Science Education

Topeka, KS — Discovery President Bruce Chapman, and CSC senior fellow, Jonathan Wells, answered questions from the media at a Topeka news conference today.

Not so surprisingly, after meeting with the media, there are two accurate and balanced news reports about the coming debate over evolution in Kansas (AP story here and Wichita Eagle story here).

According to a recent Prentice Hall biology textbook, a few centuries ago ‘very light-skinned’ people, shipwrecked on a tropical island, became “dark-skinned” after “many years under the tropical sun.”

But as Pamela R. Winnick at the Weekly Standard explains, this is nonsense, one of many examples of junk science in our high school science textbooks:

There’s lots that’s puzzling about the science textbooks used in American classrooms. A sloppy way with facts, a preference for the politically correct over the scientifically sound, and sheer faddism characterize their content. It’s as if their authors had decided above all not to expose students to the intellectual rigor that is the lifeblood of science.

TOPEKA, KS — The Kansas State Board of Education is revising the state’s science standards. This week a board sub-committee will hear testimony from two dozen scientists and scholars about how evolution should be presented in the classroom.

The Topeka Capital Journal last weekend published a very helpful Q&A on the hearings.

Earlier this week, the website www.kansasscience2005.com disclosed an incredible internet post from an official with Kansas Citizens for Science, the group trying to prevent the inclusion of scientific criticisms of Darwin’s theory in the Kansas Science Standards. On February 10, Liz Craig (identified in this article as “a spokeswoman for Kansas Citizens for Science”) outlined her group’s outrageous disinformation plan for the newsmedia covering the Kansas science standards debate. Rather than talk about science, Ms. Craig described how she plans to use the newsmedia to smear and demonize anyone who opposes her group’s agenda: My strategy at this point is the same as it was in 1999: notify the national and local media about what’s going on and portray them Read More ›

Today’s Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article claiming that students are starting to question Darwin in science classes. Imagine that! Students are so interested in the subject they are actually asking teachers questions about it. The article features information about the Coldwater Media video Icons of Evolution, and it even lists the suggested questions to ask biology teachers drafted by biologist Jonathan Wells. Note the stock response of Darwinists in the story who apparently think having students ask questions in class is disruptive (!) and who claim that asking questions about Darwin is tantamount to injecting religion into the classroom. But, as the article clearly shows, the questions being raised about Darwin focus on science, not religion. Are Darwinists Read More ›

If you want to see how bad major media coverage can be, check out this over-the-top story filed by the British news agency Reuters. Titled “Evolution on trial as Kansas debates Adam vs Darwin,” the story starts off with the following gross misrepresentation of the Kansas hearings: More than two dozen witnesses will give testimony and be subject to cross-examination, with the majority expected to argue against teaching evolution. As pointed out previously on this blog, the scientists who will testify in Kansas are not going to argue against the teaching of evolution. They are going to argue for presenting students with scientific criticisms of Darwin’s theory as well as the evidence favoring the theory. Contrary to the fanciful reporting Read More ›

The biased record of NPR’s “Science Friday” continues unabated with last week’s

National Geographic News is running a fair and balanced article about intelligent design and the debate over how to teach evolution. Unlike many journalists, the author of this piece defines intelligent design correctly:

Intelligent-design theory states that certain features of the natural world are of such complexity that the most plausible explanation is that they are products of an intelligent cause rather than random mutation and natural selection. Supporters of the theory say the nature of the intelligent cause is outside the scope of the theory.

The writer also quotes me correctly and accurately describes Discovery Institute’s position on how evolution should be taught:

The National Center for Science Education has finally acknowledged the libel lawsuit filed against its director Eugenie Scott for statements she made in a recent article about California parent and attorney Larry Caldwell. In a brief posting on its website, the NCSE states that it “believes the lawsuit against Dr. Scott has no merit.” But the NCSE continues to engage in stonewalling by failing to address any of the specifics of Caldwell’s complaint. As first reported on this blog, Scott claimed that Caldwell was trying to inject the teaching of creationism into his school district. To be specific, she stated that he tried to get his school board to adopt two prominent creationist books as part of the school district Read More ›

After asking Eugenie Scott to stop spreading falsehoods about him but getting no response, parent Larry Caldwell has filed a libel lawsuit against both Scott and her group, the National Center for Science Education. Below is the text of a press release issued today by Caldwell about the suit: