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Tag Archives: Science Education
The Grubbs and Gibbs Memorandum: Require A Religious Reading of the Evolutionary Record in Public Schools
As promised, I have more on the memorandum written by Francis Grubbs and David Gibbs. Grubbs is some kind of quack pseudo-scientist, and Gibbs is some kind of shyster lawyer, apparently. The memorandum is interesting … the real meat of it is buried in the last several paragraphs, so don’t fall asleep reading it! I’ve reproduced it here below, having used OCR to change the PDF file into text. The purpose of doing this onerous and thankless task is so that my fellow bloggers, or anyone else, can cut and paste from my transcription and thus make more use of the document than otherwise possible. The original file is here. And following is the cover letter and the memorandum, in all it’s glory. There may be some mistakes owing to the nature of OCR. Feel free to let me know if you spot any.UPDATE: Corrections made of the OCRT scan by Sam Howard of Rational Rant Continue reading The Grubbs and Gibbs Memorandum: Require A Religious Reading of the Evolutionary Record in Public Schools
Is a Florida Church Acting Illegally?
Apropos the fight over excellent science education (as opposed to creationism) in Florida schools, is it OK for a church, which I presume has religious non profit status, to engage actively in an attempt to sway elected officials? Continue reading Is a Florida Church Acting Illegally?
The Home Schooling Attitude: Part 1 of 1
This is Part 1 because there is more than one part. But I’m only going to do one of them, so it is Part 1 of 1. There is more than one “kind” of home schooler, home schooling parent, home schooling family, etc., and thus there are multiple attitudes. But a good chunk of the home schooling population, represented by these excerpts from their own rhetoric, are more than a little annoying, and are the reason why we should always be suspicious of home schooling and home schoolers until we see their credentials.
Continue reading The Home Schooling Attitude: Part 1 of 1
Poor Bill Foster Reaps What He Sows
Today’s St. Petersburg Times has a letter from Bill Foster. Foster was the outgoing city councilman who wrote a letter to the school board opposing the teaching of modern Evolutionary Biology, or at least, the teaching of modern science without wrapping it in a medieval blanket of Christian Inquisitorial reasoning. Let’s have a look at Bills latest letter. Continue reading Poor Bill Foster Reaps What He Sows
NCSE News
Sorry, this is not as fresh and current as I would like, but you will still find it interesting. The National Center for Science Education has a news release covering a number of topics: Continue reading NCSE News
Texas Will Review Science Standards
Education committees are beginning to review the science standards for Texas Schools this month. There are indications that efforts will be made to weaken the standing of evolution, or insinuate creationism, creation science, or intelligent design into the standards.
Continue reading Texas Will Review Science Standards
Clay County (Florida) School Board Adopts Pro Creationist Standards, Breaches Ethics
First, from the standard news sources in Jacksonville:
Despite impassioned opposition from science experts, teachers and some clergy, Clay County School Board members unanimously resolved Tuesday night that evolution should be presented as a theory, and not fact, in the classroom.The board passed a resolution, proposed by Superintendent David Owens, asking the Florida Department of Education to reword its newly proposed state standards, which presents evolution as “the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported in multiple forms of scientific evidence.”Baker County approved a similar resolution Dec. 17.[source]
It is apparent that the school board, under carefully crafted legal advice, stepped as close as they could to Doverland as possible without actually going there. This is not a conclusion I draw or an opinion. It is their stated strategy.Here is a missive I have received from a concerned citizen who was at the Clay County meeting, and it is an eye-witness account of this fiasco. I reproduce it here with permission. As far as I can tell, this account is verified by the various press reports that are available. Read it and weep: Continue reading Clay County (Florida) School Board Adopts Pro Creationist Standards, Breaches Ethics
Institute for Creation Research: a New Argument Supporting Texas Certification for Masters in Science Education
From the Texas Citizens for Science:
In an email message to its friends, the Institute for Creation Research proposes The Disjunctive Duality of Science Distinction, a new argument to support its effort to obtain Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approval for its masters degree program in science education. The argument is actually an old one. It posits that two types of science exist, “experimental” science and “forensic, historical, or orgins” science. Only the first is real science, while the second–which, needless to say, includes evolutionary biology–is not a reliable science. Texas Citizens for Science posts the ICR message and provides a brief refutation of the argument.
More Bill Foster
If you follow the creationist news stories from around the country, you get a lot of the same exact thing over and over again, and it is hard to identify the novel or persistent elements in the flow of information. But increasingly it is clear that Bill Foster of St. Petersburg Florida is somewhat novel and starting to look persistent. Continue reading More Bill Foster
Science Fair Season Starts
It is science fair season! Elmer’s Inc is cranking out the three-part display boards, Office Max is stocking up on its colored paper and glue sticks, and thousands upon thousands of kids are working out the fine details of the hypothesis they want to test using an experiment that can be demonstrated in the Science Fair.
Pretty boring, actually.
Unless you focus on the Christian Creationist Science Fairs. They are Always so much fun. And remember, Greg Laden’s Blog here at scienceblogs.com is your Christian Creation Science Creationist Science Fair Center! Keep checking back!
For now, I have a few examples of previous winners at the Trinity High School science fair, one of the classic fairs, the one everybody watches.
Continue reading Science Fair Season Starts
Florida: Evolution could be coming to a classroom near you…
The latest on the Florida fight over the use of the actual word “evolution” in the classroom. (Or, more specifically, in the science standards) Continue reading Florida: Evolution could be coming to a classroom near you…
Texas Official: Call it a “Creationism Degree”
Here’s a novel idea for creationists: Be honest!
Continue reading Texas Official: Call it a “Creationism Degree”
Texas Official: Call it a”Creationism Degree”
Here’s a novel idea for creationists: Be honest! Continue reading Texas Official: Call it a”Creationism Degree”