NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2015/03/13
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2015-03-13 14:39.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Kudos for Kenneth R. Miller. Iowa's anti-NGSS bill is dead. And a preview of Gernot Wagner and Martin L. Weitzman's Climate Shock.
CONGRATULATIONS TO KENNETH R. MILLER NCSE is pleased to congratulate Kenneth R. Miller for receiving the National Science Teachers Association's Presidential Citation, which recognizes "individuals or organizations who have significantly promoted the profession of science education." A member of NCSE's Advisory Council, Miller is Professor of Biology of Brown University. He is the coauthor, with Joseph S. Levine, of four popular high school and college textbooks, and author of Finding Darwin's God (1999) andOnly a Theory (2008). Among his awards are the Public Service Award from the American Society for Cell Biology, the AAAS's Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology, the Stephen Jay Gould Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution. He testified for the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the 2005 case establishing the unconstitutionality of teaching "intelligent design" in the public schools. The first recipients of the NSTA's Presidential Citation, in 2006, were the science teachers at Dover High School in Dover, Pennsylvania, who defied their school board's order to read a statement about "intelligent design" to their students. For a press release from NSTA about its awards for 2015, visit: http://www.nsta.org/about/pressroom.aspx?id=60152 ANTI-NGSS BILL IN IOWA DIES House File 272, which would have prevented Iowa from adopting the Next Generation Science Standards, died on March 6, 2015, when a deadline for House bills to be reported out of committee passed. The bill's lead sponsor Sandy Salmon (R-District 63) told the Cedar Rapids Gazette (March 2, 2015) that the treatment of evolution and climate change in the standards was in part responsible for her opposition. A lead state partner in the development of the NGSS, Iowa is currently considering whether to adopt the standards. After public comments are reviewed, the state board of education will decide whether to adopt the standards. For Iowa's House File 272, visit: http://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/Legislation/86thGA/Bills/HouseFiles/Introduced/HF272.html For the story in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, visit: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/educators-step-lightly-around-political-points-as-state-considers-new-science-standard-20150302 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Iowa, visit: http://ncse.com/news/iowa A PREVIEW OF CLIMATE SHOCK NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of Gernot Wagner and Martin L. Weitzman's Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Warming Planet (Princeton University Press, 2015). The preview consists of chapter 7, "What You Can Do," in which Wagner and Weitzman offer advice from the perspective of economics for reacting to climate change, including screaming, coping, and profiting. Jeffrey Sachs writes, "A remarkable book on climate change, Climate Shock is deeply insightful, challenging, eye-opening, thought-provoking, and sheer fun to read. It will help you to think clearly and incisively about one of the most important issues of our generation." Wagner is lead senior economist at the Environmental Defense Fund; Weitzman is professor of economics at Harvard University. For the preview of Climate Shock (PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/book-excerpt For information about the book from its publisher, visit: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10414.html 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: * Steven Newton reacting to Florida's ban on the mention of climate change: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/03/florida-bans-term-climate-change-orwell-visits-miami-0016219 * Stephanie Keep discussing a new find in human evolution: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/03/chewing-human-evolution-0016218 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 Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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