Thesis:  One of the big issues in public schools today is the debate between evolutionism and creationism.  With the laws regarding church and state, which, if either, should be taught to children?  Do Children have the right to learn both sides of the story?

I.  Introduction

        A. Thesis Statement
        B. Background Information on Definitions

II. The Controversy: Evolutionism vs. Creationism

        A. What Creationist Believe
        B. What Evolutionist Believe

III. Recent Legal Cases

        A. Peloza vs. Capistrano Unified School District (1994)
        B. Webster vs. New Lennox School District (1990)
        C. Edwards vs. Aguillard (1987)

IV. National Science Education Standards
 
        A. Introduction to Standards
        B  Requirements
            a. K - 4
            b. 5 - 8
            c. 9 - 12

V. What the Teachers Think

VI.  Conclusion
 

Introduction:

     One of the biggest controversies in schools today is the debate between Evolutionism and Creationism and which should be taught in the United State's science classes.  Many Christians believe that Creationism should be given equal time in schools, but others feel that teaching Creationism is teaching religion.  Those fighting for equal time say that Creationism can be taught without all the religious jargon.  Also many argue that Evolutionism is just as much a belief system as Creationism (Creation vs. Evolution: Battle in the Classroom,1982).  Should one of these theories get more time in public schools than the other?  Children today should be presented with as much information as possible and then allowed to make their own decisions.
 
    Frequently people can not distinguish between the terms evolution and evolutionism as well as creation and creationism.  Usually this is the heart of the argument: the two sides do not understand each other's vocabulary.  The Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines the terms as follows: Creation is "the act of creating" whereas creationism is "a theory holding that matter, the various forms of life, and the world were created by God out of nothing and used in the way described in Genesis" (1995, p.272).  Evolution is "a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state" (1995, p.402).  This paper will be talking mostly about evolutionism and creationism, the terms that deal with the origin of the Earth.   Another misunderstood word relating to this topic is theory.  Francisco J. Ayala states in his "Arguing for Evolution" article that "In everyday speech, a theory is considered to be an imperfect fact, as in 'I have a theory as to what caused the explosion of TWA flight 800.'  In science, however, a theory is based on a body of knowledge" (2000, p.31).

The Controversy ö Evolutionism vs Creationism:
 
    Creationists believe that a creator (usually God) is the originator of all life.  Christians are familiar with the story in Genesis chapter one: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (The Student Bible, 1986, p.27).  Although there is really no evidence for the origin of the Earth, creationists (as well as evolutionists) have their thoughts on what happened.  Creationists believe in a young Earth ö one that is six thousands to seven thousand years old (Miller & Gould, 1984).  They believe in a flood as stated in Chapter seven of Genesis.  "The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days" (The Student Bible, 1986, p.32).   This flood definitely implies a creator of some sort since all the water on the planet could not flood the land (Miller & Gould, 1984).  The flood also accounts for fossil structures that we find today in the strata of rock.  Slow moving animals were drowned first followed by reptiles and humans and then birds.  Creationists also argue that gaps in the "evolutionary tree" and the Second Law of Thermodynamics both forbid evolution's occurrence (Miller & Gould, 1984).  It is also said that this massive flood created the Grand Canyon and other large landforms.  The Paluxy River is also a sight of much controversy.   Creationists say that dinosaur footprints were found along side of human footprints, which in turn, prove that the two walked the Earth together (Creation vs. Evolution, 1982).
 
    Scientists on the other hand may not believe in a creator who originated life.  They find support for the idea that all life forms evolved from single cell bacteria that lived on the Earth.  Scientists believe in a very old earth.  According to radiometric dating of rocks found on earth and on the moon, the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old.  Tim M. Berra supports radiometric dating in his book Evolution and the Myth of Creationism by stating that, "no other process on Earth proceeds at such an utterly constant rate" (1990, p.36). To scientists, fossil records show that the order we find fossils in the strata is the order that these species were living on this earth.  Gaps in the "evolutionary tree" may be due to rapid periods of evolution when no fossil records would have had time to form.  Scientists also claim that intermediate species are placed into their respective groups and non-scientists are often unaware of this.  There are some examples of intermediate species however.  The Archaeopteryx has feathers like a bird but also has a skeletal system like that of reptiles, and the Hyracotheriumis believed to precede the horse. Scientists also conclude that hydrogen was the only element surrounding the earth until nuclear reactions led to the formation of other known elements today.  Again, there is no evidence from the origin of the earth, so, in a way evolutionists are relying on faith as well to uphold their side of the origin story (Berra, 1990).
 
