1 / 20

Chapter 6: The Role of Evolution in Court and Classroom

Chapter 6: The Role of Evolution in Court and Classroom. Presented by Stephanie Norris and Shannon O’Connor. First Amendment. “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of thereof.” Different interpretations “Free exercise” argument

hisoki
Download Presentation

Chapter 6: The Role of Evolution in Court and Classroom

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 6: The Role of Evolution in Court and Classroom Presented by Stephanie Norris and Shannon O’Connor

  2. First Amendment • “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of thereof.” • Different interpretations • “Free exercise” argument • “Establishment” argument

  3. History • 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

  4. Scientific Evidence in Court • 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.

  5. Scientific Evidence in Court • 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

  6. The Use of Evolution in Court • 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

  7. The Use of Evolution in Court • 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

  8. The Use of Evolution in Court • 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

  9. Discussion Question 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?

  10. Evolution in the Classroom • Evolutionary biology serves as a unifying concept for the life sciences • Comprehensive biological understanding • Application of evolution in education and research

  11. Cells Evolution of mitochondria and chloroplasts in eukaryotes Phylogenetic analyses of homologous genes Eukaryotic genomes

  12. Sex Benefits of sexual reproduction Segregation and recombination yields variation Spreads advantageous traits and removes deleterious ones through natural selection

  13. Evolutionary Computation 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

  14. Evolution in Education • How should evolution fit into education curriculum? • Policies for including evolution into public education Scientific American. 2002. “Down with evolution!”

  15. Evolution in Undergraduate Level 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

  16. Evolution in Public High Schools • 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

  17. Evolution in Public High Schools • 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

  18. “No Evolution, No Science” 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

  19. Conclusions • 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

  20. Discussion Question What are the goals of education in science? How should evolutionary theory fit into these goals in public schools and in undergraduate studies?

More Related