Charles Darwin's Theory Of Evolution In Public Schools
Introduction Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution has stirred much controversy since its inception in the 1850s. United States Public schools have continually been pressured by special interest groups on both sides of the debate. Many educators struggle with how to approach the theory, if it is taught at all (Armenta et al., 2010). The general lack of acceptance to the theory is often attributed to the high degree of fundamentalism that is prevalent in the religious and political views of many Americans (Frasier et al., 2011). It was not until 1967, when Tennessee legislature repealed the Butler Act, which was a law enacted in 1925 that made it a misdemeanor for a teacher in the state's public schools to "teach any theory that denies the story
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Evolution should be taught in public schools because it is the unifying concept of all the life sciences, has formed the basis of productive and active research, and serves as the framework for all future …show more content…
One of the areas of study in which evolution is necessary to understand is medicine. There are a few key ideas in which evolution affects the study of medicine which would include, but not limited to the idea that selection acts on organisms’ ability to reproduce and not health or longevity. Another key idea is that the evolutionary history of humans does not cause disease, but that it instead impacts the risk of disease in certain environments. In addition, the environment in which humans of today live in are different compared to those in which humans evolved. These evolutionary ideas when combined with population genetics provide a comprehensive view in which evolutionary processes can affect the risk of disease in people. These perspectives provide a more cohesive framework for gaining insights into the determinants of health and disease. This in turn effects the scientific advances made in genetics and developmental biology research (Gluckman et al., 2011). Overall, evolutionary perspectives offers scientists an important addition to understanding
Evolution should be taught in public schools because it is the unifying concept of all the life sciences, has formed the basis of productive and active research, and serves as the framework for all future …show more content…
One of the areas of study in which evolution is necessary to understand is medicine. There are a few key ideas in which evolution affects the study of medicine which would include, but not limited to the idea that selection acts on organisms’ ability to reproduce and not health or longevity. Another key idea is that the evolutionary history of humans does not cause disease, but that it instead impacts the risk of disease in certain environments. In addition, the environment in which humans of today live in are different compared to those in which humans evolved. These evolutionary ideas when combined with population genetics provide a comprehensive view in which evolutionary processes can affect the risk of disease in people. These perspectives provide a more cohesive framework for gaining insights into the determinants of health and disease. This in turn effects the scientific advances made in genetics and developmental biology research (Gluckman et al., 2011). Overall, evolutionary perspectives offers scientists an important addition to understanding