On Jan. 25, about 500 people packed the origins debate between Dan Ryder and John Mackay at UBC Okanagan. UBCO-TV recorded it, which should be available by Feb. 12 - a.k.a. Darwin Day.
In 1993, Stanford University biologist Robert Stephens came up with the idea and co-founded the Darwin Day program with Amanda Chesworth.
This year, Feb. 12 is also being called Academic Freedom Day/Question Evolution Day.
There should be school district polls throughout Canada of students studying evolution, asking two questions.
In this class:
a) Is evolution taught as fact, theory, or both fact and theory?
b) Do you have the academic freedom to critique evolution?
The same questions should be asked of their teachers.
Recognizing that evolution is the only approved origins theory that can be taught in the B.C. science curriculum, students and teachers should discuss the scientific information that supports - and questions - evolution, in order to promote the development of critical thinking skills.
Never discussing scientific information that questions evolution is to teach evolution as dogma.
How does geology explain dinosaur bones with soft tissue, supposedly dated at 80 million years? (Schweitzer et al., Science 324:626-631).
Science writer Jonathan Weiner (The Beak of the Finch, 1994) says beak changes in Galapagos finches during a severe drought (1977) is "evolution in action," even though the changes were reversed after the drought ended and no net evolution occurred.
Were the beak changes really evolution in action or can they be more accurately described as minor variation in action?
The way evolution is typically taught assumes a progressive increase of genetic information as molecule becomes man.
Students could list actual evidences reported in the scientific literature that support either
progressive acquisition or progressive loss of genetic information.
A further online debate between Ryder and Mackay will begin mid to late February
over a two-week period at http://blogs.ubc.ca/markbergen.
David Buckna,
Kelowna