Alabama Will Require Students To Learn About Evolution, Climate Change

An anonymous reader writes: For the first time, public school students in Alabama will be required to understand evolution, thanks to new curriculum rules behind implemented next year. Teachers in the state will also be required to discuss climate change. Not only did the 40-person, Republican-controlled Board of Education pass the standards unanimously, but nobody even spoke out against them at a board meeting. The new rules say, "The theory of evolution has a role in explaining unity and diversity of life on earth. This theory is substantiated with much direct and indirect evidence. Therefore, this course of study requires our students to understand the principles of the theory of evolution from the perspective of established scientific knowledge. The committee recognizes and appreciates the diverse views associated with the theory of evolution."

Comments

Re:Theory

[ClickOnThis]

Maybe the church should get on board

Many churches have done so, or at least have asserted that religion and evolution are not in conflict.

Re:Theory

[Ol Olsoc]

That's not what TFS says.

And you came to this conclusion due to the fact the word "theory" was used no less than four times in reference to evolution in TFS.

I have a theory about that conclusion...

No, you have a hypothesis about that conclusion.

If you don't understand what a scientific theory is, you need to learn before you criticize it too deeply.

Let's tak an example that even fundies are likely to accept.

Gravity

Gravity is real. Hard to deny that if you jump off the Golden gate bridge, you'll fall.

But we don't understand every single thing about gravity, so we have a theory for it. The theory is a framework to work within, not some wild-ass guess, not some thought of "Maybe the world just sucks". The theory is the body of work - and if testing proves the theory wrong, changes need to be made.