The Inability of Primary School to Introduce Children to the Theory of Biological Evolution

A great number of research papers in the English literature of science education present difficulties pupils have in understanding natural selection. Studies show that children have essentialist and teleological intuitive ideas when dealing with organisms and that these biases hinder their ability to understand the theory of evolution by natural selection. Consequently, it is interesting to ascertain if and how the school education offered today deals with the problem, i.e., helps the children confront these biases. To that purpose, this study answered the two following research questions: (a) How is biological evolution presented—from the past to the present day—in the official documentation of primary school education, namely the science curricula and the textbooks of Greece? and (b) what are the conceptions held by Greek primary school teachers of the concepts of evolutionary theory and relevant issues that they have to teach? Our research found that not only are the intuitive ideas not “confronted” but they are also “affirmed” in Greek primary education. This phenomenon, as some other international studies have shown, must not be only a Greek one. A drastic change in the content and structure of primary school curricula and the training of educators is necessary in order to improve and facilitate the teaching of biological evolution.     

Evolution Education in Utah: A State Office of Education–University Partnership Focuses on Why Evolution Matters

Several groups of people are essential for effectively teaching the theory of evolution in public schools. Teachers of course are at the leading edge of educating students. However, school district administrators, school boards, state education officers, and university professors all play critical roles in this endeavor. Whereas scientific discoveries and teacher training typically occur at the university level, it is school district leaders and teachers who actually disseminate this information in a way that creates an educated population of students. In this study, we introduce a partnership focused on strengthening evolution education in Utah’s public schools. Our program centers on the importance of evolution as an applied science and one that can be readily integrated throughout the biology curriculum. Our 2-day workshop—conducted in each Utah school district—brings together elected school board members, school district administrators, public school science teachers, and university professors to overcome barriers that can arise when teaching the theory of evolution as part of the 7–12 public school curriculum.     

What history tells us

The history of science was long considered to be something peripheral to science itself. By supplying interesting stories and gossip, it seemed, at best, to provide material for enlivening lectures. In general, it was deemed a suitable activity for retired scientists. This view has been revised considerably in the past years and indeed, today seems hopelessly out of date. History and philosophy of science are increasingly held to be an essential component of the education of scientists. By becoming acquainted with these areas, practicing scientists — and in particular biologists — can better appreciate the significance of the models and theories that underpin their research, especially with the accelerating succession of one idea by the next. The present series, of which the article that follows is the first, aims to give historical glimpses that bear on contemporary biology. The hope is that these glimpses will be both a source of inspiration and of help in resisting useless fashions.     

Maximizing biodiversity, information and sustainability

Numerous global changes—notably anthropogenic extinction—force reconsideration of our management practices and the ways we regulate human influence in today’s world. Here, I define management to maximize biodiversity and illustrate the science that provides information to set goals for such management. Maximizing biodiversity simultaneously achieves sustainability and systemic health by avoiding the abnormal or pathological. The normal or sustainable are determined through the use of empirical integrative patterns to objectively account for the complexity of systems within which we find ourselves as a species. The science that reveals these integrative patterns provides measures of problems that can be solved by maximizing biodiversity—problems heretofore recognized only qualitatively. I use the Shannon-Weiner information index to test, and, with no surprise, reject the null hypothesis that there is no direct anthropogenic effect on biodiversity. The results of this science serve as examples of the kind of information most useful for guiding management and illustrate maximized biodiversity as a standard for management. Reference points based on maximized biodiversity are preferable to statistical parameters in meeting the objective of avoiding the abnormal or pathological in our interactions with other species, ecosystems and the biosphere. Management to maximize biodiversity is implemented by modifying human interactions with other biotic systems to achieve consistency in such interactions by mimicking natural role models of sustainability. Human influence is a significant factor in today’s world and the magnitude of such influence is illustrated by comparing humans with other species.     

Understanding Evolutionary Trees

Charles Darwin sketched his first evolutionary tree in 1837, and trees have remained a central metaphor in evolutionary biology up to the present. Today, phylogenetics—the science of constructing and evaluating hypotheses about historical patterns of descent in the form of evolutionary trees—has become pervasive within and increasingly outside evolutionary biology. Fostering skills in “tree thinking” is therefore a critical component of biological education. Conversely, misconceptions about evolutionary trees can be very detrimental to one’s understanding of the patterns and processes that have occurred in the history of life. This paper provides a basic introduction to evolutionary trees, including some guidelines for how and how not to read them. Ten of the most common misconceptions about evolutionary trees and their implications for understanding evolution are addressed.

