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NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/06/10

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(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear friends of NCSE,

A Facebook milestone for NCSE. Josh Rosenau contributes a column on
climate change education to the Portland (Oregon) Tribune. And a new
website for NCSE!

FACEBOOK: N > 170,000

A milestone: there are now over 170,000 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.

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 

NCSE'S ROSENAU IN THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

After the Portland, Oregon, board of education adopted a resolution on
climate change education that called for the elimination of
instructional material "that is found to express doubt about the
severity of the climate crisis or its root in human activities,"
NCSE's Josh Rosenau wrote a column for the Portland Tribune (June 2,
2016) to put the resolution in context.

Relating a recent incident in which a public school teacher in Oregon
unwittingly showed a climate-change-denying film in a health class,
Rosenau warned of "numerous campaigns to mail slickly packaged, but
scientifically misleading material about climate change to teachers
across the country," explaining, "Such campaigns of denial do a
disservice to teachers and students, and, ultimately, to society as a
whole."

In part because of such campaigns, he suggested, teachers are often
unprepared and reluctant to teach about climate change as it is
understood by the scientific community. According to the national
survey of public school science teachers conducted by NCSE and
researchers at Penn State University, he noted, "only four in 10
teachers know the degree of scientific agreement that climate change
is caused by humans."

Earlier, Rosenau offered qualified praise for Portland's resolution on
climate change education, apparently the first of its kind, to the Los
Angeles Times (May 24, 2016). "I certainly think that climate
education is important and should be accurate," he told the newspaper,
but added, "but I tend to be a bit leery when a single subject is
singled out for any reason."

Those qualms notwithstanding, Rosenau urged, in his Portland Tribune
op-ed, that "[e]very parent, every citizen, and every student deserves
to be confident that our public school science classes are preparing
tomorrow's citizens with the most accurate, most current, most
reliable information about our changing climate."

For the Portland, Oregon, board of education's resolution (PDF), visit:
http://www.pps.net/cms/lib8/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/219/FINAL%20Climate%20Change%20Reso%205.11.16%20MR%20revised.pdf 

For Rosenau's op-ed in the Portland Tribune, visit:
http://www.pamplinmedia.com/pt/10-opinion/309566-186915-my-view-screen-climate-change-curriculum 

For the Los Angeles Times's story about the resolution, visit:
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-na-portland-schools-climate-change-20160524-snap-story.html 

And for NCSE's report on the NCSE/Penn State survey (PDF), visit:
http://ncse.com/files/MixedMessages.pdf 

WELCOME TO NCSE'S NEW WEBSITE!

Welcome to NCSE's new website! As you will see (as Ann Reid explains
in detail in a new blog post), NCSE.com has not only been modernized
and streamlined but also optimized to work with your phone or mobile
device. All the great content and resources are still there for you,
but the navigation and search functions have been improved. It's also
easier than ever to get involved with NCSE, whether by asking for
help, signing up for action alerts, joining NCSEteach, or, of course,
donating to support NCSE's important work. Kudos to NCSE's Robert Luhn
and Minda Berbeco for spearheading the effort to develop the new
website. There may still be a few bugs in the system, of course;
please report problems with the new website to info@ncse.com. Thanks, 
and enjoy!

For NCSE's new website, visit:
http://ncse.com 

For Ann Reid's post about the new website, visit:
http://ncse.com/blog/2016/06/ncses-new-website-0018252 

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 discussing a repentant fossil thief:
https://ncse.com/blog/2016/06/crime-passion-0018255 

* Glenn Branch reveling in L. L. Pickett's God or the Guessers:
http://ncse.com/blog/2016/06/praise-pickett-part-1-0016993 
http://ncse.com/blog/2016/06/praise-pickett-part-2-0016994 

* Josh Rosenau expressing reservations about naming a new element
after Tennessee:
https://ncse.com/blog/2016/06/not-so-elementary-0018261 

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.
1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600
Oakland CA 94612-2922
510-601-7203
fax 510-788-7971
branch@ncse.com 
http://ncse.com 

Check out NCSE's 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