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EARLY ENSIWEB ARCHIVES
Formerly
WHAT'S NEW?
THIS SECTION IS NO LONGER UPDATED
NEW TEACHER RECOGNITIONS ARE NOW
POSTED IN THE "PEOPLE" SECTION NOW
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS, LESSONS AND LESSON UPDATES
ARE POSTED ON THE HOME PAGE NOW.
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| PEOPLE NEWS | BOOK NEWS |
PEOPLE NEWS
Another SENSI-Trained Teacher
Added to the OBTA Winners Circle
From Michigan, SENSI '94
VINCENT LUMETTA, OBTA 2001
Congratulations to you, Vince!!!
OBTA 2001 winner for Ohio
MICHAEL KIMMEL (ENSI 91)
Lead Teacher for 5 SENSIs, in
Cleveland, OH and Lafayette, IN
Congratulations, Mike!!!
Two More SENSI-Trained Teachers
Added to the OBTA Winners Circle
Both from Indiana, and Both in SENSI 1994
KRISTI SLABY '94 OBTA
KIRK JANOWIAK '97 OBTA
TONY HIATT
Kentland, IN
(SENSI 1994)
PRESIDENT''S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN
MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING
1998
CONGRATULATIONS, TONY!
LATEST OBTA WINNERS
TWO SENSI-TRAINED TEACHERS
Announced December, 2000 in NABT News & ViewsJUDY LACHVAYDER, Parma, Ohio
In SENSI 1993, with Lead Teachers: JoAnn Lane and Michael KimmelROBERT LEGGE, Aurora, Colorado
In SENSI 1995, with Lead Teachers: Susan Hicks and Beth KramerCONGRATULATIONS!
CRAIG NELSON
Professor of the Year
Our very own
CRAIG NELSON
Wins
Top University Professor
AwardOn 14 November, the Carnegie Foundation announced that Craig was one of the four university professors in the country, out of 500 nominations this year, to win their prestigious "Professor of the Year" award. This was in recognition for his outstanding work in raising the caliber of teaching at the university level.
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"Effective Strategies for Teaching Evolution and Other
Controversial Topics". "I realise that some of the strategies I have used and present may not be prudent in some local political situations (though we have found that many high school teachers do find them useful even in quite conservative communities)." |
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The first half does excellent job of revealing popular misconceptions about both science and evolution. Particularly noteworthy items: Age of the Earth and Radiometric Dating, beautifully explained and described; could be a basis for developing an effective classroom activity or two. See "DEEP TIME" lesson. Punctuated Equilibrium vs Gradualism "Intelligent Design": critically evaluated for what it is: the pseudoscience of creation science being paraded as "legitimate science"; nicely destroyed. More points to discredit the arguments of Phillip Johnson and Michael Behe. Also, more good ideas for classroom lessons here. Second half: an attempt to resolve perceived conflicts between evolution and belief in God. Some interesting ideas some might find useful, but not too compelling. CLICK HERE to order ($15 for 1999 hard back; $8.96 for 2000 paper back). |
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An excellent resource, especially
valuable for any teacher of Biology. Not only paints a compelling
case for evolution and science, but also offers clear rationales
for the appropriate compatibility of those topics with the premises
of creationism. Using strong parallels between biological evolution
and the evolution of languages, Pennock utterly destroys the
anti-Darwinian efforts of Johnson and Behe, pointing out the
many subtle fallacies and other errors in their arguments. He
also points out the importance for Biology teachers to teach
evolution and NOT give "equal time" to creation, while
making clear to students that neither science nor evolution are
atheistic. 429 pages. CLICK HERE to order the book from AllDirect.com (discount booksellers) for$21 plus about $3.45 S&H. |
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This recently published book (1998), by Carl Zimmer, presents the growing body of evidence for the evolution of tetrapods from fish in the Paleozoic, and the evolution of cetaceans (whales and porpoises) from land dwelling tetrapods in the early Cenozoic. It is done as an engrossing narrative, embedded in its historical context. The latest anatomical, fossil, and molecular data are examined and discussed, as are the techniques of constructing cladograms to clarify relationships. It reads almost like a mystery novel, with intriguing little stories about the scientists involved, and how their discoveries happened. A must-read book for any biology teacher. As you read this book, try to imagine how you could share the material in an instructive way with your students. What kinds of activities could you create to do this? Try it, and please share your creations with us. |
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A BSCS product, published by Kendall/Hunt in 1997. The most relevant feature of this new biology text is the fact that its first unit is "Evolution", and begins with "The Human Animal", followed by a treatment of human evolution and the main elements of the process and mechanisms of evolution in general. This theme, in addition to a realistic treatment of the nature of science, is carried throughout the text. A text which comes closer to the philosophy of the ENSI/SENSI program would be hard to find. |
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Skeptical Inquirer: Special Issue on Science and Religion
Sept/Oct, 2001, vol. 25, no. 5Lots of interesting and relevant articles. Was especially impressed with article by Massimo
Pigliucci: "Design YES, Intelligent NO - a Critique of Intelligent Design Theory and
Neocreationism." One of the clearest, most concise treatments of the IDT premises I've seen. Takes particular issue with the rebuttals by ID proponents to earlier critiques (e.g. Dembski and Behe). If you are getting questions from your students from Johnson's "Defeating Darwinism...." or any of the other IDT proponents, take a look at this article. And here's another useful collection of Resources for Skeptics.
