Case Studies in Earth & Environmental Science Journalism

Evolution, Creationism & Curriculum.

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Schedule

Session 1: Evolution and Creationism, in general.

Session 2:

1999 Kansas decision to remove evolution from state education standards
2002 Debate on introducing Intelligent Design into Ohio state education
standards

Session 3: Guest Scientist: O. Roger Anderson, Lamont & Teachers College.


Questions to Ponder and Discuss

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Readings

Background information:

Genesis, 1-11, The Bible.

Darwin, Charles, The Origin of the Species, Introduction;  Chapter 4, Natural Selection; and Chapter 14, Recapitulation and Conclusion.

Purrington, Colin and Felix Sockwell, The descent of dissent, from www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1, accessed March 15, 2007.

Scott, Eugenie, The creation/evolution continuum, National Center for Science Education, December 7, 2000.

National Center for Science Education, Links to Further Readings. Accessed March 10, 2007.

“Misconceptions about Evolution” from University of California Museum of Paleontology Understanding Evolution website, Accessed March 12, 2007.

DeWolf, David, and Seth Cooper, Teaching about evolution in the public schools: A short summary of the law, Discovery Institute, June 20, 2006.

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Technical Articles concerning aspects of Creationism

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World-wide Web Materials: General Evolution/Creation

Selected Readings from:

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Teaching of Evolution/Creationism in General: Popular Writings

Creation Ex Nihilo magazine, March-May 1996 issue, selected articles:

     • Grand Canyon: Monument to the world-wide Flood

     • Volcanoes Surprise Message: Rocks do not take millions of years to form

     • The case of the 31 Iguandons

     • Weird and Wonderful Clownfish

     • God doesn’t need TIME

     • Ernst Haeckle: Evangelist for evolution and apostle of deceit., by Russell Grigg

Working Group on Teaching Evolution, 1998.  Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science, National Academy Press, Washington DC.  Chapter 1, Why Teach Evolution?

The Why Files: Can Science Conquer Kansas, posted 27 Sept. 1999.  http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/095evolution

Scott, Eugenie, 1999.  The 'Science and Religion Movement'.  Skeptical Inquirer, 29-31.

Wright, Robert, 1999. The accidental creationist: Why Stephen Jay Gould is bad for Evolution.  The New Yorker,  56-65.

Chang, Kenneth, 1999. Evolutionary Beliefs, What American’s Believe, ABC News, August 16, 1999. 

Glanz, James, 2000,  Survey Finds Support is Strong for teaching 2 Origin Theories, The New York Times, March 11, 2000, A1, A10.

Stern, Gary, 2000, What We Believe: Survey of Rockland, Westchester and Putnam residents find faith, tolerance strong.  Rockland Journal News,  April 26, 2000, A1.

Lin, Johnny Wei-Bing, 2000.  Forum: teaching Evolution, the Kansas Board of Education, and the Democratization of Science, EOS, 81(34):382-387.

Applegate, David.  2000.  The Evolution debate: Evolution Grades for the States.  Geotimes, December 2000, 20-21.

Fountain, J. W.  2001.  Kansas Puts Evolution Back Into Public Schools.  The New York Times, February 15, 2001, A18.

Doyle, Rodger, 2002.  Down with evolution!: Creationists are changing state educational standards.  Scientific American, p. 30.

Goodnough, Abby. 2004.  Darwin - Free fun for creationists. NY Times, May 1st, 2004.

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Kansas Decision: Popular Articles from the local press

Harris, W., May 4, 1999, Scientific facts do not support theory of evolution, Kansas City Star.

English, J. May 5, 1999,  Public schools should avoid 'creation science', Kansas City Star.

Beem, K. May 9, 1999,  At odds over education: Kansas reflects nation's struggle over school control, Kansas City Star, p.A1.

Krishtalka, L., June 8, 1999. Yokel's approach to science,  Lawrence Journal-World.

Beem, K., August 9, 1999, New plan softens evolution standards. Kansas City Star: B1-B2.

Carroll, D., August 12, 1999, Evolution question left to schools,  Kansas City StarA1, A12.

Detweiler, J., August 12, 1999, Local school districts: Evolution stays. Manhattan Mercury: Manhattan Kansas,  p.  A1, 3.

Appino, S., August 12, 1999,  Coffman: Change may hurt students. Manhattan Mercury. Manhattan, Kansas, p.  A1.

Editorial, August 13, 1999,  Evolution blunder opens Kansas to ridicule. Kansas City Star, p.  B6.

Sullinger, J., August 13, 1999, The quiet man in the middle of the Kansas evolution controversy, Kansas City Star.

