Science and Religion

I just read a great article about science (specifically evolution) and its relation to religious faith.

One of the things that mars our culture is the fracture between faith and science. It impoverishes our inquiry into the realities that make up our life and world. This is a false opposition.
[...]
It is a mistake to treat the theology of creation in the Book of Genesis as a scientific textbook. It does unfold a profound and valid truth about the world in which we live, its order and purpose. The Book of Genesis speaks about the relationship between God and creation and especially about the place of humanity in that relationship. That wonderful narrative of creation offers us a first vision of an “ecology of holiness” in which every material and living thing has a place and its creativity is consecrated in goodness by God. The account of creation in Genesis is pointing us beyond the question “how?” to the question “why?”
[...]
The anniversary of Darwin's birth is an invitation to renew the conversation between science and faith. Christianity can contribute to the progress of science, not only by encouraging scientists in the search for truth, but by inviting them to consider these wider questions that go to the heart of our common and necessary search for understanding.
[...]
This alerts us to the question that lies within all our other questions: the choice that humans alone have to make between good and evil. It is a question planted at the heart of Genesis's account of creation. It is as much a question for the scientist as for the believer. It, too, is about our freedom. Darwin's theory does not take away the reality of that freedom and the moral responsibility it gives us.

True knowledge comes not from scientific or religious dogma. True knowledge is found in the continual search for truth...both physical and spiritual.

Man and Monkeys

Common responses to evolution questions:

Teacher: What do you know about evolution?
Student: It says that man came from chimps/monkeys.
Teacher: So what questions do you have?
Student: If man came from chimps/monkeys, then why are there still chimps/monkeys alive today?

One of the biggest obstacles to teaching the theory of evolution in biology class is getting students over the false preconceptions of what the theory really says. In order to kick off our "Darwin Day" activities, I had each of my classes reflect on these statements, and describe whether they thought the following statement was true or false: "The theory of evolution states that man evolved from monkies/chimps."

This statement is false. Evolution (descent, with modifications, from common ancestors) gives us a picture of the history of life on earth that looks much like a family tree. If we use this analogy, then humans occupy a distinct branch of that tree. Chimps, being our closest living "relatives" would occupy a second branch that is near but distinct from ours. If we go back down that family tree a ways (back in time) there is a "common" ancestor that both chimps and humans evolved from. If we continue traveling backwards, we would come to an earlier ancestor that all primates evolved from. In this way, as we travel backwards, we would continually come to points where we share a common ancestor with all mammals, all vertebrates, all animals, all multicellular lifeforms, and eventually we would reach the trunk of the tree that represents the common ancestor to all life.

To use the vocabulary of this analogy, then, chimps would represent our "cousins" rather than our "grandparents". But, in reality, all organisms would represent differing degrees of cousins. The ancestral species--the true "grandparent" on our family tree--would be represented by a species that shares similarities with both chimps and humans, but is probably distinct from anything living on Earth today. So humans DID NOT "come" from chimps/monkeys. Humans and other primate species DID evolve from a common ancestor. But the same can be said for any two organisms or any variety, human, chimp, monkey, or otherwise.

He's a Freshman

For those of you who haven't seen it yet. This is our freshman basketball team getting schooled:

Plan of Action ideas

For those of you who are writing a "plan of action" in order to retake the biology test, keep the following in mind:

1. Use the information from your test analysis worksheet to identify those areas where your test performance was week. This way, you can specifically address those weaknesses. There's no need to waste your time studying what you already know.
2. You will need to have some way of documenting your work. If you are re-reading textbook sections, you will need to be able to turn in something that "proves" you did that. If you don't hold yourself accountable to actually producing something tangible, then you aren't likely to follow through with actually doing it.
3. Try something different. Sure, it's always helpful to review notes and textbook passages, but don't be afraid to be creative when writing your "plan of action". Your brain tends to get bored from looking at the same stuff over and over again. By exposing it the same information in a new way, you'll increase the likelihood of remembering the information.
4. Set a goal for the retake test and subtract your score on the original test. This will tell you how many points you need to improve. For instance, if you scored 65% on the first test but want to get an 80% of the retest, then you need to improve your score by (80-65) 15 points. Since each question is worth 2 points, then you will need to answer 8 more questions correctly on the retest. Look at your test analysis graph to help you identify what topic(s) would most efficiently help you get those points.
5. Try one or more of the following as part of your plan of action:
-Research 5-10 websites that deal with the topic(s) you are reviewing. Summarize the content of each and how it relates to what you are studying.
-There are many other types of biology textbooks in the classroom. Read and summarize the section(s) from one or more of these that deal with your topic(s).
-Get copies of the reading guides for the section(s) from your teacher and complete them
-Re-do the chapter assessment or section assessment questions. Try to complete them
without looking at the original assignment. Don't just try to rush to get them done...use
them as a thoughtful review.
-Write your own sample test questions and then answer them. This would be especially
helpful to practice working genetics problems.
-Use one of the alternative textbook resources available in the classroom. The study guides,
reading guides, and assessments from other textbooks can be great reviews.

Try to remember here that that idea is not to "get it done", but to "get it right". Take this opportunity to use your test score to help yourself learn.

Daily Recap: Monday, 2/9

Countdown: 3 days until Darwin Day! Today's question is whether the following statement is true or false: "The theory of evolution states that man evolved from monkies." This will be answered in a later post.

Investigating technologies:
All groups should be working on finishing the team briefs and task lists for interval 2, and then beginning the project work involved with interval 3.

Anatomy and Physiology:
We shuffled the weekly schedule a little bit to accommodate for early release day on Wednesday. Basically everything is pushed back one day. We decided to use today as a work day to get on top of some of the assignments for chapters 14 and 15. The heart lab that was scheduled for Wednesday will now be on Friday. The lab will ask you to participate in the dissection of a sheep's heart, so you might not want to miss Friday.

Biology:
Tests from last Friday were returned. You will have the opportunity to retake these exams if you do the following:

1. Complete the test analysis worksheet and graph
2. Use the information from the analysis graph to identify weaknesses in your performance on the test. Then write a "plan of action" that you can use to help address those weaknesses in getting ready for the retest. This plan of action will need to be approved during class on Wednesday.
3. To prepare the the retest, you will need to complete the activities listed on your plan of action.
4. Turn in your plan of action and completed tasks on February 20th to be allowed to retake the exam.