Sacred Conceptions: Clinical Theodicies, Uncertain Science, And Technologies Of Procreation In India

This article argues that the rapid transfer of assisted conception technologies, such as in vitro fertilization, to India is not restricted merely to the modalities of offering potential biomedical resolution of infertility but includes, more crucially, how clinicians and infertile consumers assimilate the “Western technoscience” of conception. The article draws on a larger multisite ethnographic study of infertility and assisted conception in India’s five major cities and is principally based on narratives of clinicians and infertile couples and on clinic-based ethnographic observations. In this article I contend that the success or failure of assisted conception, when situated in the universe of Hindu faith, becomes a powerful critique of the “incompleteness” of the “Western” science of conception. Situating this contention in the broader context of a clinician’s faith, I assert that assisted conception—by conjoining seemingly disparate domains of the traditional and the modern, the sacred and the profane, the human and the superhuman, science and religion—produces clinical theodicies that help explain and contain the tentativeness permeating the conception technologies. The article concludes by arguing that this enchanted version of a thoroughly disenchanted worldview of biomedicine is part of a larger cultural process of indigenization of biomedicine in India.     

A centenary of academic and less learned Food Microbiology Pitfalls of the past and promises for the future

A review is presented of the development of Food Microbiology from its roots in different disciplines — including human and animal medicine, general microbiology, agricultural science and food chemistry — to an autonomous science with the main vocation to provide the knowledge allowing providing food that is wholesome, of high quality and acceptable in the microbiological sense. This evolution entailed a change in approach from mere, and often rather primitive inspection of end-products to intervention by (i) identification of hazard points (“critical points” or CPs) by ecological studies; (ii) elimination of CPs by elaboration of Good Manufacturing and Distribution Practices (GMPs); (iii) validation of GMPs by monitoring production lines and final products at point of sale and gauging the results by Risk Analysis. It is emphasized, that although advanced and ecologically sound techniques have become available, it will still require extensive education and training at all levels before the scientific advances outlined in this review will have been fully integrated in day-to-day food production and catering in developed as well developing areas of the world. Interdisciplinary instruction and co-operation cannot be missed in attempts to reach this goal.     

Communicating Phylogeny: Evolutionary Tree Diagrams in Museums

Tree of life diagrams are graphic representations of phylogeny—the evolutionary history and relationships of lineages—and as such these graphics have the potential to convey key evolutionary ideas and principles to a variety of audiences. Museums play a significant role in teaching about evolution to the public, and tree graphics form a common element in many exhibits even though little is known about their impact on visitor understanding. How phylogenies are depicted and used in informal science settings impacts their accessibility and effectiveness in communicating about evolution to visitors. In this paper, we summarize the analysis of 185 tree of life graphics collected from museum exhibits at 52 institutions and highlight some potential implications of how trees are presented that may support or hinder visitors’ understanding about evolution. While further work is needed, existing learning research suggests that common elements among the diversity of museum trees such as the inclusion of anagenesis and absence of time and shared characters might represent potential barriers to visitor understanding.     

essential2life

The global chemical industry has a rich history of investment in campaigns to educate the public about what it does. Beginning in the 1930s, first Dupont then the industry overall promised “Better Living Through Chemistry.” In the 1990s, the industry promoted its own environmentalism. The 2005 launch of the American Chemistry Council’s essential2life campaign was yet another update. This essay examines the shifting logics of chemical industry public education campaigns, focusing particularly on the disavowals of the essential2life campaign. The essay also raises questions about forms of collective deliberation—among scientists, among activists and within industry—that reduce vulnerability to what Kirsch and Benson call “corporate oxymorons,” facilitating critical awareness of ways vested interests shape articulations of history and knowledge.     

Why “Sudden Appearance” Is Not as It Appears

Recent action taken by the Texas State Board of Education has opened the door to the inclusion of creationist arguments into public school science curriculum in that state and—because of the critical role of Texas in textbook adoptions—perhaps in many other states as well. One of the arguments that have been targeted by creationists is the “sudden appearance” of animal phyla at the base of the Cambrian period (i.e., the Cambrian explosion). While the creationist argument is both misleading and deeply flawed, high school biology teachers are often lacking the relevant paleontological knowledge to refute the argument. This paper attempts to provide teachers with a set of core counterpoints to the creationists’ claims along with a list of online resources that are highly visual in nature and should provide the means to help stimulate genuine student critical thinking about this issue, an alleged goal of the creationist agenda.     

Cosmic Evolution

Just as biological evolution is the heart of modern biology, cosmic evolution is the heart of modern cosmology. For instructors to be confident in teaching science, it is helpful for them to appreciate the current understanding of the composition and development of the universe, especially the revolutionary changes that have taken place in our understanding over the last two decades. Biological evolution requires the products of cosmic evolution—the elements of which life is composed were formed in the cores of stars—and the two areas of science are thus crucially, and even inspiringly, connected.     