Kurche, J., August 24, 1999,  de-emphasizing education: Creationism classification create credibility problems in Kansas' education system, KSU Collegian.

Seba, E.. Sept. 9, 1999,  Evangelist preaches evolution, Lawrence Journal-World.

Diuguid, L.,  Sept. 9,  1999, Those rebellious Kansans, Kansas City Star.

Long, H., Sept. 10, 1999,  An evolving argument, Kansas City Star.

Letters to the Editor,  Sept. 11, 1999,  Media pulpit for deception/Evolution dispute is real,  Kansas City Star.

Krishtalka, L., Sept. 11, 1999,  Kansas schools must demand real science, Lawrence Journal-World, p.7B.

Anonymous, 2007, Evolution returns to Kansas, National Center for Science Education, February 14, 2007.

Hanna, John, 2007, Science Standards Evolve Again, Lawrence Journal World, LJWorld.com, February 14, 2007.

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Kansas Decisions: Popular Articles from the national press

Rosin, H., August 8, 1999,  Creationism Evolves, Washington Post, p.A1, A22.

Belluck, P., August 12, 1999,  Board for Kansas deletes evolution from curriculum, New York Times, p.A1, A13.

Anonymous, August 13, 1999,  Willful Ignorance on Evolution, New York Times.

Anonymous, August 13, 1999,  The tree of knowledge, Philadelphia Inquirer.

Behe, M. J., August 13, 1999,  Teach Evolution: And ask hard questions, New York Times, p. Op-Ed A19.

Weingarten, G., August 14, 1999, And God Said, Let There Be Light in Kansas, Washington Post, p. C1, 3.

Johnson, G., August 15, 1999,  It's a fact: Faith and theory collide over evolution, New York Times, p. Section 4: 1, 4.

Herblock, August 15, 1999, Political Cartoon, Washington Post.

Chang, K.,  August 16, 1999,  Evolutionary Beliefs, ABC News.com, http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/evolutionviews990816.html

Johnson, Phillip E., August 16, 1999, The church of Darwin, Wall Street Journal.

Singer, M., August 18, 1999,  Believing is not understanding, Washington Post.

DeHart, R., August 20, 1999,  Classroom teaching based on science,  Skagit Valley Herald, p. WA: A4.

Gallagher, M., August 20, 1999, Don't teach creation, but don't teach science as dogma, either,  Skagit Valley Herald: WA.

Charen, M., August 20, 1999,  Creationists bark up wrong family tree. Stars & Stripes, p. Opinion, 15.

Richards, J, August 21, 1999,  Darwinism and design,  Washington Post.

Gould, S. J., August 23, 1999,  Dorothy, Its Really Oz, Time, p.59.

Hoppe, A., August 27, 1999, Creationism is for the apes, San Francisco Chronicle, p.A25.

Pollitt, K., September 20, 1999,  Weird Science,  The Nation, 9/20/99, p.10.

Larson, E. and L. Witham, 1999, Inherit an Ill Wind, The Nation,  10/4/99, 25-29.

Anonymous, December 23/30 2000,  Combating the exploiters of creationism, Nature v. 402, p. 843.

Allison, M. L.  2000, The Evolution Debate: The Politics of Education in Kansas, Geotimes, Dec. 2000, 16-17.

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Dover, Pennsylvania Background, Context & Documents

Mooney, Chris and Matthew Nisbet, 2005, Undoing Darwin: When the coverage of evolution shifts to the political and opinion pages, the scientific context falls away, Columbia Journalism Review, September/October 2005, p. 31-39.

National Center for Science Education, 2007, Defending the teaching of Evolution in the Public Schools: Events from Pennsylvania, Web News Archive, accessed March 10, 2007, http://www.ncseweb.org/

Anonymous, Poll: Creationism trumps evolution, CBS News Online, November 24, 2004.

Mapquest: Dover Map

Davis, P. and D. H. Kenyon , 1993.  Excursion Chapter Four:  The Fossil Record. In: C. B. Thaxton (Ed.), Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins. Haughton Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas, pp. 91-114.

Miller, Kenneth R.  “ Of Pandas and People:  A Brief Critique” http://www.kcfs.org/pandas.html

Matzke, Nick, 2006, ‘9.0. Matzke (2006): The story of the pandas drafts’, National Center for Science Education, accessed March 10, 2007, http://www.ncseweb.org/

US District Court, 2005, Tammy Kitzmiller et al., V. Dover Area School District: In the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Case 4:04-cv-02688-JEJ, Document 342, Filed 12/20/2005, selected pages of total 139.

