Evolution Essay

Evolution Writing Assignment

One of the topics in the news is about whether creation science should be taught in schools along with evolution or that evolution should be taught as “just a theory”. We have touched on evolution in a number of chapters so far this spring and through some of your reading assignments and you should now understand what a scientific theory is and that it is not "just a guess". Evolution is often presented as a belief system that also relies on faith even though over 150 years of scientific research has shown that evolution is an extremely robust explanation of life. The fact that there is still so much misinformation about evolution indicates that the subject is not settled and may not be for quite a while.

 There appears to be a gap in support for evolution within the United States. Based on an article published in Newsweek, 99.86% of Earth and Life Scientists supported evolution as the primary force explaining life on earth today versus only 40% of the general public [Larry Martz and Ann McDaniel, "Keeping God Out of Class (Washington and bureau reports)". A 2009 Pew Research poll showed that, 97% of scientists accepted that humans evolved in some fashion, while 31% of the general public thought humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time (http://www.pewforum.org/2009/11/05/public-opinion-on-religion-and-science-in-the-united-states/). In another poll by Public Religion Research Institute (RNS Religion News Survey, September 14–18, 2011, N=1,013) 57% of respondents said that "Humans and other living things have evolved over time" came closest to their view, while 38% preferred "Humans and other living things have existed in their present form since creation." In the same poll, when people were asked "do scientists generally agree that humans evolved over time, are scientists divided, or do scientists generally disagree that humans evolved over time," 51% of respondents said that scientists agree, 26% said that scientists were divided, 15% said that scientists disagreed, and 9% said that they didn't know or refused to answer the question.

Based on the polls, there is a perception within the public that scientists are divided about evolution even though over 99% of Earth and life scientists support evolution as a fact. People accept gravitational theory, quantum theory, and cell theory as fact, but when it comes to this one area of biology, suddenly they question the idea and the scientists.  As a citizen scientist, you need accurate information to make accurate conclusions. As Charles Darwin himself stated, “a fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.” With that in mind, here is your assignment.

Assignment: Your assignment will be to write a 700 word paper explaining the scientific basis of evolution and why people have trouble accepting evolution. This will be a 3 part paper that will include a paragraph that summarizes, in your own words, the scientific explanation of evolution (do not cut and paste), the second paragraph will be on why the public has trouble accepting evolution (use research), and the third paragraph will be where you explain one of the common misconceptions about evolution listed below (explain why it is a misconception). Select the common misconception from the list below. I want you to support your writing with references – a minimum of one per paragraph. An example of documentation would be:

Understanding Evolution: An Introduction to Evolution. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/evo_02. Web page accessed 04/20/12.

You may cite the documentation in the text or just include a reference number in the text and then list and number the references at the end.

 

Common Misconceptions you may select from for the third paragraph. Pick only one of these.

1. Humans evolved from monkeys.

2. Evolutionary theory implies that life evolved by chance or randomly.

3. Evolution is not science because it is not observable or testable.

4. Gaps in the fossil record disprove evolution.

5. Evolution is a belief system much like a religion.

 

 Your paper will be graded on the following

1.  Summary of evolution. Is it accurate and stated logically? Is it stated clearly in your own words?

2. Research and explanation about why some people cannot accept evolution. (This is the only area where I will accept "creation science" references)

3. Accuracy of your explanation about the misconception and presentation of the correct information.

4.  Presentation of information and supporting facts.

5.  Number and quality of documentation. If all information comes from the same author or same web site, points will be deducted. Your text book will only count as a single source.

 

Criteria	Excellent job	Good job	Minimal work
Scientific summary of evolution	Clear and accurate summary	General summary	Disorganized summary or lacking information
Explanation of why the public has trouble with evolution	Clear and accurate explanation with documentation	General explanation with limited documentation	Disorganized explanation with limited or missing documentation
Explanation of the misconception and an accurate correct explanation of the misconception	Clear and accurate explanation with documentation	General explanation with limited documentation	Disorganized explanation with limited or missing documentation
Number and quality of documentation.	2 or more per paragraph	1 per paragraph	missing documentation
Word count	Over 725	700-725	less than 700

 

 

Some writing notes for this class:

· The word goal is the minimum and does not include the title or the references – it is the body of the text.

· Don’t pad the text by repeating the title multiple times – “How will learning biology help me in my everyday life? I will tell you how learning biology will help in my everyday life.”

· When I ask for citations or references, I want good sources of information. If I ask you to write about trees I expect your sources to be from a reputable source. The web site www.Ilovetrees.com is not a reputable source. The US Forest Service or National Arbor Day Foundation would be much better sources. A reputable source has staff members that are experts in the field and present scientifically valid information.

· Personal statements within a paper are never penalized as long as they are substantiated by some reputable source (see bullet point above). “I believe green cats live on Mars” may be your true belief, but it is not substantiated by any reputable source. This is a science course and I expect scientifically based information.

· Spell checker is your friend, but don’t rely on it. While this is a science course and not English, I do want you to understand the difference between their, they’re, and there; your and you’re; and other commonly misused words. You can use this web page as a quick reference: http://wsuonline.weber.edu/wrh/words.htm

· Keep direct quotes from other writers to a minimum. I do read for and check for cut and paste from web pages. Some “quoted” source material is acceptable, but excessive cut and paste will be deducted from your word count. Major chunks of cut and paste will be grounds for failing the assignment. Read the source, cite the source, and put it in your own words.