Jones

Jonathan Jones Jacobs Enc 1101 4/12/14 The Teaching of Biological Evolution in Public Schools Public Schools are faced with the issue of which method of human origins to teach in science classrooms toda ! The main issues with the teaching of Biological Evolution stems from religious belief and disbelief in the theor or doubt in its validit ! "ather than arguing its #osition in our societ $ one should concern themselves with the benefits of teaching the theor of Biological Evolution #ublicl and the disadvantages to the o##osed views of either teaching origins science or %ntelligent &esign! 'rigins science$ also (nown as )reationism$ is the belief that the Boo( of *enesis is a literal account of the events that conceived our universe and the laws that govern it as well as e+#lain the origin of humans and other animal (inds! This belief is an e+tremel archaic in nature as it was originall develo#ed b the writing of *enesis thousands of ears ago! , more modern theor that does not necessaril dismiss )reationism is (nown as the theor of %ntelligent &esign! %ntelligent &esign describes a theor in which the universe and its vast com#le+ities must have been created b some sort of designer although who that designer is ma not necessaril be a god! These two theories ma be different in content$ but the are both in o##osition to the theor of Biological Evolution! The theor of Evolution is based on )harles &arwin-s observations of the hereditar similarities between s#ecies that has been refined to an e+tremel well su##orted wor(ing model that is used universall throughout the scientific communit ! The theor stresses that all

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living things$ regardless of their a##earance$ are related and originated from one common ancestor! The diversit and variet seen toda is contributed to a single ancestor-s genetic code mutation over billions of ears! .aced with the decision of choosing which method of origins should be taught$ #ublic schools will find that the theor of Biological Evolution to be most advantageous for science students as o##osed to alternate theories as it is widel acce#ted in the scientific communit $ has the abilit to attain re#eatable results$ and will #re#are students for the global com#etition of academia! .irstl $ &arwin-s theor is widel acce#ted b the scientific communit to be as close to scientific fact as a theor can be! This is due to its function as a /unif ing theor that underlies all the life sciences0 12)SE 3 4h Teach Evolution56! This Theor has been a #latform for which biologists have been able to activel research$ ma(e #redictions and get answers for over 140 ears! .or these reasons$ Biological Evolution is widel acce#ted b the scientific communit ! The theor allows for #redictions to be made and testable 7uestions to #roduce answers$ which is something that the alternate learning methods lac(! Biological Evolution is based in scientific fact that can be tested and is re#eatable$ unli(e the alternate theories of origins that are based in s#eculation and archaic accounts of unseen events! To teach science students either %ntelligent &esign or )reationism would rob them of a usable method for scientific e+#loration that is widel acce#ted! 2ot onl this$ but if students where to miss out on Evolution and were taught false sciences that do not allow for #rediction or scientific in7uir $ then student-s idea of what science is and the #ur#ose of it would be s(ewed to thin( that science can be sim#le words that em#til e+#lain #henomena without the need for scientific testing or re#eatabilit !

Jones ,lso$ because Biological Evolution is universall acce#ted through the scientific communit $ in order to have a career in an sort of branch of life sciences$ one must understand the theor and its im#lications! 2ot understanding Biological Evolution will leave students at a large disadvantage through college and their career if the #lan to do #ersue an thing involving the life sciences! %f an student wishes to wor( as an thing as varied as a #harmacist to a bioengineer$ the must understand the fundamental theor of the life sciences! %f one were to thin( of the advantages and disadvantages on a more global scale$ e+amining that most other first world counties on the frontier of biological discover all teach Biological Evolution in their #ublic school and (ee# onl secular materials in science classrooms$ one can assume if the a civili8ed countr were to not allow Biological Evolution to be taught at #ublic schools then their students would fall behind in the global com#etition for discover ! %f the #ur#ose of entr level #ublic

education is to teach materials that are relevant and #re#are students to #ursue a future in academia and to hel# local students flourish educationall on a global scale$ then teaching the modern and widel acce#ted theor of Biological Evolution would benefit #ublic school students greatl ! ,lthough some advocates for origin sciences and %ntelligent &esign debate that Biological Evolution is onl a theor and is not factual so it should not be taught in #ublic schools$ this solution would not be beneficial to the students of the #ublic schools! Jose#h Ba(er sates that$ /e+#erimental research has found that conservative religious identit inhibits the internali8ation of information about evolution0! Because individuals have a strong religious stance$ the are less li(el to consider the teachings of evolution at all 1Ba(er6! , lac( of understanding of a to#ic does not ma(e that to#ic fictional or

