Should Evolution Be Taught In Schools?

Everyone remembers when the topic of evolution came up in biology. Does religion have anything to do with whether the topic should or should not be covered in class? That is the controversy. In an international poll, Christianity took the lead with 33% and in third place was the “Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist” with 16%. With a little over half the percentage of Nonreligious groups, you can see why evolution would be a feared or hated topic to cover. After all, who would want to talk about something they do not believe in?

The first obstacle that blocks most people view is that they refuse to see evolution as a theory but as an aspect of a religious group. In definition, religion stands as something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience. In definition a theory is a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena. For example, Einstein’s theory of relativity or the theory of evolution.

In 1999, Fox News asked “what is the more likely explanation for the origin of human life?” 15% said evolution, 50% said biblical creation and 26% said both. This poll reveals the widespread lack of knowledge of theories of origins.

What is evolution? Douglas J. Futuyma in Evolutionary Biology, Sinauer Associates 1986 states, “In the broadest sense, evolution is merely change, and so is all-pervasive; galaxies, languages, and political systems all evolve. Biological evolution ... is change in the properties of populations of organisms that transcend the lifetime of a single individual. The ontogeny of an individual is not considered evolution; individual organisms do not evolve. The changes in populations that are considered evolutionary are those that are inheritable via the genetic material from one generation to the next. Biological evolution may be slight or substantial; it embraces everything from slight changes in the proportion of different alleles within a population (such as those determining blood types) to the successive alterations that led from the earliest protoorganism to snails, bees, giraffes, and dandelions."

Is evolution only studying the theory of man deriving from apes? Of course not, the subject is more complex than such. Evolution involves more than one theory, and another is known as “natural selection.”

What is natural selection? According to wisegeek.com, “Natural selection is a theory originally popularized by Charles Darwin. According to this theory, animals in the natural environment change over time as beneficial traits are preserved, and traits which do not advance the species are slowly weeded out. People sometimes confuse natural selection with evolution; in fact, natural selection is just one component of the modern evolutionary synthesis which explains how species evolve and change over time.

According to Darwin's theory, published in 1859 in The Origin of Species, given any animal population, a wide variety of traits may be present. If an animal develops a trait which helps it to survive, it will be more likely to pass the trait on to future generations, eventually resulting in the widespread appearance of that trait as successive generations breed. This could potentially result in the emergence of an entirely new species over time.”

For example, say you have two types of flowers, a daisy and a tulip. They are repeatedly attacked and brought down by ants. However, after every generation they pass down a trait to help them. So, over a long period of time, the daisy’s develops a toxin on its leaves that kill the ants if they touch it. But the tulip doesn't make anything. So, the daisy has developed a means of protection due to its ability to adapt, it survived.

In some cases, we can directly observe natural selection. Very convincing data show that the shape of finches' beaks on the Galapagos Islands has tracked weather patterns: after droughts, the finch population has deeper, stronger beaks that let them eat tougher seeds.

In other cases, human activity has led to environmental changes that have caused populations to evolve through natural selection. A striking example is that of the population of dark moths in the 19th century in England, which rose and fell in parallel to industrial pollution. These changes can often be observed and documented.

A large part of natural selection also involves “survival of the fittest.” The phrase "survival of the fittest" is sometimes used as a kind of metaphor to explain what is meant by "evolution by means of natural selection".

What is survival of the fittest? In basic terms, it is a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment.

An example of this would be beetles. As Berkeley University states, some beetles are brown and some are green. Since the environment can't support unlimited population growth, not all individuals get to reproduce to their full potential. Green beetles, which stand out more against the brown earth, tend to get eaten by birds and reproduce less often than brown beetles do. The surviving brown beetles have brown baby beetles because this trait has a genetic basis. The more advantageous trait, brown coloration, which allows the beetle to have more offspring, becomes more common in the population. If this process continues, eventually, all individuals in the population will be brown.

Charles Darwin, one of the most noted evolutionists, once said, “False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science,” as well as, “ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.”

Just as there is more to the Crusades than a religious battle, there is more to evolution than ape to man. Evolution teaches that if a problem occurs, such as hordes of ants, over time you will be able to overcome it.

There is a controversial battle raging on between teaching creationism and evolution. Those who believe in a higher power don’t want their beliefs to be considered as garbage. People like myself don’t want our beliefs (or lack thereof) considered as garbage either. Therefore, creationism and evolution has reached an impasse and must agree to disagree.

Other than its indifference to any religion, what reason can you use to justify why evolution should not be taught in schools? So yes, evolution should be taught in school, as a theory. Just as creationism should be taught as a theory.

Sources

• Religious poll
• Charles Darwin quoutes
• Evolution
• Natural Selection
• Natural Selection example