NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/06/10
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2016-06-10 15:53.
National Center for Science Education
(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
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