Recommendations.pdf For the story in the Aurora Sentinel, visit: https://www.sentinelcolorado.com/news/metro/teachers-pest-handling-global-warming-classroom-heats/ And for NCSE's previous coverage on events in Colorado, visit: https://ncse.com/news/colorado ATTACK ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN MICHIGAN'S SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS References to climate change, among other topics, have been removed from a draft of Michigan's new proposed social studies standards by "a cadre of conservatives," according to a report from Bridge magazine (June 12, 2018). Particularly salient was the removal of the impact of global climate change as a suggested "Contemporary Investigation Topic" in the standards (p. 44) for sixth grade, although climate change is still mentioned there as a possible example. According to Bridge, the cadre of conservatives was led by state senator Patrick Colbeck (R-District 7), who previously offered comments on the standards arguing that climate change is "not settled science." The standards are not yet final, however; public comment on the standards will be accepted at a series of public meetings around the state and also on-line until June 30, 2018. The final decision will be taken by the state board of education. For the story from Bridge magazine, visit: https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/history-gets-conservative-twist-michigan-social-studies-standards For the draft standards (PDF), visit: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/SS_May_2018_Cut_Cap_Final_622356_7.pdf For the on-line comment form, visit: https://fs28.formsite.com/pf98Hd/form7/index.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Michigan, visit: https://ncse.com/news/michigan LOUISIANA'S CREATIONIST RESOLUTION REDUX Senate Concurrent Resolution 17, introduced in the Louisiana Senate on May 29, 2018, would, if passed, have commended a former state senator "on his support and endorsement of teaching creationism in public schools." The resolution would have honored Bill Keith, who sponsored Louisiana's Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act while serving in the state senate in 1981. The law was subsequently overturned as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court's decision in Edwards v. Aguillard in 1987. It remains on the books, however. As NCSE previously reported, there have been three unsuccessful legislative attempts, most recently in 2016, to repeal it. SCR 17, filed in the Second Extraordinary Session for 2018, is similar to SR 33, filed in the Regular Session for 2018. Interestingly, though, where SR 33 claimed, "Keith's legislation did not require or allow instruction in any religious doctrine," SR 17 claims instead, "Keith courageously advocated for the view that the Biblical belief that God created the entire world and human life should be taught in Louisiana's schools." SR 33 died when the legislative session adjourned in May 2018. Similarly, SCR 17 died when the Second Extraordinary Session adjourned on June 4, 2018. A Third Extraordinary Session convenes on June 18, 2018. The chief sponsor of SCR 17 (and of SR 33 before it) was John Milkovich (D-District 38). For the text of Louisiana's Senate Concurrent Resolution 17 (PDF), visit: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1101739 For the text of Louisiana's Senate Resolution 33 (PDF), visit: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1077093 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Louisiana, visit: https://ncse.com/news/louisiana WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Stephanie Keep discussing NOVA's Decoding the Weather Machine: https://ncse.com/blog/2018/06/nova-takes-climate-change-0018761 For NCSE's blog, visit: https://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. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com https://ncse.com Check out NCSE's blog: https://ncse.com/blog Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: https://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse https://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd https://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! https://ncse.com/join
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