Today’S Lesson Will Be.... . The Class Takes Their Seats,

The two-hour special documentary, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, features the Kitzmiller v. Dover School District case in 2004. It captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover, Pennsylvania in one of the latest battles over teaching evolution in public schools. Some members of the community believed that not only Darwinism, but also a so called theory, Intelligent Design, should be taught in their public high school. It was a battle between the two theories. It forced neighbor against neighbor and friend against friend. The community itself was broken half and half on the controversial issue.

An evolutionist feels that there are no grounds for proof. However, the Bible should serve as some sort of written proof for the theory of intelligent design. It has been proven that this document has been passed down through many centuries and seems to be eye witness accounts of occurrences during the beginning of creation. Speaking from an Intelligent Design point of view, these theorists believe that the two theories should embrace the other?s belief. According to Dembski, a specialist of the belief on intelligent design, this theory keeps an open mind and it is entirely agnostic on the subject of religion. Dembski hopes to detect either a biblical god or an earlier race of aliens. Either will be acceptable to him. This theory simply states that it is not possible for the universe to implode out of nowhere. This universe had to begin with some sort of creator.

Robinson, in her essay, claims that while Creationism is owned by “Religious Right”, Darwinism is owned by “Irreligious Right”2. She writes that the differences between the two are meaningless and that the people who defend religion make religion seem foolish while the defenders of science attributed to objectivity. Many people believe that Creationism and Darwinism do not belong together and are about as similar as cats and dogs. Just as there are cat people and dog people, there are people who stick to one belief or the other in the creation versus evolution debate. Robinson disagrees, however, and says that Creationism is probably the best thing that has happened to Darwinism. Darwinism, she writes, is “the caricature of religion that has seemed to justify Darwinist contempt for the whole of religion”3.

In the film Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, a small, rural town in Dover, Pennsylvania is being analyzed for its Kitzmiller vs. Dover court case. Dover is a school district in Pennsylvania whose school board argued that their students should be aware of Intelligent Design as an alternative to teaching Darwinism. There are several arguments being discussed throughout this documentary. The most expressed argument is whether not Intelligent Design should be taught in schools. Some other prevailing arguments are the belief that Intelligent Design and creationism are the same thing, the argument that evolution is neutral to religion, and the argument that evolution should not be questioned no matter what. Questions such as these captivate the mind and makes people wonder what the real truth is.

Thesis: It is patently absurd to argue that creationism and / or intelligent design deserve a place in public school textbooks in the "science" chapter or in any way near to the chapter on evolution. The United States Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of expression, so all faiths and denominations have the absolute right to worship and believe as they

For as long as mankind has had the curiosity to gaze at the stars, we have been constantly questioning our origin and place in the universe. From simple, yet elegant solutions (like our world being on the back of a large tortoise) to the more complex pantheons of gods and heavens, humanity’s dedication to classifying and comprehending our universe has enabled us to weave rich and complex mythologies and beliefs. However, in America today there are two prominent paradigms that are shaping how we see the world—Christian creationism and scientific evolution. These two schools of thought, like many other conflicting models of the universe and its creation, have fueled passions and incited spirited rivalries among its most ardent followers and fanatics, but, again like many other opposing beliefs, at the same time it is easy to see how they can be reconciled both within and without oneself. However, many scientists and theologians believe that one of the two is blasphemous and the other is gospel (or textbook) truth. For example, in Scott D Sampson’s essay Evoliteracy, (2006) Sampson denounces Christianity and pushes for everyone to learn the theory of Evolution instead of creationism. While he is correct in wanting a more educated populace, Christianity is not an inherently wrong construct. Similarly, many of those pushing for intelligent design have similarly decried the evolutionary theory as

The feud between creationist and scientist about the origins of the universe dates back to the 20’s during the Scopes trial. Scientist are against creationism because there is no evidence to support the theory. Scientist support Charles Darwin’s theory Darwinism, the theory that organisms evolve from simple to complex through minor adaptations over time, because it has held up for more than a century. Rowe’s article expresses how he believes that creationist created intelligent design to take the place of creationism in public schools after the Supreme Court ruled that

