| As a science educator, looking for real world data, I want to ask, "Do you support the theory of evolution?" |
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Asked 2 years ago
by mandacummings  United States |
13 Points
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If you or your fellow science teachers do not all 'support' evolution US education is in an even worse state than I thought.
I completely support evolution. I am just getting data to show my students what the world thinks that is all. They will be doing a texting poll. I am going to show them their answers compared to the worlds answers. They should see that the more educated a person is the percent that believe in evolution increases.
Thank you for this reassuring reply.
What is more likely, H1N1 evolved or H1N1 was created by (a) god?
Obviously we are talking a case of natural selection. I am only gathering data for my high school biology class. I am having my students do a texting poll Monday to see where their beliefs lie. This allows me to assess where I need to start teaching and it shows me what their misconceptions are. I wanted to be able to show them their data along with data from the rest of the world. Obviously this survey is not representative but it will give my students a general idea of what the world believes. And yes, I believe in the theory of evolution but also believe in God. I believe that he is the creator and that evolution explains how creatures came to be on the earth. How much more awesome is a God that can create life that is dynamic and changing vs. static and unchanging!!
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[2 points] 2 years ago by deleted user ReplyWith high school biology where I teach, it is referred to as a theory. I will teach some of the information I give them as a fact which my students know is an unfalsified hypothesis. However, I make sure that other topics I teach such as cells are also referred to as theories. Most students think that a theory is just a "guess" when they walk into the science classroom so I have to be very careful how I teach this paticular topic as it has the most conflict. I will be showing them the data from this survey on Monday. Thanks for answering!!
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[2 points] 2 years ago by deleted user ReplyJust explain the difference between the definition of theory as "specualtive hypothesis" and the one in the scientific sense ("an analytic structure designed to explain a set of empirical observations"), and stress that the "Theory" of Evolution is the latter. Explain that in the scientific community it's a generally accepted fact. You're in a high school, so you can probably get away with refuting creationist theories if you present them as "What scientists think" rather than "the truth is".
I feel for you. One of my favourite science teachers loved ripping creationism apart when teaching evolution, and it was fun for the students too.. Advantage of living in the UK, I guess.
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[1 point] 2 years ago by deleted user Replyhttp://www.ask500people.com/search/?cref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ask500people.com%2Fxml%2Fcse_questions.xml&cof=FORID%3A11%3BNB%3A1&q=evolution&sa=Search#954
i think that Darvin's evolution theory is too old and we must edit it with new moments that were discovered in last 2 centurys... like Modern evolutionary synthesis or so.
It is not just theory, it's a proven fact. You can observe it anytime. Just look what bacteria do on a regular basis, they continually mutate.
logical questions: is it mutation or evolution?
and does sun radiation is main evolution factor? (low level mutations cause radiation does'nt been neutralised by our body)
It's from mutations by plants and animals that natural selection occurs, and plants and animals evolve.
Evolution is a fact, not a theory. Evolution refers to the fact that there has been a progression of life from simpler to more complex forms with greater variety, as verified by the observation and dating of fossils. Natural selection is the primary theory of the mechanism of that change. You might argue with the theory of natural selection, but you can't intelligently argue that there has not been evolution.
Some people here claim that evolution is a fact, not just a theory.
That's true, but but it's still correct to speak of the theory of evolution. Like Newton's theory of gravity describes the facts of gravity, Darwin's theory of evolution describes the facts of evolution.
Darwin's theory has been modified many times, but the central idea is the same (that species are formed by natural selection). It will probably be modified again.
I would prefer to say Darwin had been extended, refined or elaborated rather than modified. In spite of Darwin not having had access to modern genetic science everything he taught has been shown to be essentially correct.