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This email came to me from an environmental education group (The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation,    http://www.neetf.org/ ), but it is certainly applicable and important to those of us in ASTC and the science center field. 


Martin S. Fisher 
Director of Education 
Nauticus, the National Maritime Center 
One Waterside Drive 
Norfolk, VA  23510 
36°50'51"N   76°17'53"W   13 ft.                             
phone: (757) 664-1003, (800) 664-1080 ext. 41003 
fax: (757) 623-1287    cell (757) 617-7080 
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>        www.nauticus.org <http://www.nauticus.org> 





-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Coyle [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 9:28 PM
To: Kevin Coyle
Subject: Ecology, EE and the classroom "creationism wars"



To our colleagues:

Since January 1, 2004 at least four more state public education programs - Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma -- have become further embroiled in the debate of why evolution is taught as actual science and the concept of "intelligent design" or creationism is not.  The April/May edition of NSTA Reports has a feature article on recent developments in this move to give equal time to creationism.   

Public treatments of this issue range from attempts at the deletion of references to evolution in state science standards (GA) to state bills providing for the immediate termination of an educator who willfully neglects to teach "intelligent design" as a scientific principle (MO).   The Oklahoma House passed a "disclaimer" law, 96-0, which frames evolution as follows:" "No one was present when life first appeared on Earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact." 

This movement has, in some fashion, now affected a majority of states in the nation and ultimately positions ecological and environmental education as secular and perhaps even anti-religious.  This has particular implications for the official public standing of nature, ecology and biodiversity education -- texts, lesson plans, field trips, curricula, professional development andmore.  Many of our colleagues in the environmental and conservation field may want to know more about this ongoing movement. See, for example: http://www.natcenscied.org/    or www.nsta.org  

Best,    Kevin Coyle
www.neetf.org 

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