Most of the sentences can easily be refutable by means of showing evidence of natural selection and just by simply comparing the definition provided in this bill to its common or standard definition. Some of its definition was redefined in favor of the bill’s request for equality, and the use of the words “faith-based philosophical beliefs” and “non verifiable” does not conform to science. I believe that there is no idea of ‘faith’ in science. The purpose of science is to study the natural world and base their findings on data, facts, and evidence, not by faith. In addition, the use of ‘non verifiable’ on the bill suggests that if a scientist didn’t see any type of discoveries with their own eyes, then it is not verifiable. This suggests that any theories such as the Big Bang and evolution is not verifiable. The biggest issue with this term is that by the same definition, intelligent design is also not verifiable. Missouri Standard Science Act provides an ‘alternative fact’ where it redefines science, disregards it and requires the common definition of science not to be taught. This leads to fallacious assumptions and conclusions about science, its functions, and how it must be

Today Students of Mrs.Mcmanus's literacy class observed the seventh-grade students of Mrs. Holyoak’s gym class in the annex gym. Luke Cahill reports that as soon as the seventh graders entered the room you could tell that the group was a high-energy one. Right away there were to boy pushing each other around in a playful manner which also gave of the mood. The class began with a warm-up that included adding and multiplying numbers that were shot from fingers and then whoever got the answer first would run to the next corner of the gym. This warm-up lead to a very loud atmosphere where kids were flying all over the room from corner to corner screaming out answers to the math problems that appeared on their fingers. Although most of the students

Ever since Darwin published his “On the Origin of Species” in 1859, creationists have been struggling find new ways to justify their stance on the creation of the universe. One of the most recently formed branches of creationism is called Intelligent Design. The proponents of Intelligent Design claim to believe in evolutionary theory but think that evolution is simply a process set in motion by some intelligent force. They do not believe that an undirected force, such as natural selection, could have led to the complex lifeforms we see today. Unfortunately though this theory seems to prima facie use scientific principles to disprove evolution using natural selection, like the argument from improbability or irreducible complexity, it is simply

The Dover Area School Board passed a resolution offering Intelligent Design as an alternative theory to Darwin’s theory of evolution in public school. Tammy Kitzmiller sued the Dover school board in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The federal question brought to the court by the plaintiff was whether Intelligent Design was an offshoot policy of creationism. Moreover, does Intelligent Design constitute an establishment of religion, prohibited by the First Amendment, made applicable by the Fourteenth Amendment? Judge Jones presided over the case and held that Intelligent Design was not science, but religion. The Judge also ruled that the Dover School Board violated the Establishment Clause by implementing religion in public

Yesterday was Wednesday, January 25, 2017. When we strolled into class after a relaxing lunch period, we picked up several papers from the front bookshelf. To commence class we started off with a short quiz on the syllabus. This served as our warm up for the day. Following the quiz Chris read his through daily log, which brought back memories of the first day in our new classes. I volunteered to write the next daily log.

Intelligent design is not an alternative theory to evolution. Intelligent design is the belief that organisms or other things did not evolve, but were created just as they are now. In the video, the science teachers of Dover High School refuse to read a one minute statement to their classes explaining that intelligent design is an alternative theory to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Their refuting argument were as follows,

However, to truly grasp the essence of the controversy, one must understand the terminology of what school boards consensus as guiding definitions for science, the theory of evolution, and intelligent design. The common generalization shared by most Americans about science is that it’s a systematic and logical approach to discovering how things work in the natural world. This is correct, however, it is worth mentioning that this is based on fact – not on opinion or preference – and all research is held accountable to the scientific method; a rigorous process that begins with a hypothesis (an educated guess), followed by the formulation of an experiment to test the relationship of the variables in question, and ultimately an analysis, conclusion and critique of what the results yield. Darwin’s theory of evolution describes the biological processes of the

Conducting classroom observations are very important to the prospective teacher. Observing helps show how experienced teachers manage their classroom. For this observation it was important to notice how the classroom was arranged, how the teacher interacted with the students, the teacher’s management style, and interview the teacher.