NOVA series for Fall 2001
some programs especially relevant to evolution:Week of Oct. 30: "Sex Unknown" <http://www.pbs.org/nova/gender>
Week of Nov. 13: "Neanderthals on Trial" <http://www.pbs.org/nova/neanderthals>
Week of Nov. 20: "Life's Greatest Miracle" <http://www.pbs.org/nova/miracle>
includes evolutionary benefits of sexual reproduction on increasing variation
Week of Dec. 11: "Methuselah Tree" <http://www.pbs.org/nova/methuselah>
on tree-ring datingSee lessons on line at: <http://www.pbs.org/nova/teachers>
VIRTUAL AGE DATING
Radioactive Decay Concept
Isochron Dating Concept
Radiocarbon Dating ConceptDon't miss this excellent tutorial for teaching these critical aspects of geological age dating. Each part is totally interactive and animated. Check questions are asked along the way for the visitor to assess understanding. The final phase of the two dating concept routines provide an opportunity to simulate data collection and analysis. Those who complete a tutorial will have a real sense of achievement and understanding.
CAUTION: The applets used require considerable memory, so expect some pauses for them to load from phase to phase. High speed connections (e.g. DSL) are a big help. In addition, be sure to check the System and Technical Requirements provided. One of the Isochron routines (near the end) didn't want to run on a Netscape 4.7 browser (in a PowerBook G3), but Internet Explorer v 5.0 worked fine.
This interactive experience is one of the products of the Virtual Courseware/Geology Labs Online project, California State University, Los Angeles, Co-Director: Gary Novak, Geology Department. CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO VIRTUAL DATING.
"How to Answer 'Why' Questions"
A novel way to introduce evolutionLooking for a really neat, new, simple, compelling way to introduce evolution? Don't miss this "sleeper" article in the latest NABT journal The American Biology Teacher, Jan. 2001, vol. 63 no. 1, page 16:
"Teaching How To Answer "Why' Questions About Biology"
by Tom Shelberg.It's an approach that could be (should be?) introduced in middle school, maybe earlier. Tom does this in his community college biology classes, with great success.
In short, what he does is to get his students to realize that "Why" can be answered in 3 ways:
1. Teleological reasons (which turn out to be essentially the RESULTS of the questioned condition);
2. Proximal reasons (the immediate causal factor, or chain of events); and
3. Ultimate reasons (evolutionary answers, "why" based on natural selection).Doing this little exercise brings out the power of natural selection to provide very good testable explanations for "why" we sleep, or "why" snowshoe hares turn white, etc., paving the way for your later introduction to evolution.
