How does any state-related joke begin? “So I hear that Florida …” Every now and then, though, something interesting does happen down there that doesn’t involve meth lab explosions or paternity suits. In this case, it’s evolution.
No, not the people. They don’t have naturally-occurring mouse ears … yet.
According to a staff editorial by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “Let’s use ‘evolution’ and get it over with,” the State Board of Education is considering adding evolution to its science curriculum.
This begs a question: what have they been teaching in their biology classes?! I figure it went one of two ways.
Lesson Plan #1:
Read the book of Genesis to the class. Recreate God’s creation of snakes with Play-Doh. Follow up with Crocodile Hunter DVDs.Lesson Plan #2:
Watch Crocodile Hunter DVDs. Do not answer any questions regarding God, Darwin or “will this be on the test?”
You have to wonder about states that refuse to teach the latest–and I use that term loosely for evolution–scientific theories in public schools. While people can, and do, argue against teaching contested ideas, this only seems to apply to Darwin.
I was taught in high school algebra that imaginary numbers exist. Several teachers tried to prove this to me with very compelling but complicated arguments. To appease them and catch the bus, I nodded, said, “Oh, I get it now,” and failed some quizzes.
I was also taught in high school English that Jim and Huck’s journey down the Mississippi in Huckleberry Finn could read as an allegory for rebirth, the river representing the birth canal. Though I disagreed, I made sure to include the theory on my crib sheet for the test along with translations of Huck’s incoherent narration.
In social studies, I was taught that there is an Electoral College that voters elect to vote for the President. However, I have yet to meet anyone on Career Day that explains their job as an Elector or how they live on one paycheck every four years. Instead, I continue to believe that the Electoral College is just a metaphor for vote fraud.
In PE, I was taught that square dancing is an acceptable form of cardiovascular exercise. Rather than cite all the fat smokers in any square dancing group, I dosadoed as ordered.
In band, I was taught that reading and playing music would improve my math skills. See the above paragraph on imaginary numbers to see how well that worked for me.
Despite all of this, I still graduated high school (and later college), and still refuse to believe in imaginary numbers to this day. The point is that, although I was taught, I didn’t necessarily learn.
So why should evolution be any different for creationism-subscribers? At the very worst, Christian students will be taught that there is a theory that has been tested by the scientific method and that they can use that same method to prove their own theories.
That doesn’t mean they’ll learn it, but the same can be said for a quiche recipe in Home Economics class.