NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/01/15
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2016-01-15 15:26.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, The Evolution Video Competition returns. Darwin Day 2016 is on its way. NCSE is seeking a full-time summer intern. And there is a proposal to extend summer vacation in Kentucky for the sake of creationism.
ATTENTION, FILMMAKERS! Scientists and science educators of all stripes are invited to enter the Sixth Annual Evolution Video Competition, sponsored by the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. To enter, please submit a video that explains a fun fact, key concept, compelling question, or exciting area of evolution research in three minutes or less. Entries may be related or unrelated to your own research, and should be suitable for use in a classroom. Videos should be both informative and entertaining. The finalists will be screened at the Evolution 2016 meeting in Austin, Texas. (You do not need to attend the conference in order to enter a video.) The winner will receive a prize of $1000; the runner-up will receive a prize of $500. The deadline to submit a video is 11:00 p.m. (EST), May 31, 2016. For further information and to view entries from previous years, visit http://evolutionfilmfestival.org/. DARWIN DAY APPROACHES It's time to dust off your Darwin costume again: less than a month remains before Darwin Day 2016! Colleges and universities, schools, libraries, museums, churches, civic groups, and just plain folks across the country -- and the world -- are preparing to celebrate Darwin Day, on or around February 12, in honor of the life and work of Charles Darwin. These events provide a marvelous opportunity not only to celebrate Darwin's birthday but also to engage in public outreach about science, evolution, and the importance of evolution education -- which is especially needed with assaults on evolution education already under way in state legislatures. NCSE encourages its members and friends to attend, participate in, and even organize Darwin Day events in their own communities. To find a local event, check the websites of local universities and museums and theregistry of Darwin Day events maintained by the Darwin Day Celebration website. (And don't forget to register your own event with the Darwin Day Celebration website!) And with Darwin Day comes the return of Evolution Weekend! Hundreds of congregations all over the country and around the world are taking part in Evolution Weekend, February 12-14, 2016, by presenting sermons and discussion groups on the compatibility of faith and science. Michael Zimmerman, the initiator of the project, writes, "Evolution Weekend is an opportunity for serious discussion and reflection on the relationship between religion and science. One important goal is to elevate the quality of the discussion on this critical topic -- to move beyond sound bites. A second critical goal is to demonstrate that religious people from many faiths and locations understand that evolution is sound science and poses no problems for their faith. Finally, as with The Clergy Letter itself, Evolution Weekend makes it clear that those claiming that people must choose between religion and science are creating a false dichotomy." At last count, 310 congregations in forty-eight states (and eleven foreign countries) were scheduled to hold Evolution Weekend events. For the Darwin Day registry, visit: http://darwinday.org/events/ http://darwinday.org/events/community/add For information about Evolution Weekend, visit: http://www.evolutionweekend.org/ HELP WANTED: SUMMER INTERN NCSE is seeking to hire a full-time summer intern to work on science education activism projects, with a particular focus on climate change education. This is a unique opportunity for someone with a science background to learn about science advocacy to support one of the most important groups: science teachers. This is a temporary position based in Oakland, California, running from June to August 2016. Further information about duties, qualifications, salary and benefits, and the application process is available from NCSE's job page. For further information about the position, visit: http://ncse.com/news/2016/01/help-wanted-summer-intern-0016859 VACATION CREATIONISM BILL IN KENTUCKY A bill introduced in the Kentucky legislature would extend the duration of summer vacation in order to boost tourism -- including to a creationist attraction. Senate Bill 50 would "require schools to schedule the first student attendance day no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, unless a school has adopted a year-round calendar." As NCSE previously reported, the bill's cosponsor Damon Thayer (R-District 17) identified a creationist attraction as a beneficiary, telling the Grant County News (August 12, 2015), "Grant County is set to become a major tourist destination due to the presence of the Ark." Thayer was referring to Ark Encounter, a Noah's-ark-themed attraction under construction by the young-earth creationist ministry Answers in Genesis, which also operates a "museum" in Kentucky. In 2011, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority voted to grant tax incentives -- in the form of retained sales taxes -- to the Ark Encounter project, but that decision was reversed in 2014, as NCSE previously reported. Answers in Genesis and its allies are currently suing the state in federal court over the reversal: the case is Ark Encounter, LLC et al. v. Stewart et al. Preliminary hearings occurred in July 2015. Educators in Kentucky have reportedly been cool to the idea of the state requiring local schools to start later in the year, citing both the ideal of local control of education and the danger of impairing student learning. Chris Brady, a member of the Jefferson County School Board, told Insider Louisville (August 14, 2015), "Tourism is important to the state, but it's not as important as education. And these decisions are made with the kids' best education interest in mind. I'm sensitive to the fact that we want to boost our tourism, but not at the expense of our kids' education." For the text of Kentucky's Senate Bill 50 as introduced (PDF), visit: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/16RS/SB50/bill.pdf For the stories in the Grant County News and Insider Louisville, visit: http://www.grantky.com/content/thayer-schools-need-later-start-date http://insiderlouisville.com/metro/education-community/education-leaders-push-back-proposal-mandate-later-start-date-kentucky-public-schools/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Kentucky, visit: http://ncse.com/news/kentucky 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: * Emily Schoerning pondering the idea of loving science: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/01/who-fcking-loves-science-0016862 * Josh Rosenau discussing the rebuke to science denialism in the State of the Union address: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/01/opposite-denial-0016866 * Stephanie Keep reviewing the Tree Room, a new feature from Understanding Evolution: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/01/classroom-tree-room-0016845 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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