The Growing Visibility of Creationism in Northern Ireland: Are New Science Teachers Equipped to Deal with the Issues?

The growing visibility of various forms of creationism in Northern Ireland raises issues for science education. Attempts have been made at political levels to have such “alternatives” to evolution taught in the science classroom, and the issue has received coverage in local press and media. A sample of 112 pre-service science teachers answered a survey on attitudes toward evolution. Preliminary analysis revealed many of these new teachers held views contrary to scientific consensus—over one fifth doubt the evidence for human evolution, and over one quarter dispute the common ancestry of life. Over two thirds indicated a preference for teaching a “range of theories” regarding these issues in science. In addition, 49 pre-service biology teachers viewed a DVD resource promoting “intelligent design” and completed an evaluation of it. The biology teachers also took part in either focus groups or additional questionnaires. A majority took the resource at face value and made positive comments regarding its utility. Many articulated views contrary to the stated positions of science academies, professional associations, and the UK government teaching directives regarding creationism. Most indicated a perception that intelligent design is legitimate science and that there is a scientific “controversy” regarding the legitimacy of evolution. Concern is raised over the ability of these new teachers to distinguish between scientific and non-scientific theories. The suggestion is made that the issue should be addressed directly with pre-service science teachers to make clear the status of such “alternatives.” The paper raises implications for science education and questions for further research.

The Role of Teleological Thinking in Learning the Darwinian Model of Evolution

Human beings are predisposed to think of evolution as teleological—i.e., having a purpose or directive principle—and the ways scientists talk about natural selection can feed this predisposition. This work examines the suggestion that students’ teleological thinking operates as an obstacle when the natural selection evolution model is taught. What we mean by obstacle is an established way of thinking that resists change due to its explanatory power. In light of this approach, the challenges of teaching evolution in biology education have been revised, and improved methodological strategies aimed at a better comprehension of the Darwinian evolution model are suggested.     

Ontogenesis of the cricket Gryllus argentinus Sauss. (Orthoptera, Gryllidae)

The development of Gryllus argentinus Sauss. was studied under stable laboratory conditions: the temperature of 26°C, the air humidity of 60%, and the photoperiod of 12h light: 12 h dark. The life cycle of Gryllus argentinus includes four stages: egg, pronymph, nymph, and adult. The duration of embryonic development is 18 days. The depth of egg bedding in the peat is 9.63 ± 0.12 mm (n =145), the clutch containing 2–4 eggs. A female can lay over 1100 viable eggs during the entire oviposition period. Nymphal development includes 9 instars and lasts 97 days. The duration of nymphal instars (days) is: I—5; II—6; III—6; IV—6; V—8; VI—10; VII—13; VIII—14; IX—29. The duration of the adult life is 51 days in males and 69 days, in females. In the imaginal ontogenesis of males and females, three periods can be distinguished: pre-reproductive, reproductive, and postreproductive. Males start to emit the aggressive signal on the 6th (5–8th) day (the pre-reproductive period). They enter the reproductive period (start to emit the calling song) on the 9th (8–13th) day. Females enter the reproductive period (become capable of responding to the calling song and of copulation) on the 9th (8–10th) day. Oviposition starts on the day after the first copulation. The reproductive period lasts about 40 (15–59) days in males and 58 (21–70) days in females. The post-reproductive period starts in females at the moment of finishing the egg laying period and in males, with disappearance of reproductive behavior. The period ends in the animal’s death.     

Chimera,spandrel, or adaptation

In every known human society, some kind—usually many kinds—of art is practiced, frequently with much vigor and pleasure, so that one could at least hypothesize that “artifying” or “artification” is a characteristic behavior of our species. Yet human ethologists and sociobiologists have been conspicuously unforthcoming about this observably widespread and valued practice, for a number of stated and unstated reasons. The present essay is a position paper that offers an overview and analysis of conceptual issues and problems inherent in viewing art and/or aesthetics as adaptive, and it presents a speculative account of a human behavior of art. Ellen Dissanayake is an independent scholar who has straddled the abyss between biology and art for more than twenty years. She is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh.     

