Download CASE STUDY ANALYSIS Biology 6 – Spring 2016

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Biology 6 – Spring 2016
Your Case Study Analysis will be based on the 2 hour PBS Nova documentary “Judgment Day:
Intelligent Design on Trial” which you can watch online at the following address:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/intelligent-design-trial.html
The documentary addresses a federal trial that took place in Pennsylvania in 2005 regarding the
issue of including the concept of “intelligent design” in public school biology classes as an
alternative to evolutionary theory. Your job is to watch the documentary and in a minimum 1200
word essay address the following:
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summarize the concepts of intelligent design and evolution by natural selection
summarize the evidence presented in the trial for each side
argue/qualify your verdict for or against the plaintiffs as if you were the judge
include your own thoughts and opinions as a U.S. citizen
This assignment is worth 20 points and is due on Monday April 25th. You will be graded on how
well you address each of the issues above and the quality of your writing. There is no right or
wrong verdict, you will only be scored on how well you present each aspect of your paper.
For those who have already done this assignment in one of my previous classes, you should
read the following 2 articles and summarize each in at least 600 words (i.e., 600 words each for
a total of 1200 words).
“Traces of a Distant Past” by Gary Stix, Scientific American, July 2008, pp. 56-63.
“What Makes Us Human” by Katherine S. Pollard, Scientific American, May 2009, pp. 44-49.