NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/06/06

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear friends of NCSE,

A nice honor for NCSE's website. Wyoming scientists and educators
defend the place of climate science in the state science standards.
Plus a new poll on evolution from Gallup, a new milestone for NCSE's
Facebook page, and the introduction of evolution in middle school
classrooms in Israel.

NCSE IN THE BEST OF THE SCOUT REPORT

NCSE is proud to have been named in the Best of the Scout Report for
2014, as "the most shared resource by Scout Report readers" for the
academic year 2013-2014. "There are many free excerpts to read and
it's a fun way to trace the evolution of these popular and significant
debates," the report commented. Particularly praised were the archives
of Reports of the NCSE and Creation/Evolution.

Published by the Internet Scout Research Group, which is "focused on
developing better tools and services for finding, filtering, and
presenting online information and metadata," the weekly Scout Report,
published continuously since 1994, selects, researches, and annotates
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and humanities
resources on the Internet.

For the mention of NCSE in the Best of the Scout Report for 2014, visit:
https://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2014/scout-bestof#1

For information on the Internet Scout Research Group, visit:
https://scout.wisc.edu/

WYOMING SCIENTISTS DEFEND CLIMATE IN STANDARDS

"A group of Wyoming educators has asked state education leaders to
rethink their stance on a controversial set of science standards," the
Casper Star-Tribune (June 3, 2014) reports. As NCSE previously
reported, a footnote in Wyoming's budget for 2014-2016 precludes the
use of state funds "for any review or adoption" of the Next Generation
Science Standards, and one of its authors acknowledged that the NGSS's
treatment of climate change is a reason for the prohibition. The state
board of education subsequently decided not to implement the NGSS,
instead asking a committee to develop a new set of standards, although
reportedly without offering any guidance how to do so.

Now, in a sixteen-page-long letter, a group of forty-six "active or
retired science or mathematics educators and others interested in
science education at the University of Wyoming" is explaining in
detail to the state board of education that the "criticisms of the
NGSS do not take into account what we know about the nature of
science, the nature of scientific literacy, and how students learn
science." The letter specifically targets misconceptions presupposed
in criticisms of the NGSS, such as the ideas that theories are
conjectural or speculative, that there is a single unitary scientific
method, and that teaching  science is promoting a worldview opposed to
religion.

The Star-Tribune summarized, "The authors say the recent debate
regarding the scientific validity of climate science and how it should
be taught in Wyoming classrooms is largely semantics, and that those
who argue the state's science standards must reflect the role of
energy and agriculture in Wyoming's economy do not understand the
nature of science." The chair of the board -- who reportedly cited
climate change denial propaganda during a recent board meeting -- told
the newspaper that he was unmoved, adding, "I still don't have a
problem with teaching [climate change] in our schools ... I don't have
a problem examining it from all sides, as long as it's represented in
a fair and balanced approach."

In the meantime, it is still unclear what the committee that will
develop a new set of science standards for Wyoming is supposed to do.
According to the Star-Tribune, "The department has also said no part
of the Next Generation standards will be considered during the
upcoming review. That is a departure from advice of the Attorney
General's office, which said the state could consider parts of the
Next Generation standards while still following the legislative
footnote." State science standards from California, Indiana,
Massachusetts, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia, as well
as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, are expected to be
considered, but not the NGSS.

For the Casper Star-Tribune's story, visit:
http://trib.com/news/local/education/wyoming-scientists-reconsider-science-standards/article_23778429-7b91-52c7-9298-0d38967b2595.html 

For the letter (via the Casper Star-Tribune), visit:
http://trib.com/wyoming-scientists-position-paper/pdf_7ad2ad2c-6644-53c3-8189-0a9891a3c484.html 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Wyoming, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/wyoming 

THE LATEST GALLUP POLL ON EVOLUTION

There were no surprises in the latest Gallup poll on public opinion
about evolution in the United States. Asked in May 2014 "[w]hich of
the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and
development of human beings," 31% of the respondents accepted "Human
beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms
of life, but God guided this process," 19% accepted "Human beings have
developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but
God had no part in this process," and 42% accepted "God created human
beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last
10,000 years or so."

The same question has been used by Gallup to poll about evolution
since 1982. According to Gallup, "The percentage of the U.S.
population choosing the creationist perspective as closest to their
own view has fluctuated in a narrow range between 40% and 47% since
the question's inception. There is little indication of a sustained
downward trend in the proportion of the U.S. population who hold a
creationist view of human origins. At the same time, the percentage of
Americans who adhere to a strict secularist viewpoint -- that humans
evolved over time, with God having no part in this process -- has
doubled since 1999." As usual, acceptance of the creationist option
was associated with a lower degree of education, a higher rate of
church attendance, and age.

Gallup also asked, "How familiar would you say you are with each of
the following explanations about the origin and development of life on
earth?" For evolution, 42% of respondents were very familiar, 37% were
somewhat familiar, 13% were not too familiar, 6% were not at all
familiar, and 1% had no opinion, while for creationism, 38% were very
familiar, 38% were somewhat familiar, 13% were not too familiar, 7%
were not at all familiar, and 4% had no opinion. In 2007, when the
same question was asked, the results for evolution were about the
same, but 50% of respondents were very familiar with creationism.
Gallup concludes, "In short, even though the adherence to the
creationist view has not changed over time, familiarity with the term
'creationism' has diminished."