    Evolution should not be the only Earth origin theory taught in schools today.  Students should be given many different views and theories from their teachers and then be given the opportunity to form their own opinions.   Many religions around the world have an Earth origin story, and therefore it is next to impossible for teachers to teach the origin of the Earth without some religion entering into the discussion.  If many origin theories are presented then the exclusiveness of Christianity is avoided.
 
    There are standards made by several educational agencies for teaching this subject to students in schools.  These agencies include: the National Research Council who published the National Science Standards in 1996, the American Association for the Advancement of Science who wrote Benchmarks for Science Literacy in 1993, and the National Science Teachers Association who published The Content Core: A Guide for Curriculum Designers in 1992 (Teaching, 1998). Many times the curriculum for a certain school district puts a teacher in an uncomfortable situation.  What if a Christian teacher is told to teach evolutionism to her students, or what if a non-Christian teacher is told to give equal time to evolutionism and creationism?  How can this subject be taught in a manner where students are allowed to form their own opinions with the knowledge presented to them?

Recent Legal Cases:

     In the past several years, there have been court cases regarding this very subject all over then United States.  Peloza verses Capistrano Unified School District in 1994 was a case of a teacher who thought his First Amendment right of free religious exercises was being violated by teaching about evolution in his biology class.  The court found that Peloza's rights were not violated and that the school had simply required Peloza to teach a specific biological theory in his classroom.  Webster verses New Lennox School District in 1990 was a similar case.  Webster was fighting for his right of free speech to teach creation science to his students.  The court found that Webster's right of free speech was not being violated since teaching about creation would be contradicting against separation of church and state.  In 1987, the Edwards verses Aguillard case found Louisianaâs "Creationism Act" unconstitutional.  This act stated that creation science must be included when evolution was taught in public schools.  The court found that this promoted the teaching of religion in schools and it was banned (Teaching, 1998).

National Science Education Standards:

     The National Science Education Standards are just one of the guidelines for science teachers today.  The Standards break down what students should know and understand upon completion of a grade level including evolution.  These standards along with several other published documents agree that "all students should leave biology class with an understanding of the basic concepts of biological evolution and of the limits, possibilities, and dynamics of science as a way of knowing" (Teaching, 1998, p.1).  It is stressed that these Standards and curriculum are not one in the same.  The Standards can be put together in many ways to form many different curricula.
 
    "Unifying Concepts and Processes" is the first section in the Standards that mentions evolution.  It says that through the learning activities from Kindergarten through grade 12, students should understand several concepts including evolution.  The Standards (Teaching, 1998, p.2) offer the following statement to broadly defined evolution:

Evolution is a series of changes, some gradual and some sporadic, that account for the preset form and function of objects, organisms, and natural and designed systems.   The general idea of evolution is that the present arises from materials and forms of the past.  Although evolution is most commonly associated with the biological theory explaining the process of descent with modification of organisms from common ancestors, evolution also describes changes in the universe.

    In grades nine to twelve, biological evolution is one of the main topics covered in science classes.  Surprisingly, most of the evolution discussion is in regards to species evolving and adapting rather than evolution being the origin of humans on this Earth.  "The great diversity of organisms is the result of more than 3.5 billion years of evolution that has filled every available niche with life" (Teaching, 1998, p.6).  There is however a section which discusses the origin of the Earth.  This is where much of the controversy enters into the picture.  Christians especially do not like to hear of the "Big Bang" theory or any other such theories that interfere with Genesis one.  However, it is taught that a cloud of dust formed the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago and that all life forms originated from single cell life forms (Teaching, 1998, pp.1-8).

