NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2015/11/06
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, A call for climate change education from the American Academy of Pediatrics. A preview of a new, illustrated, edition of The Voyage of the Beagle. And a new issue of Reports of the NCSE, focusing on the upcoming tenth anniversary of the decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover.
AAP ADDS ITS VOICE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION The American Academy of Pediatrics, representing 64,000 pediatricians, recently released a policy statement on "Global Climate Change and Children's Health" that includes a call for climate change education. The statement, published in the November 2015 issue of Pediatrics, notes, "Rising global temperatures are causing major physical, chemical, and ecological changes in the planet. There is wide consensus among scientific organizations and climatologists that these broad effects, known as 'climate change,' are the result of contemporary human activity. Climate change poses threats to human health, safety, and security, and children are uniquely vulnerable to these threats." The statement calls on government at all levels to "[s]upport education and public awareness of the threats from climate change for public and children’s health now and in the future." The statement updates a 2007 statement that included the same call for climate education. NCSE is in the process of collecting statements supporting climate change evolution such as AAP's in Voices for Climate Change Education. For the AAP's position statement, visit: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/136/5/992 For NCSE's Voices for Climate Change Education, visit: http://ncse.com/climate/taking-action/voices-climate-change-education A PREVIEW OF THE ILLUSTRATED VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of The Voyage of the Beagle: The Illustrated Edition of Charles Darwin's Travel Memoir and Field Journal (Zenith Press, 2015). The preview consists of chapter 17, "Galapagos Archipelago," in which Darwin notes "by far the most feature in the natural history of this archipelago; it is, that the different islands to a considerable extent are inhabited by a different set of beings" -- a biogeographical clue to evolution. The publisher writes, "An introduction on the background to Darwin's work, as well as notes, maps, appendices, and an essay on scientific geology and the Bible by Robert FitzRoy, Darwin's friend and captain of the Beagle, provide context for this incredible story. This volume is the first fully illustrated edition of Darwin's journal and includes excerpts of On the Origin of Species so the reader can connect the author's journey with his discovery that made him famous." For the preview of The Voyage of the Beagle (PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/book-excerpt For information about the book from its publisher, visit: http://www.quartoknows.com/books/9780760348130/The-Voyage-of-the-Beagle.html RNCSE 35:6 NOW ON-LINE NCSE is pleased to announce that the latest issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education is now available on-line. The issue -- volume 35, number 6 -- contains recollections of and reflections on the Kitzmiller trial from Lauri Lebo, Jennifer Miller, Kenneth R. Miller, Eric Rothschild, and Eugenie C. Scott, as well as Meredith Dorner's article comparing evolution coverage in selected mainstream and Christian biology textbooks and Randy Moore's account of the seventeenth-century chronologer John Lightfoot. Plus a host of reviews of books on the history of geology, biology, and creationism: Jody Bourgeois reviews Martin J. S. Rudwick's Earth's Deep History, Joel Cracraft reviews Stephen J. Gould: The Scientific Legacy, David E. Levin reviews Lee Spetner's The Evolution Revolution, Charles H. Pence reviews Curtis Johnson's Darwin's Dice, Andrew J. Petto offers separate reviews of Creationism in Europe and Adam Laats's The Other School Reformers, Doren Recker reviews Evolutionary Biology: Conceptual, Ethical, and Religious Issues (a collection of essays in honor of Michael Ruse), Michael Roberts reviews Christopher M. Rios's After the Monkey Trial, and Michael Ruse reviews Daniel Duzdevich's Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Modern Rendition. All of these articles, features, and reviews are freely available in PDF form from http://reports.ncse.com. Members of NCSE will shortly be receiving in the mail the print supplement to Reports 35:6, which, in addition to summaries of the on-line material, contains news from the membership, a regular column in which NCSE staffers offer personal reports on what they've been doing to defend the teaching of evolution, a regular column interviewing NCSE's favorite people, and more besides. (Not a member? Join today!) For the table of contents for RNCSE 35:6, visit: http://reports.ncse.com/index.php/rncse/issue/current/showToc For information about joining NCSE, visit: http://ncse.com/join 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: * A guest post from K. C. Busch examining climate change in middle school textbooks: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/11/textbooks-doubt-0016720 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