Why Should Students Learn Evolution

The debate over teaching evolution in public schools is not new at all but the debate has been elevated through the media over the past few years. Conservative Christians and other conservatives serving on school boards (particularly in the South) have been insisting that if schools are going to buy textbooks that have evolution chapters then they should also have a place in that textbook near the evolution chapter for creationism. Progressives and scholars that understand the scientific basis for evolution argue that there's nothing wrong with putting creationism or "intelligent design" in textbooks but that subject is not science-based and therefore should be published in the "religion" chapter (if there is one). Should evolution be taught in public schools? The answer is yes, most certainly; to ignore evolution is to deprive public school students of some of the most important knowledge relating to our planet and our society. Scientific ignorance is unacceptable in a country that calls itself the "greatest nation on earth."

John Scopes was born on August 3, 1900, in Paducah, Kentucky. In 1924 he started to teach at Rhea County Central High School in Dayton, Tennessee. At that time there was a national debate about whether evolution should be taught in schools. It was then later decided that evolution would not be taught in publicly funded schools. The American Civil Liberties Union thought differently and wanted to challenge the Butler Act. John Scopes volunteered to be tried under this new law. He admitted to using a textbook that contained evolution while serving as a substitute biology teacher. He wanted to stand up for academic freedom. He once said, “What goes on in the classroom is up to the student and the teacher. Once you introduce the power of the state telling what you can and cannot do you’ve become involved in propaganda.” John Scopes was found guilty, but his conviction was later overturned.

It is emphasized greatly because that is how we understand ourselves, our past, present and even the future. Through evolution we have discovered when the first organisms came around and how modifications led to the first fish to migrate to land about 375 million years ago, our ancestral fish Tiktaalik, and how that led to mammals and eventually humans. Not only has evolution turned us into the beings we are today but helped to explain some of the diseases that plague humans today. From the ability to store fat that has led to obesity today due to sedentary lifestyles, to the hiccups we endure thanks to tadpoles and fish. Accordingly, with the theory that organisms keep evolving, humans might give way to even more complex life. Evolution is an excellent explanation to the standard limb theory of Sir Richard Owen to show that most species follow a similar pattern of limbs and evolution is the best theory we have to explain the vast similarities we have. Many of the experiments throughout the book showed that we looked similar but are also chemically alike. The Hedgehog gene in every animal makes for mirrored limbs and further solidifies the evolution theory. The experiments were all carried out in the hope of finding why we are who we are and many have explained this because evolution is an essential matter to learn and grow

In its basic form, the theory of evolution has been confirmed so completely that most modern biologists consider evolution simply a fact (Mayr 1982). It states that environmental factors such as climate, disease, competition from other organisms, and availability of certain types of food will lead to the preferential survival and reproduction of

Natural selection involves the adaptation of a species to better survive in their designated environment. When organisms reproduce, they pass down their DNA to their offspring. For example, a child that is tall is the result of their parent being tall as well. Parents pass down traits to their children. When it comes to survival, some organisms are better at it than others based on the traits that they have acquired. Some organisms can camouflage from predators while members of the same species do not obtain that same trait. With that in mind, the ones that can camouflage will most likely survive in certain environments and they will then pass on that trait when they reproduce. Since these traits are advantageous, they are passed on to more and more offspring through time and it will eventually overcome any original traits that species first started out with. It’s kind of like the current state of sexual misconduct in Hollywood. We have our directors, actors, agents, and so forth. However, as time goes on, some do not survive in the business based on their inherently evil traits and they get weeded out just like some species in the wild. As generations pass, these organisms have then adapted to fit the environment and better survive based on their inherited traits.

According to Dr. James Krupa of The University of Kentucky “evolution is the foundation upon which all biology rests.” In biology, evolution is the genetic change in characteristics over generations and is dependent on the process of natural selection. ‘The theory of evolution is based on the idea that all species are related and gradually change over time’ (Genome Campus, 2017). Genetic variation is vital to evolution as it affects the physical characteristics or phenotypes of morphology. Natural Selection is affected by environmental factors that act upon a population and result in the mutation of organism through offspring. These mutations enable individuals to adapt to their environments in order to survive, find food, avoid predators and

The course dates back to centuries and we all have learnt the gist of evolutionary biology, including Darwinism, natural selection, genetic variation and more. But what would make the course a little better is to include some articles like the one used in this paper. After reading the extended evolution paper, I browsed around the science alert website and saw a couple of interesting articles that could of be integrated in our course. This being said, students would have a more up-to-date knowledge of evolution and have a better time understanding the material if newer information is incorporated with the older information taught in

Vanessa Alacantar was a high school student who wrote an argumentative essay entitled “Why creationism should be taught in schools.” As can be ascertained from the title, the author’s position is that the theory of creation should be taught in schools alongside evolutionary studies. She writes the essay with a sure and almost condescending tone, making certain claims out of context in addition to using faulty logic in what I personally see as an attempt to confuse the reader about the view opposite her own.

An argument commonly used against evolution is that it is “just a theory” therefore it is the same thing as a guess. In science, the word “theory” has a different meaning than when used in everyday life. A scientific theory is a hypothesis that is well

Evolution is a real thing that happened and is still happening today, there is so much evidence to prove it. We have the fossil record, we know how natural selection works and how and why it happens, and we know how artificial selection works and that we use it all of the time today. There is just too much evidence to call evolution just a theory.

It has recently been brought to our (the Board of Education) attention that there is a debate in the schools as to whether or not evolution, or creation science, should be eliminated from the curriculum. It is understandable that certain groups of people, such as the “Concerned Parents” organization, are not comfortable with this concept being taught to their students, however, it is crucial that they understand the benefit behind allowing their child to be exposed to a variance of viewpoints and outlooks on the world from a scientific and also social perspective.

“If no such variations exist, the population rapidly goes extinct because it cannot adapt to a changing environment” (O’Neil, 1998-2013). Scientists call this reproductive success. “Within a specific environment context, one genotype will be better than another genotype in survival or reproduction for certain reasons having to do with the way its particular features relate to the environment or relate to other organisms within the population” (Futuyma, 2000-2014). The theory of evolution is explicable through various kinds of scientific research.

Offspring that possess favorable traits are more capable of surviving into adulthood and thus reproducing. We know from genetics that there is an increased likelihood that their offspring would also possess that desirable trait. The population of individuals possessing the trait would increase as more individuals possessing the trait survived to reproductive years, and fewer without the trait did not. Natural selection can help prevent a species from going extinct if they were to face adverse conditions that

The issues about evolution have been argued for several hundred years. For example, even until now, some religion of the Christian Denomination still refuse to admit the evolution is a fact. However, evolution explains a lot of phenomenon appearing in nature environment. Thus more and more people believe it and think these phenomenon are the evidence! Let us sort out them below:

Years ago Charles Darwin created the theory of natural selection. He attempted to explain how evolution worked, and his theory is now regarded as correct. Natural selection states that animals with traits that are better suited to their environment will survive and reproduce more. This would explain how evolution works. Groups of animals with the most beneficial traits survive and are able to reproduce. While the other group has difficulty surviving and would therefore reproduce less. The variation between that type of animal would come from a random mutation which turned out to be useful. An animal may get a mutation which is either beneficial or disadvantageous to the organism (1). As time progresses there are a larger amount of animals with the beneficial trait, while there is a lot less animals with the older trait. Natural selection correlates to the phrase “survival of the fittest” meaning that animals with beneficial traits will survive, while those without will die (2). Theoretically, this could lead to an entire change of the population; leaving only the group that can survive easily and produce more offspring.