West, John, 2006, Dover in Review, Discovery Institute (originally published as a blog on Evolutionnew.org Dec. 2005), January 6, 2006, p. 12.

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Dover Pennsylvania: Popular Articles

Maldonado, Joseph,  2004,  Biology book squeaked by, York Daily Record, June 15, 2004.

Maldonado, Joseph,  2004,  Book is focus of more debate, York Daily Record, August 4, 2004.

Brown, Jim, 2004, School district debates adopting Darwi-debunking text, Agape Press, October 1, 2004.

Maldonado, Joseph,  2004,  Controversial bio book allowed, York Daily Record, October 5, 2004.

Maldonado, Joseph,  2004,  Dover curriculum move likely a first, York Daily Record, October 20, 2004.

Maldonado, Joseph,  2004,  Creation debate draws in teachers, York Daily Record, October 24, 2004.

Badkhen, Anna, 2004, Anti-evolution teachings gain foothold in U. S. schools: Evangelicals see flaws in Darwinism, San Fransisco Chronicle, November 30, 2004.

Maldonado, Joseph,  2004,  Dover science faculty uneasy, York Daily Record, December 5, 2004.

Staff, 2004, Discovery calls Dover evolution policy misguided, calls for its withdrawal, Discovery Institute, December 14, 2004.

Riley, John, 2005, PA school board at the center of evolution debate, Newsday, January 14, 2005.

Banerjee, Neela, 2005, An alternative to evolution splits a Pennsylvania town, The New York Times, January 16, 2005.

Brown, Jim and Jody Brown, 2005, Intelligent design introduced in PA town while ACLU watches, Agape Press, January 24, 2005.

Orr, H. Allen, 2005, Devolution: Why intelligent design isn’t, The New Yorker, May 30, 2005.

Anonymous, 2005, Wall Street Journal – Scopes, 2005: ‘Design’ theory faces legal test, Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2005.

Anonymous, 2005, Court tackles ‘Intelligent Design’, CBSNews.com, September 26, 2005.

Lebo, Lauri, 2005, Witness: Movement’s roots in creationism, York Daily Record, October 6, 2005.

Associated Press, 2005, ‘Intelligent Design’ advocate: Evolution can’t fully explain life, FoxNews.com, October 17, 2005.

Anonymous, 2005, Expert witness sees evidence in nature for intelligent design, The New York Times, October 18, 2005.

Argento, Mike, 2005, Of Behe and mammary glands, York Daily Record, October 20, 2005.

Slack, Gordy, 2005, Intelligent designer – the chief defender of intelligent design in the Dover evolution trail insists he has science and God on his side, Solon.com, October 20, 2005.

Starr, Michelle, 2005, Intelligent design won’t vanish, York Record Daily, October 23, 2005.

Lebo, Lauri, and Michelle Staff, 2005, Witness: intelligent design needs boost, York Daily Record, October 25, 2005.

McMinn, Teresa, 2005, Facts or smear?, York Daily Record, October 27, 2005.

Lebo, Lauri, 2005, Word use still at issue, York Daily Record, October 29, 2005.

Argento, Mike, 2005, Did we mention that Dover’s clueless?, York Daily Record, November 3, 2005.

Lebo, Lauri, 2005, In the judge’s hands, York Daily Record, November 3, 2005.

Argento, Mike, 2005, It’s all about bacterial flagella, York Daily Record, November 4, 2005.

Goldstein, Laurie, 2005, Closing arguments made in trail on Intelligent Design, New York Times, November 5, 2005.

Lebo, Lauri, 2005, What makes Dover unique?, York Daily Record, November 6, 2005.

Joyce, Tom, 2005, Reality of wins still sinking in, York Daily Record, November 10, 2005.

Lebo, Lauri, 2005, Depositions refer to creationism,  York Daily Record, November 15, 2005.

Lebo, Lauri, 2005, Dover’s battle: What’s at stake during trial?, York Daily Record, November 15, 2005.

Talbot, Margaret, 2005, Darwin in the dock, The New Yorker, December 5, 2005.

Joyce, Tom, 2005, Judge: Ex-members lied in testimony, York Daily Record, December 21, 2005.

Anonymous, 2005, Intelligent design derailed, The New York Times, December 22, 2005.

Joyce, Tom, 2005, One ‘sexy geek’, York Daily Record, December 30, 2005.

Geissman, John W., ‘Intelligent Design’ Poses Continued Threat to Science, EOS Transactions American Geophysical Union, 87:1, January 3, 2006, p. 1-2.

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