Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

We all know what a miracle is. .... Be explicit about steps 1 and 3 so we all know what we are talking about.

I plead guilty to a blind faith in your Christian charms.

. . . sternly worded reminder by Setanta of our obligation towards fellow posters to "get a room"

Thank you so much - yes, that's the one. I hope it doesn't vanish, as copyrighted content tends to do after a while. Did you get it here?
http://www.sciencecartoonsplus.com/pages/gallery.php

I hate it when people quote that gobshite, there 's a danger that i might actually read something the old dypsomaniac wrote.

"Einstein was very passionate about his pipe smoking.

Rocks part of new science standard
(By Joe Dejka, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, October 6, 2010)

New Nebraska school science standards are now chiseled in stone: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.

The standards for Nebraska public schools, which were adopted on a 7-0 vote Wednesday, are similar to those they replaced. But they do contain a new requirement that middle school students learn the rock cycle — the process by which rocks are formed, dissolved and re-formed.

“I don't know how they got left out of the old standards,” said Jim Woodland, director of science education for the Nebraska Department of Education.

Teachers reviewed the old standards and realized the rock cycle wasn't specifically mentioned, he said.

Officials say the new standards align well to the ACT college entrance test and are better organized to make them easier for teachers to understand and use.

The standards lay out what children should learn between kindergarten and high school graduation. Public schools in Nebraska must adopt the standards, or more rigorous ones, or risk losing accreditation.

“I think we have a serious set of standards here we can truly be pleased to adopt,” State Board member Bob Evnen of Lincoln said Wednesday.

The standards cover essential scientific concepts and theories ranging from the Big Bang Theory to evolution, cellular biology, nuclear reactions, physics and scientific inquiry. They call upon high school students to be able to describe the theory of evolution and apply it to explain the diversity of life over time.

Next spring, the state will pilot a new statewide science test based on the standards. The multiple-choice test will be implemented in 2012 in grades 5, 8 and 11. Woodland said he expects that districts adopting the standards will do so next summer.

This winter, state officials plan to develop a sample science curriculum, based on the standards, to help schools plan their classroom instruction.

To ensure the quality of the standards, Nebraska officials enlisted Nebraska science teachers to review them. At the national level, the standards were reviewed by Achieve, an organization working with states to develop science education standards according to a framework developed by the National Research Council.

Nebraska officials also had the standards reviewed by David Heil & Associates of Portland, Ore., a consulting firm, and by ACT, which produces the popular college entrance exam. ACT examined how well the standards included what's on their test.

“They lined up really well,” Woodland said.

The standards fall under four general headings: Inquiry and the nature of science, physical science, life science and earth-space science.

State officials tried to write the standards to better clarify what should be taught at the various school levels: primary, middle and senior high.

For instance, Woodland said, students in third through fifth grades should know that light goes in a straight line and can be reflected by a mirror. Students aren't expected to master the concept of light refraction or scattering until middle school. They won't learn until high school that light behaves as a wave.

The standards hold teachers accountable for teaching certain concepts at certain grade levels, he said. However, teachers should have some time left after covering required concepts to deviate a little into their own areas of interest, he said.

“We wrote our standards recognizing that we only want to occupy about 80 percent of the classroom time, and still allow that teacher to do a teachable moment,” Woodland said. “If there's an eclipse going on this week, then maybe they want to talk about eclipses.”

The new standards will be reviewed again in five years.