There was a strong relation between familiarity with evolution and
acceptance of evolution: while 57% of respondents who were not too
familiar or not at all familiar with evolution preferred the
creationist option among the views on the origin and development of
human beings, only 43% of those who were somewhat familiar and only
33% of those who were very familiar did so. Gallup observes, however,
that "[t]hese relationships do not necessarily prove that if Americans
were to learn more about evolution they would be more likely to
believe in it. Those with less education are most likely to espouse
the creationist view and to be least familiar with evolution, but it's
not clear that gaining more education per se would shift their
perspectives."

According to Gallup, the poll results are "based on telephone
interviews conducted May 8-11, 2014, with a random sample of 1,028
adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the
District of Columbia"; the samples were weighted by gender, age, race,
Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density, and phone
status. The maximum range of sampling error for the total sample was
+/- 4%. Conveniently, Gallup provides a graph showing the results from
its polls using the same question since 1982. A collection of material
-- including NCSE's coverage, articles from RNCSE, and links --
relevant to polls and surveys concerning the creationism/evolution
controversy is available on the NCSE website.

For Gallup's story on the poll, visit:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/170822/believe-creationist-view-human-origins.aspx 

And for NCSE's collections of polls and surveys, visit:
http://ncse.com/creationism/polls-surveys 

FACEBOOK: N > 70,000

A milestone: there are now over 70,000 fans of NCSE's Facebook page.
Why not join them, by visiting the page and becoming a fan by clicking
on the "Like" box by NCSE's name? You'll receive the latest NCSE news
delivered straight to your Facebook Home page, as well as updates on
evolution-related and climate-related topics. Or if you prefer your
news in 140-character chunks, follow NCSE on Twitter. And while you're
surfing the web, why not visit NCSE's YouTube channel, with hundreds
of videos for your watching pleasure? It's the best place on the web
to view talks by NCSE's staff, including the new series of activist
workshop webinars.

For NCSE's Facebook page, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel, visit:
http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse 
http://twitter.com/ncse 
http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd 

EVOLUTION TO REACH ISRAELI MIDDLE SCHOOLS

"Evolution will soon be a mandatory part of the middle-school science
curriculum, after years of being an optional subject that most
students were never taught," according to the Israeli newspaper
Haaretz (June 1, 2014). "Until now, evolution was taught in high
school, and only as an optional part of the biology curriculum.
Consequently, most students graduated without ever having been exposed
to the theory."

A spokesperson for the Education Ministry told Haaretz that "we felt
we hadn’t given [proper] expression to a scientific theory accepted
worldwide, which offers an explanation for developments and processes
in our world. It’s impossible to teach the curriculum without the
theoretical scientific basis that explains these developments. ...
Now, it will be in the curriculum, and also in the textbooks."

According to the Times of Israel (June 1, 2014), however, human
evolution will not be addressed "out of concern about potential
criticism from the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox populations in Israel."
Hagai Netzer of Tel Aviv University, a member of the advisory
committee responsible for the decision, was quoted as saying that the
topic of human evolution is "a very sensitive subject in the state of
Israel."

A 2006 survey in Israel found that "a minority of only 28% accepts the
scientific theory of the evolution [sic], while the majority (59%)
believes that man was created by god"; according to the 2000
International Social Survey Programme, a total of 54% of Israeli
respondents described "Human beings developed from earlier species of
animals" as definitely or probably true, placing Israel ahead of the
United States (46%) for its public acceptance of evolution.

For the article in Haaretz (registration required), visit:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.596605 

For the article in the Times of Israel, visit:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/darwin-enters-israeli-schools-but-humans-left-out/ 

For the 2006 survey, visit:
http://www.neaman.org.il/Neaman2011/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=581&FID=646&IID=7954 

For the 2000 survey (PDF, p. 49), visit:
http://info1.gesis.org/dbksearch/file.asp?file=ZA3440_cdb.pdf 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events internationally, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/international 

WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA

Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America,
recently? If not, then you've missed:

* Josh Rosenau discussing the eleventh episode of the Cosmos reboot:
http://ncse.com/blog/2014/05/cosmos-wars-episode-xi-vision-future-0015624 

* Steve Newton discussing the twelfth episode of the Cosmos reboot:
http://ncse.com/blog/2014/06/cosmos-episode-xii-it-s-end-world-as-we-know-it-i-feel-fine-0015649 

* Minda Berbeco interviewing a firefighter-turned-climate-advocate:
http://ncse.com/blog/2014/05/lighting-match-under-climate-change-education-0015633 

And much more besides!

For The Science League of America, visit:
http://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.
420 40th Street, Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
510-601-7203 x303
fax: 510-601-7204
800-290-6006
branch@ncse.com 
http://ncse.com 

Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America:
http://ncse.com/blog 

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http://reports.ncse.com 

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