Science, Evolution and Creationism

Science, Evolution and Creationism Read this FREE online! Full Book

The National Academies of Science and the Insitute of Medicine have released a book titled, SCIENCE, EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM, along with a PDF summary brochure available for download.

"Teaching creationist ideas in science class confuses students about what constitutes science and what does not," the committee stated.

This is the most important facet of the political and social conflict between science and religion. The study and practice of science has very clear expectations that do not vary anywhere in the world, or in space for that matter.

Creationism can vary based on theology. Many creation stories exists among cultures. Joseph Campbell does a wonderful job comparing many creation stories in his book and interview with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth.

My favorite definition of science comes from Richard Feynman. He states,

Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts ... Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.

I had the opportunity to study geology as an undergraduate and to do volunteer work with the Invertebrate Paleontology collection at the American Museum of Natural History. I am not an expert, but the fossil record is so vast and incredibly clear on evolution. The collection at AMNH in New York City will take more than the lifetime of the curators just to complete its organization, let alone to have specialists study all of the evidence of evolutionary processes. And that is just one collection. There are natural history museums around the world with vast collections of the fossil record representing a voluminous number of plant, animal, and micro-biotic species over billions of years.

Plus in modern genetics, the evolution of bacteria and viruses can be observed and documented.

I have only read the summary brochure as of yet, but this book is of timely importance for educators.

Sphere: Related Content

Volcano Llaima Eruption

One of the most active volcanoes in Chile erupted today. A NOAA GOES satellite image provides a good map for the location of Llaima and a clear view of its ash plume taken around sunrise this morning. According to the Global Volcanism Program website the plume reached heights of 12.5 km (41,000 ft).

Llaima Volcano, Chile (via Wikimedia Commons & Feffef)

A local amateur video of the eruption is quite spectacular. Is that background sound wind, the volcano rumbling in the distance, or a combination of the two?

Another excellent brief video is available from Scientific American, and there also is a longer video from National Geographic News. Each has its own perspective and unique images of the eruption. The National Geographic piece has a more human focus, naturally.

Sphere: Related Content

The Beginning of Your Stuff

The Story of Stuff, by Annie Leonard may be a bit dramatic and preachy, but the theme is right on track. A wonderful post at WorldChanging.com by Jeremy Faludi titled, Your Stuff: If It Isn't Grown, It Must Be Mined, gets to the source of all our stuff. Most of what follows is directly inspired by these two.

Let's begin with Ms. Leonard's introduction to The Story of Stuff:

Well, we the people of this blog are interested in that first part of Ms. Leonard's linear process, the extraction of resources, minerals specifically.

The United States Geologic Survey has wonderful educational resources for all levels of learners. Among them is The Life Cycle of a Mineral Deposit—A Teacher’s Guide for Hands-On Mineral Education Activities (40 pages; 4.2 MB PDF file).


This graphic provided by the Mineral Information Institute is from one of their Teacher Packets of resources titled Everyday Uses of Minerals. The Look at All the Minerals You Use (4 page, PDF, 368K) document has fantastic graphics and statistics (including the one above) depicting mineral use in the U.S. It includes a People Products game that connects minerals, their sources and everyday products (products are a little dated). A neat extension of this game would be to research a new personal product, like an iPod, and see how many minerals and sources are involved.

Of course you can't overlook the basics. What exactly are minerals and what do they look like? Once again, the USGS provides great basic information on minerals and rocks with terrific pictures of actual samples. Being able to hold the real thing is still the best.

But nothing beats getting out of the classroom and seeing rocks and minerals in our surroundings. And field trips aren't always possible, so the USGS has Schoolyard Geology. Designed for primary and middle school learners, I believe it can easily be adapted for more advanced learners and for urban environments.

Another cool alternative to getting outdoors is one from the Environmental Working Group who have created a U.S. Mining Database/Google Maps mashup that refers to national parks and mining as a starting point of focus. It would be really cool if they would create a KML/KMZ file for a Google Earth version.

So, can we change the way we in the U.S. and other consumer nations perceive our stuff? Minerals are a non-renewable resource. Something has to change, and will, one way or another.

Sphere: Related Content