Now: Do Animals Look The Same?

The 1920’s was a time of prosperity and change in the United States, but with change comes disagreements. One of the largest debates during this time period, and still today, was the debate between science and religion. Many people were Christians in America during this time and they believed that the story of how God created the Earth should be taught in public schools. These people were called “fundamentalists.” They believed nothing could compare to or be as powerful as God’s word. The other side to this debate were the Modernists, or the ones who believed in science rather than religion. Modernists wanted to teach the theory of evolution in public schools instead of the Creation story the Fundamentalists believed in (“United States in History”). All of these different opinions led to one of the most famous trials known as the Scopes v. State of Tennessee trial. John Scopes was a substitute teacher in Tennessee who decided to teach the theory of evolution to a science class. Scopes was accused of violating the Butler Act, which states that teaching anything that

Facts: The parties in this case are the appellant, Susan Epperson an Arkansas public high school teacher, and the State of Arkansas. Ms. Epperson brought legal action against the State of Arkansas in order to challenge the Constitutional legitimacy of the State’s “Anti-evolution” law. The “Anti-evolution” law made it illegal for any teacher in a state supported school to teach evolution or to use a book, which included the theory. Ms. Epperson believed the State’s prohibition of teaching evolution violated her Constitutional rights and thus initiated legal action in the courts.

Starting with the Scopes Trial, many more cases have occurred concerning the teaching of evolution. “By 1928 every southern state except Virginia had debated or was considering legislation banning the teaching of evolution in the

“The main lesson of biogeography is that only evolution can explain the diversity of life on continents and islands.” (Coyne 109).In convergent evolution 3 of the six components discussed in chapter 1 are working together. These 3 components are common ancestry, speciation, and natural selection. If evolution did exist, ancestors of species today that lived in the same place, when dug up, should be fossils that resemble organisms today.

“In 1925, Tennessee outlawed teaching the theory of human evolution in public schools.” This ban of evolution was taken to court and was named the Scopes Monkey Trial, since the Tennessee teacher John Scopes was the defendant in the case. However, as Ronald Numbers states in his book, Galileo Goes to Jail: and other myths about science and religion, this was a response “to the invitation of the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposed the statute on free-speech grounds, [so] town leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, decided to test the new statute in court by arranging a friendly indictment of a local science teacher named John Scopes.” In this trial many celebrities in politics and law presided over this trial, in the end it was more of a publicity stunt than anything else. Yet for many years, this trial was believed to be entirely about how the very Christian based community of Tennessee didn’t agree with the teachings of evolution. This event was misconstrued so much that it was even printed in school books that give examples of Sciences fight against the tyranny of Christianity. Newspapers printed headlines about this trial for years to come and it lead the public to believe that this was not just about publicity but about the actual fight of science vs

In early 1925, Tennessee passed a law that made it illegal to teach evolution. In the summer of 1925, a young schoolteacher named John Scopes stood trial in Dayton, Tennessee, for violating the state law against the teaching of evolution (The Scopes Trial).The jury found Scopes guilty of violating the law and fined him $100 (Scopes Trial). The Scopes trial resulted in two enduring conclusions: that legislatures should not restrain the freedom of scientific inquiry, and that society should respect academic freedom (The Scopes

It was stated that Scopes didn’t deliberately teach the theory of Evolution, but the classroom assigned book by the state featured a chapter on it(Armstrong). The whole trial proved that the judge treated everything with extreme bias, from allowing a prayer before each day to making it nearly impossible for Darrow to get a good argument that would be allowed to stay in the records(Noah). When Scopes was asked what point in time that he taught Evolution he said that he didn’t remember if he did at all because it wasn’t in his lesson plans(Noah). This case was held with the most disrespect a judge or state could give a

The Scopes Trial Project... Evolution vs. Creationism John Scopes: He was a teacher in Tennessee who went on trial for teaching evolution in his classroom. This is a big deal because at this time the were many religious people. He saw this case as a chance to stand up for academic freedom. After days on the trial, the jury only took a few minutes to decide that Scopes was guilty. Later on, he conviction was overturned.

The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies “the timeless debate over science and religion.” (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive “the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.” (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from allover to witness

Different organisms that have similar basic structures, but can be used for different purposes are evidence for a common ancestor. These are called homologous structures. An example is the pentadactyl limb, which is the basic structure found in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The basic structure is formed of:

The fossil record is evidence of evolution. Fossils are often fingerprints of evolution. They help scientists track how species evolved

Across America people continue to debate about whether the theory of evolution should be taught in schools. In the year 1925, a trial was held in Tennessee in which a substitute teacher was being tried for teaching human evolution in a state funded school. The man, John Scopes, was found guilty and fined, but this brought about a question that has plagued the country for years. Should teachers in public schools teach about human evolution, and if so how does this interfere with the religious side of people’s beliefs? Although many people believe that it is beneficial for evolution to be taught in schools, it is not necessary at all.

The debate regarding teaching the theory of evolution in today’s public schools has been raging for quite some time and the controversy never seems to go away. From the early controversies in the 1920’s all the way until today, evolution has been a hot topic. Evolution is a particularly sensitive subject in the southern regions of the United States; also known as the Bible Belt. The controversy regarding teaching evolution originated from a legal case in Dayton, Tennessee where a coach and substitute science teacher named John Scopes was charged and put on trial for using a textbook by George W. Hunter titled A Civic Biology (Bybee, 2001, p. 2). The Butler Law was a law prohibiting the teaching of human

Some pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms include: temporal, ecological, behavioral, and mechanical. Temporal isolating mechanisms include the time at which species mate during the year can affect the possibility of two species mating together. Ecological isolating mechanisms include the habitat in which the species is living in. Behavioral isolating mechanisms include the mating behaviors of species and how they are able to find mate. An example includes male birds having specific songs they sing to find females. Mechanical isolating mechanisms include the way in which a species will mate, including the genitalia. Post-zygotic isolating mechanisms include: hybrid inviability, hybrid infertility, and hybrid breakdown. Hybrid inviability happens when the hybrid is produced but cannot develop and eventually dies. Hybrid infertility occurs when the hybrid develops, but is unable to reproduce because it is sterile. Hybrid breakdown occurs when the hybrids in the first generation are able to reproduce but the hybrids in the second generation are unable to develop and

First to understand reproductive isolation you must know what speciation is meant to natural selection. Speciation occurs when natural selection dives one species to split into two or more species (Bethel University, 2015). When speciation occurs, it can leave a one of the groups in reproductive isolation which is the inability to mate. This can occur for a few different reasons there could be a barrier that creates divide or unique phenotypical traits that will not allow for the mating with another species. This essentially will lead to the extinction of the new species that is doomed to reproductive isolation