Saturday, February 14, 2009

Evolution:Education and Outreach

Evolution: Education and Outreach is a journal in its second year. Its purpose, according to the National Center for Science Education, is to "promote accurate understanding and comprehensive teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience." I strongly encourage any reader to pass it on down the line. I have found numerous helpful articles regarding the state of teaching biological evolution, curricular matters, and work on the state of research.

Some of you our members are future biology teachers who are expected to understand evolution. Evolution is, as the National Science Teachers Association notes in their position statement, "evolution is a major unifying concept in science and should be included in the K–12 science education frameworks and curricula. Furthermore, if evolution is not taught, students will not achieve the level of scientific literacy they need." Evolution is a cornerstone to understanding biology which is itself a cornerstone of ecology and ecological literacy. I contend that it is very difficult to understand ecology and interconnectedness without understanding the relatedness of species and their evolution into the niches they occupy. This journal helps that.

Its tone and style are clear and accessible and deals with broad issues. There are curricular aids, specials on aspects of evolution such as the eye, the work of Darwin, and how to deal with the politics of evolution education and creationism in all of its forms. In my experience so far, the evolution denier is often also a climate change denier and vice versa. This is part of our fight, to show the relationship between systems. This is a great resource for those interested in evolutionary systems.

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