NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2017/11/03
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2017-11-03 14:15.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Amid complaints about evolution and climate change, Utah decides to update its science standards. Plus a reminder that you -- yes, you! -- can help NCSE's archives.
NEW SCIENCE STANDARDS ON THE HORIZON IN UTAH On November 2, 2017, the Utah state board of education voted 10-4 to begin the process of revising the state science standards for elementary and high school -- albeit "[o]ver objections that national science education standards push a political agenda on global warming and do not include instruction of intelligent design as a counterpoint to teaching evolution," according to the Deseret News (November 2, 2017). The standards in question, according to a report presented to the board, "range from seven to fifteen years old," and contain some "scientifically outdated an[d] irrelevant" content. The report cited "excitement" among Utah science educators for the approach represented by A Framework for K-12 Science Education -- the document on which the Next Generation Science Standards are based. One member of the board who voted against the proposal was quoted as explicitly objecting to the treatment of evolution and climate change in the NGSS: "Really, these national science standards ... have little to do with science and a lot to do with what is politically expedient. … There's a heavy emphasis on global warming. There's a heavy emphasis as evolution as a fact and not as a theory." As NCSE previously reported, there was controversy over the inclusion of evolution and climate change in a new set of Utah middle school science standards in 2015. A draft was criticized, inter alia, for suggesting that global temperature is constant and for using the phrase "change in species over time" in preference to "evolution." These features were not present in the final version of the standards approved by the board in December 2015. With the revision process approved, the next step, according to the Deseret News, is "the creation [of] committees to review standards and write possible updates which would be subject to public review and possible adoption by the State School Board. Some of the committee members will be appointed by the president of the Utah Senate and the speaker of the Utah House of Representatives." For the article in the Deseret News, visit: https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900003334/science-curriculum-changes-long-overdue-or-godless-instruction.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Utah, visit: https://ncse.com/news/utah A CHANCE TO HELP NCSE'S ARCHIVES NCSE's archives house a unique trove of material on the creationism/evolution controversy, and we regard it as part of our mission to preserve it for posterity -- as well as for occasions such as Kitzmiller v. Dover, where NCSE's archives helped to establish the creationist antecedents of the "intelligent design" movement. And we are beginning to amass a similar trove of material on disputes over climate change education. We cordially invite you now to help NCSE's archives keep up-to-date by purchasing books through our wish list at Amazon.com. And it's not just books -- gifts of needed hardware, software, and office equipment are welcome, too, and so are supplies for Science Booster Club events! All of these donations are tax-deductible. And if you make your purchase via Amazon.com's Smile page for NCSE, NCSE receives 0.5% of the price (for eligible purchases). We're pleased to report that over three hundred items have been purchased already, and we thank the donors for their generosity. Won't you join them in supporting NCSE? For NCSE's wishlist at Amazon.com, visit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/39U1UMFQ22WED/ For Amazon.com's Smile page for NCSE, visit: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/11-2656357 WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Emily Schoerning reporting on the latest microgrants in the NCSE Science Booster Club program: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/11/microgrant-awardees-safety-glasses-sea-turtles-0018640 For NCSE's blog, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- https://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: 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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