Teaching evolution in Florida

Today's New York Times has a story in about a David Campbell, a high school biology teacher in Florida, who fought to have evolution become part of the high school standards. He faced a lot of opposition as Ronda Storms and other members of the legislature, backed by local creationist activists and the Disco 'Tute, fought to create a "teach the controversy" law to protect teacher's "academic freedom."

The piece shows how high school teachers have to work on the front lines where being pragmatic and creative in your methods is essential to good education. He uses the evolution of Mickey Mouse's appearance as an example of selection. Going on, it highlights a bit of his problem with a student named Bryce:

“Evolution has been the focus of a lot of debate in our state this year,” he said. “If you read the newspapers, everyone is arguing, ‘is it a theory, is it not a theory?’ The answer is, we can observe it. We can see it happen, just like you can see it in Mickey.”

Some students were nodding. As the bell rang, Mr. Campbell stood by the door, satisfied. But Bryce, heavyset with blond curls, left with a stage whisper as he slung his knapsack over his shoulder.

“I can see something else, too,” he said. “I can see that there’s no way I came from an ape.”

Of course, he's not alone. There are his parents. His neighbors. Entire communities who elect legislators and school boards and pay with their tax money for education and schooling. When about 75% of the American electorate thinks that Biblical or "scientific" creationism and/or intelligent design should be taught alongside the theory of evolution, a teacher like Campbell has a lot of work to do and complaints to field.

Unsurprisingly (given the recent PLoS article on teaching evolution), Teresa Yancey who teaches biology down the hall from Campbell teaches a unit called "Evolution or NOT." In the end she tells her students that evolution can't account for all of life's diversity. She tells them, "I think that God did it." Now there's some science for you.

Her defense of this idea is in a Kirk Cameron-style cartoon version of evolution. Cameron likes the crocoduck - Yancey uses the "blizzard":

Mr. Campbell was well aware of her opinion. “I don’t think we have this great massive change over time where we go from fish to amphibians, from monkeys to man,” she once told him. “We see lizards with different-shaped tails, we don’t see blizzards — the lizard bird.”

With some approximation of courtesy, Mr. Campbell reminded her that only a tiny fraction of organisms that ever lived had been preserved in fossils. Even so, he informed his own students, scientists have discovered thousands of fossils that provide evidence of one species transitioning into another — including feathered dinosaurs.

It is sort of pathetic that she uses the blizzard as her example precisely for the reason that Campbell cites. We have ample evidence that birds descended from dinosaurs. There's even DNA now which points to an overwhelming likelihood that T-Rex and birds have remarkably similar DNA. [There is some controversy about how tainted that T-Rex DNA might be. The jury is out. It's a tentative finding.] Look at the morphology of a Gallimimus (pictured right) and an ostrich and it's easy to see. To deny even it's possibility is to shield the mind from evidence.

Campbell uses NOMA quite effectively in the classroom. In a good piece of politics and education he separates science and religion so that students can work out their ideas. Teachers take note:

"[There] is scientific proof that there is a God,” he said. “Over in Turkey there’s a piece of wood from Noah’s ark that came out of a glacier.”

Mr. Campbell chose his words carefully.

“If I could prove, tomorrow, that that chunk of wood is not from the ark, is not even 500 years old and not even from the right kind of tree — would that damage your religious faith at all?”

Bryce thought for a moment.

“No,” he said.

The room was unusually quiet.

“Faith is not based on science,” Mr. Campbell said. “And science is not based on faith. I don’t expect you to ‘believe’ the scientific explanation of evolution that we’re going to talk about over the next few weeks.”

“But I do,” he added, “expect you to understand it.”

Excellent. I would hope that we'd all be lucky enough to have teachers like Campbell, no matter the philosophical objections I might have. Pragmatism and reality win out.