Jones arbitrar ! The issue of teaching Evolution in #ublic schools cannot be solve through ignorance of the theor ! %f all #arties full understood Biological Evolution as a theor and all of the tremendous amounts of e+#eriments and evidence that bac( it u#$ then the issue would not be argued through biased e es but through factual arguments #lanted in truth! The teaching of Biological Evolution would allow an #ublic school student to understand the theor in its entiret and be given e+am#les as to wh the theor is valid!

%f one was given all of the information available on Biological Evolution and still decided to not believe in the theor and where to choose and alternate form of belief in the origins of human and animal s#ecies$ then that #erson would have loo(ed at the argument from all sides and has made a decision not based in ignorance! Students will not be able to ma(e educated decisions based in science and fact if their means of gaining scientific (nowledge are inhibited through a veil of o#inionated #ro#aganda! The validit and benefits of 'rigin Science or )reationism are ver s(e#tical as it seems to be an issue of faith rather than fact! %n the boo( of *enesis$ it states that *od of ,braham created the heavens and earth in si+ da s! Based on the same boo( ta(en literall as a historical account of actual events that trans#ired in our universe as o##osed to fables #assed down through word of mouth that were eventuall written down b men with biases and #ersonal agendas thousands of ears after these events trans#ired$ it can assumed that the earth is onl around si+ thousand ears old! ,lso$ in the stor of 2oah and the great flood$ it is stated that 2oah gathered u# ever s#ecies of animal in the world and #ut them on a shi# he built himself with his uns(illed famil that had to be large enough to hold all of the animal as well as sta afloat during a global flood! These %deas are based in fables and in faith and would not benefit students or the scientific

Jones communit as a whole if these ideas became acce#ted in the mainstream! Similarl $

%ntelligent &esign describes a universe that has been hand crafted b an omniscient being to account for the com#le+it of the universe! This ma not directl contradict Biological Evolution as a theor $ but it is still a matter of faith as there is not testable data to su##ort the beliefs or %ntelligent &esign! 4ithout testable and re#eatable results$ it would not benefit science students to learn it$ as science is based in valid h #otheses and reliable data based in fact! %n summation$ the theor of Biological Evolution is much more beneficial to #ublic school students as it is the basis for which a lot of the scientific communit wor(s and acts as an e+am#le of a scientific theor that is based in re#eatable data and research! )ontraril $ alternate teachings of the origins of life are detrimental to science students as it creates a non:e+am#le amongst scientific facts that the must (now and without the (nowledge of Biological Evolution$ #ublic school students would be at a disadvantage in the scientific communities both locall and internationall !

Jones 4or( )ited Ba(er$ Jose#h '! <,cce#tance of Evolution and Su##ort for Teaching )reationism in Public Schools= The )onditional %m#act of Educational ,ttainment!< Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)! 2!#!$ n!d! 4eb! ; ,#r! 2014! <&arwin>s Theor 'f Evolution!< Darwin's Theory Of Evolution! 2!#!$ n!d! 4eb! ; ,#r! 2014! Petto$ ,ndrew J!$ Ph!&! <4h Teach Evolution5< 4eblog #ost! ncse! 2!#!$ n!d! 4eb! 2 ,#r! 2014! "eference Engber$ &aniel! <)reationism vs! %ntelligent &esign!< Slate ?aga8ine! 2!#!$ n!d! 4eb! ,#r! 2014!