alik_05
05-08-2005, 11:47 PM
Kansas School : 'Evolution Wars' - [Education]
Kansas school board has begun 4 days of hearings into how children are taught about the origins of life.
A Board of Education committee called the meeting to discuss possible changes to the state science curriculum. In June, they will decide whether to revise the curriculum to include criticisms of the principles of evolution as an explanation of the origin of life, the Universe and the genetic code. Teachers would be encouraged to discuss "alternative explanations".
The hearings consist of opposing attorneys and a long witness list, although the witnesses are all allied against the teaching of evolution. Many of the witnesses support "intelligent design", the belief that science cannot account for the complexity of the Universe and that it must be the result of some higher power.
Science advocates have boycotted the meeting which they are comparing to the monkey trials of 1925. On the opening day of the hearings, they held a separate conference - they rolled out crates of scientific journals full of arguments and evidence supporting evolution.
Despite efforts to limit the teaching of evolution, state schools in the US are prohibited from teaching Biblical views on the origins of life, also known as "creationism". The US Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that creationism could not be taught in tandem with evolution.
BBC
Kansas school board has begun 4 days of hearings into how children are taught about the origins of life.
A Board of Education committee called the meeting to discuss possible changes to the state science curriculum. In June, they will decide whether to revise the curriculum to include criticisms of the principles of evolution as an explanation of the origin of life, the Universe and the genetic code. Teachers would be encouraged to discuss "alternative explanations".
The hearings consist of opposing attorneys and a long witness list, although the witnesses are all allied against the teaching of evolution. Many of the witnesses support "intelligent design", the belief that science cannot account for the complexity of the Universe and that it must be the result of some higher power.
Science advocates have boycotted the meeting which they are comparing to the monkey trials of 1925. On the opening day of the hearings, they held a separate conference - they rolled out crates of scientific journals full of arguments and evidence supporting evolution.
Despite efforts to limit the teaching of evolution, state schools in the US are prohibited from teaching Biblical views on the origins of life, also known as "creationism". The US Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that creationism could not be taught in tandem with evolution.
BBC