OLATHE, KS - Wendy Leckmann's sixth graders are ready to talk about what they've learned in geology class. One student raises her hand. Her question: According to the textbook, some scientists believe the planet is very old. But of course, her revised science textbook emphasizes that the estimated age of the earth is just a theory. Besides, what the book says is very different from what her parents and minister say. "Why do the scientists say that?" she asks. "Well Susan," replies Ms. Leckmann, "it's Just Because." Discussion in the class quickly moves in another direction.
More than three years after Kansas became an international laughingstock because of a State Board of Education vote to remove mandatory teaching about evolution from science education standards, a new science policy has been added to all schools' curricula. "Just Because" science, a joint effort of the State Board and a coalition of independent free-market science think-tanks, emphasizes uncertainty and human frailty, while allowing that controlled, systematic observation occasionally bears useful fruit. "Our job isn't to weaken or water down science standards, though many education bureaucrats say so," says Sidney Bolton, executive director of Sound Science, one of the groups that helped draw up the requirements. "What we are doing is making sure that potentially disruptive controversy and disturbing theories don't damage the ability of our students to learn important science facts."
"Nonsense," says Dr. Irwin Mandelbaum, a physicist, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a well-known authority on science teaching standards in a number of developed countries. "What Just Because is doing is simply short-circuiting the scientific process for the sake of political expediency." Among the examples he cites: a new junior high science book that discusses the Grand Canyon while avoiding any mention of how old the world-famous formation may be, or how it may have formed. Instead, Kansas junior high kids are now required to remember the order of rock formation names from top to bottom, along with the color of each rock formation, along with what state the canyon lies in and how many different chain restaurants are available on the South Rim for tourists. Full: http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/02/11/26_kansas.html --- Sent from UnionMail Service [http://mail.union.org.za]