CRAIG NELSON
Professor of the Year
November, 2000
Click here for details
JOHN BANISTER-MARX Wins NCSE "Friend of Darwin" Award
21 August 2000Announced in the NCSE Reports (Vol. 20 No.1-2, page 22), John Banister-Marx (ENSI '94) was appropriately honored with this distinctive honor, recognizing his outstanding efforts supporting NCSE and advancing its goals. In addition to his very innovative and energetic classroom teaching, John has presented very popular workshops at virtually all of the NABT national conventions over the past decade, featuring his spin on ENSI-oriented lab experiences. I'm sure most of you are familiar with his "Hooey Stick" schtick, and possibly you've also seen his very effective "Varve-Dating" lab (both available on ENSIweb). He has also been very active in advising the Arizona Board of Education, defending the teaching of evolution, leading to its inclusion in the science content standards for Arizona schools. John will be working for the next two years in the Teacher Education Department at Tufts University in Boston. CONGRATULATIONS, JOHN
JEAN BEARD
Honored as AAAS Fellow
February, 2000
Click here to see her recieving her award from Stephen Jay Gould
"What Evolution is NOT... and what it IS" New Lesson Plan for introducing evolution: Handout and overheads which address some of the popular myths about evolution. Used successfully by the webmaster for many years. Click on the title to check them out. More to come.
"Colossal Classroom Cladogram
of Vertebrate/Human Evolution"If you saw this Wall-Sized Cladogram at the Ft. Worth NABT Convention,
Check out the new lesson just added to this website.
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1. Pelvis-to-Newborn Head Problem in Humans 2. Airway - Foodway Crossover: Choking in Humans LINKS TO THESE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM NICKELS' PAPER CLICK HERE November 1999, Pags 99-107 Feathers for T. rex? |
WE NEED LESSONS |
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and OtherControversial Subjects" by Craig Nelson Added to the "Teaching Units" section Science Survey: The Nature of Science Evolution Survey Comparison of Evolution Mechanisms: Lamarck's vs Darwin's Common Misused Terms & Phrases in Evolution How Macroevolution Results from Microevolution A Simple Graphic Description of Evolution NABT 1999, Ft. Worth, TX: Focus on heritable variations in DNA and speciation, forensics, genetic engineering; Horizontal Transfer: "Gene-Hopping"; antibiotic resistance, drug discoveries. Marta L. Wayne, University of Florida For the Symposium Presented by the Society for the Study of Evolution "Building the Web of Life: Evolution in Action" : NABT Ft. Worth, 10/99 A sampling of the many practical applications and major importance of evolution. James Bull, University of Texas at Austin For the Symposium Presented by the Society for the Study of Evolution "Building the Web of Life: Evolution in Action" : NABT Ft. Worth, 10/99 Problems mapping macroevolutionary patterns; radiation of living dinosaurs: birds; humans as the most severe cause of dinosaurian (bird) extinction today. Timothy Rowe, University of Texas at Austin For the Symposium Presented by the Society for the Study of Evolution "Building the Web of Life: Evolution in Action" : NABT Ft. Worth, 10/99 Martin Nickels, Anthropology Program, Illinois State University Presented at NABT Convention, Reno NV, November 1998, and again in Ft.Worth, TX, October, 1999. by Colin Groves. This is an excellent summary of the latest hominin discoveries and a discussion of their interpretations. Reprinted from Reports of the NCSE. by Andrew J. Petto A clear and concise explanation of the concepts and terms of cladistics. This could be copied and printed as a student handout. |
| 4/2000 |
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, April 2000 Article: "Who Were the Neandertals?" by Kate Wong, Erik Trinkaus, et al. Deals with controversies over how much they were like us behaviorally and biologically; discusses different hypotheses as to their origins and their demise, and the latest evidence bearing on these events. |
| 2/2000 |
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Feb. 2000 Article: "Uprooting the Tree of Life" by W. Ford Doolittle (page 90). About 10 years ago scientists finally worked out the basic outline of how modern life-forms evolved. Now parts of their tidy scheme are unraveling. The latest version of the "Tree of Life". Book Review (by Kevin Padian, page 102): "In Search of Deep Time: Beyond the Fossil Record to a New History of Life" by Henry Gee (1999, $26). How scientists actually do their work; how and why the Linnaean system of taxonomy is being replaced by a wholly evolutionary way of looking at nature; the origin and nature of cladistics...the new taxonomy, well told. |
| 10/10/99 | The De-riving Force of Cladogenesis
by Andrew J. Petto. It is a clear and concise explanation of the concepts and terms of cladistics. This could be copied and printed as a student handout. |
| 9/16/99 | Is Life Too Complex to Have Simply Evolved? A Critical Review of Michael Behe's Darwin's Black Box Biochemist David Ussery deftly demolishes Behe's arguments that the molecular complexity of life demand a creator. Lots of amazing biochemical info bits to share with your students, too. |
