Evoulution in the Classroom

Evolution in the classroom is a very sensitive topic for many people. The debate of whether it should be taught in school versus creationism is a one that could go on for awhile to come. I see clear standing points on both sides, and I hate to pick one side over the other. Since I'm not really a religious person my views maybe skewed towards evolution. Nonetheless, I respect the view points favoring creationism.

In my educational career, I can recall talking about evolution in my 10th grade biology class for the first time. When the unit was introduced, my teacher made it very clear that it was only a theory and told everyone that if they had questions about him teaching it to go to him. Luckily, chemistry doesn't deal with evolution directly. Evolution is important in the field of biology and needs to be taught.

Without the theory of evolution biology could not thieve. It is a basis of biology and explains a lot biological process in the world. Since it is important in biology and allowed to be taught in school, a student's religious view point should be the number one thing to be taken into consideration. At the beginning of the unit, start by stating that evolution is only a theory and what is being taught will not conflict with any one's religious beliefs. Avoiding any chances for students to retaliate should be kept at a minimum and a good choice of words are also needed. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to reassure all of the students that the evolution being discussed in class is not the changing of whole species (marcoevolution) but very small changes. For example, the penicillin resistant bacteria and how it came to be. I think that avoiding any inference of marcoevolution will keep any biology teacher safe for the most part. Discussing this in class kind of made me relieved that I don't teach biology. This is one of those topics that could stir up unwanted attention from parents.