What Teachers Think:

    In the article "Evolution: Don't Debate, Educate" Rodger W. Bybee makes a great point when he writes, "Although controversies will undoubtedly continue, scientists should balance their desire for political, legal, and educational confrontation with creationists with the long-term goal of educating all students about science" (2000, p.30).  Although Bybee does stand with the evolutionist, there is much to be said for his questioning this whole debate entirely.  What are the main ideas and concepts that students should know and understand when they graduate from high school?  Perhaps these need to be focused on and taught instead of fighting about one small piece of biology.

    "Attitudes Toward Evolution," an article written by Jeffery Weld and Jill C. McNew shows what teachers actually believe regarding this subject.  Kansas voted to eliminate most references to evolution in their educational standards and chose to leave the discussion up to individual school districts and teachers.  Oklahoma on the other hand voted that teachers should not be required to teach anything that was labeled as "extra-science."  This included giving equal time to creationism in public schools.  The two authors seem to advocate the teaching of creation science.  They state that without letting personal religious or non-religious bias show through, teachers should give as much background as possible.  However, they do argue that evolution is a rather large part of biology and that it is important to understand evolution to some extent in order to understand biology.  Some of the statistics in this article were rather shocking as far as what teachers think about this controversial issue (1999).

In Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee, 23.4 percent of science teachers report little or no emphasis on evolution in their courses.  Fifteen percent of biology teachers include a creationism component in their classes.  Thirty percent of Illinois science teachers believe that both evolution and creationism ought to be taught in science class.  Thirty-nine percent of South Dakota biology teachers believe creationism ought to be taught in public schools.  One-third of Pennsylvania science teachers believe evolution is not central to the study of biology, and 23 percent of Louisiana biology teachers place little or no emphasis on evolution instruction.

Obviously Teachers do not feel that this is as big of an issue as the evolutionist and creationist do.  Perhaps the choice should be left to the teachers rather than allowing all of these outside influences to play a role.

Conclusion:

     Children should be given the opportunity to learn as much as they possibly can while they are in school.  Why not give them both sides of the story?  If Evolution is taught then creation should be as well.  People would be more accepting of the idea if many different religions had their creation stories taught in the public schools.
     Today people in general seem to be stubborn.  It seems that they should be more open minded in regards to what they are willing to learn.  Creationist should be willing to learn about evolution just as evolutionist should be willing to learn about creationism.  Why not try to learn as much information and about as many viewpoints as possible?  Most of the problem comes down to people being ignorant about that other view.  Most hard core creationists do not understand or have not made an attempt to understand what evolutionism is all about and vice versa.  Not everyone understands Shakespeare or mathematics, or chemistry, but these subjects are still taught in schools all over the world.  This is accepted because this is the way that it has always been done.  Teaching evolution and creation in schools is just going to take some adjustments in thinking.  In a generation or two the issue will not even exist because everyone will be used to the idea.  Things are changing in the world all around us, and humanity has adapted.  Getting used to both evolution and creation in public schools is exactly the same.
     As Rodger W. Bybee suggests in his "Evolution: Donât Debate, Educate" article, "they [teachers] should help students develop a greater understanding and appreciation for science as a way of explaining the natural world" (2000, p.31).  More teachers should take this advice and remember the true reason that they became a science teacher.

Ayala, F.J. (February 2000)  "Arguing for Evolution."  The Science Teacher.  Volume 67. pp. 30-32.

Berra, Tim M. (1990)  Evolution and the Myth of Creationism.  Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Bybee, R.W. (October 2000)  "Evolution: Donât Debate, Educate."  The Science Teacher. Volume 67. pp.30-34.

The Creation Controversy and the Science Classroom. (2000)  Arlington VA: NSTA Press.

Creation vs. Evolution: Battle in the Classroom. (1982) PBS Video: San Diego.

Marriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th Ed. (1995) Springfield Massachusetts: Marriam-Webster Inc.

Miller, Kenneth R, and Gould, Stephen Jay. (1984) Science and Creationism.  Ed.  Ashley Montagu.  Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Student Bible. (1986) New International Version.  Notes by Phillip Yancey and Tim Stafford. Grand Rapids Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.

Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science. (1998) http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/evolution98/evol4.html.

Weld, J. and McNew, J.C. (December 1999)  "Attitudes Toward Evolution."  The Science Teacher.  Volume 66.  pp. 27-31.