Download Slides - Michigan State University

Presented by Stephanie Norris
and Shannon O’Connor
 “Congress
shall make no laws respecting
an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise of thereof.”
 Different
interpretations
• “Free exercise” argument
• “Establishment” argument
 1920s: Teaching
evolution was banned in
schools
 1925: Scopes trial
 1968: Ban against teaching evolution was
ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court
 1970s: Fundamentalist Christians sought
again to require the teaching of creation
science, but ultimately ruled it to be a
religious account of nature and not
scientific
 1923
Frye v. United States
• “General acceptance within scientific
community as prerequisite for admitting
scientific evidence in court”
 1975 The
Federal Rules of Evidence
• Expert witness may testify in the form of an
opinion
• Assign trial judge the task of ensuring that an
expert’s testimony both rests on reliable
foundation and is relevant to the task at hand.
 1993
Daubert v. Merrell
Dow Pharmaceuticals
• Daubert rejects any
formal checklist
 Currently, judges
are in
charge of what is
admissible in their court.
• Results in a variety of
contradictory decisions
 1)Forensics
• Due to variation in an
individual’s genome
DNA can be used at
crime scenes to identify
individuals present
• Example: Rape cases,
jogger in Central Park,
and OJ Simpson Trial
 2)Phylogeny
• Due to the ability to
trace ancestry of a
species, allows for the
determination of the
source of an infectious
agents
• Example: Doctor who
infected his mistress
 3)Evolutionary Variation
• Knowledge of variation across an
organism's life history can be used
as evidence
• Feeding cycles differ greatly across
insects.
 This knowledge can allow for the
determination of the amount of time
that has past.
• Example: Missing girl’s time of
death
 Evolution
has been attacked in the courts
but, as Mindell has shown, it is now
beginning to be used as scientific
evidence in some trials. What might this
shift indicate about public perceptions
and misperceptions about the
evolutionary science?

 Evolutionary
biology serves
as a unifying concept for
the life sciences
 Comprehensive biological
understanding
 Application of evolution in
education and research
 Evolution
of
mitochondria and
chloroplasts in
eukaryotes
 Phylogenetic analyses of
homologous genes
 Eukaryotic genomes
 Benefits
of sexual reproduction
 Segregation and recombination yields
variation
 Spreads advantageous traits and removes
deleterious ones through natural
selection
 Using
the process of evolutionary biology
in solving real world problems
 Engineering, industry, and science
 5 step process of applying evolutionary
algorithms in everyday life
 How
should evolution
fit into education
curriculum?
 Policies for including
evolution into public
education
Scientific American. 2002. “Down
with evolution!”
 The
requirement of evolutionary biology
is increasing for biology majors in junior
and senior years
 Reputation for excellence in education of
a university
 Prepares students for careers in all
science based fields
 High
school programs have the same
goal as universities but different in
implantation
 Great risk of interference from creationist
activists
 Creationist activists want to include
creationist view in curriculum and
textbooks
 Balanced treatment
• 1982: McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education
• 1987: Edwards v. Aguillard
 Intelligent design
• 2005: Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
 Teach the controversy about evolution
approach
 Restrictions on evolution cause widespread
concern about quality of science education
and preparedness for college
 Mainstream
cultures use a scientific
worldview
 Criterion of accuracy
 Many stories covered in media make
sense with an evolutionary world view,
but would not make sense in a world
without evolution
 More
people of faith are accepting evolution
 Explaining human origins is only one aspect
of evolutionary biology.
 Applications are underappreciated by
public
 “Evolution is arguable the most inclusive of
the biological sciences”
 Evolution has penetrated not only the legal
system and classroom but all throughout
modern culture
 What
are the goals of education in
science? How should evolutionary theory
fit into these goals in public schools and
in undergraduate studies?