Model of development of science by the example of limnology

Limnology—the science about lakes—is the young and relatively closed area of studies; its existence is owing to several hundreds of scientists. The International Society of Limnologists holds its meetings since 1922. We used materials of these meetings to find out the main stages of development of this science; among these stages there were both fast and relatively calm periods. Based on analysis of these data, we constructed a model of development of the science, the same data being used for tuning and verification of the model. We have suggested that the main regularities and mechanisms of development of limnology can be extrapolated to other sciences. The main “acting person” in the model is population of scientists. Each scientist, with some probability, can propose new ideas as well as use in his studies some particular complex of the already accumulated knowledge and ideas. The model also takes into consideration how the scientific information is spreading, as well as some individual peculiarities of model scientists, such as age, experience, communicability. After the model parameters had been chosen in such a way that is described adequately development of limnology, we performed a series of experiments by changing some of the characteristics and obtained rather unexpected results published preliminary in the short work (Levchenko, V.F. and Menshutkin, V.V., Int. J. Comput. Anticip. Syst., 2008, vol. 22, pp. 63–75) and discussed here in the greater detail. It is revealed that development of science occurs irregularly and is sharply decelerated at low level of communication between scientists and the absence of scientific schools, while the age of “scientific youth” of scientist usually begins only after 40 years.     

Biomedical and Environmental Ethics Alliance: Common Causes and Grounds

In the late 1960s Van Rensselaer Potter, a biochemist and cancer researcher, thought that our survival was threatened by the domination of military policy makers and producers of material goods ignorant of biology. He called for a new field of Bioethics—“a science of survival.” Bioethics did develop, but with a narrower focus on medical ethics. Recently there have been attempts to broaden that focus to bring biomedical ethics together with environmental ethics. Though the two have many differences—in habits of thought, scope of concern, and value commitments—in this paper we argue that they often share common cause and we identify common ground through an examination of two case studies, one addressing drug development, the other food production.     

New England Faculty and College Students Differ in Their Views About Evolution, Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Religiosity

Public acceptance of evolution in Northeastern U.S. is the highest nationwide, only 59%. Here, we compare perspectives about evolution, creationism, intelligent design (ID), and religiosity between highly educated New England faculty (n = 244; 90% Ph.D. holders in 40 disciplines at 35 colleges/universities) and college students from public secular (n = 161), private secular (n = 298), and religious (n = 185) institutions: 94/3% of the faculty vs. 64/14% of the students admitted to accepting evolution openly and/or privately, and 82/18% of the faculty vs. 58/42% of the students thought that evolution is definitely true or probably true, respectively. Only 3% of the faculty vs. 23% of the students thought that evolution and creationism are in harmony. Although 92% of faculty and students thought that evolution relies on common ancestry, one in every four faculty and one in every three students did not know that humans are apes; 15% of the faculty vs. 34% of the students believed, incorrectly, that the origin of the human mind cannot be explained by evolution, and 30% of the faculty vs. 72% of the students was Lamarckian (believed in inheritance of acquired traits). Notably, 91% of the faculty was very concerned (64%) or somehow concerned (27%) about the controversy evolution vs creationism vs ID and its implications for science education: 96% of the faculty vs. 72% of the students supported the exclusive teaching of evolution while 4% of the faculty vs. 28% of the students favored equal time to evolution, creationism and ID; 92% of the faculty vs. 52% of the students perceived ID as not scientific and proposed to counter evolution or as doctrine consistent with creationism. Although ≈30% of both faculty and students considered religion to be very important in their lives, and ≈20% admitted to praying daily, the faculty was less religious (Religiosity Index faculty = 0.5 and students = 0.75) and, as expected, more knowledgeable about science (Science Index faculty = 2.27 and students = 1.60) and evolution (Evolution Index faculty = 2.48 and students = 1.65) than the students. Because attitudes toward evolution correlate (1) positively with understanding of science/evolution and (2) negatively with religiosity/political ideology, we conclude that science education combined with vigorous public debate should suffice to increase acceptance of naturalistic rationalism and decrease the negative impact of creationism and ID on society’s evolution literacy.     

Education Is Life Itself: Biological Evolution as a Model for Human Learning

Schooling often rests uneasily on presumed dichotomies between coverage and inquiry, skill development, and creativity. By drawing on the often under-recognized parallels between biological evolution and human learning, this essay argues that formal education needs and ought not to forego the unconscious exploratory processes of informal learning. Rather than posit as natural the cultural story that formal schooling must prepare students to integrate with given cultures and foreknowable futures, the evolutionary perspective shows that education is better thought of as preparing students to create cultures and to change, and foster change, in relation to unknown futures. The properties that distinguish formal from informal learning—conscious reflection and a degree of collective consensus about what constitutes knowledge at any given time—are, we argue, useful not as ends in themselves, but as tools for maximizing, sharing, and extending unconscious, evolutionary learning. Working with them as such offers a way out of some of education’s persistent problems. Two autobiographical case studies provide examples of these evolutionary changes and indicate pathways of inquiry by which to pursue them.