Although John Scopes and his famous "Monkey Trial" strongly influenced the ongoing evolution-creationism controversy, relatively little is known about Scopes's post-trial life. Moreover, many questions about his trial remain unanswered (e.g., did he actually teach evolution in Dayton?). This paper answers these questions with new…

To assess current trends of evolution instruction in high schools of the mid-South, we invited Arkansas high school biology teachers from across the state to respond to a survey designed to address this issue. We also asked students enrolled in a freshman-level, nonmajors biology course at a midsize public Arkansas university to recall their…

The responses of biology majors in their first year of college differed significantly from those of first-year non-biology majors on only 3 of the 20 items on the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution survey instrument. Despite these differences, and regardless of whether students were or were not biology majors, several findings from…

Approximately one-fourth of biology teachers in public schools include creationism in their biology courses. Most of these teachers 1) present creationism as a scientific alternative to evolution, and 2) present only the biblical (i.e., Christian) story of creation. State science-education standards, position statements from professional…

In a sample of 107 biology teachers from Minnesota's public schools, most teachers claimed that they emphasize evolution and allocated little or no time to creationism in the classes. However, in a sample of 685 students from Minnesota's public schools, students claimed that their teachers allocated much less time to evolution and much more time…

Discusses biology instruction focusing on evolution-related policies and state guidelines. Reports on teacher preferences for teaching either creationism or evolution in science classes and compares these results between states based on grade level and how they treat evolution in their educational standards. (Contains 26 references.) (YDS)

This book describes major events in the history of the creationism/evolution controversy in the United States. While writing these chapters, the author visited key places and museums (e.g., the Scopes Trial Museum, Arlington National Cemetery), interviewed important participants in court cases (e.g., Susan Epperson, Don Aguillard), and studied…

The teaching of evolution and creationism is controversial to many people in the United States. Knowledge of the many important court-decisions about the teaching of evolution and creationism in the United States can be used not only to resist anti-evolution activities of creationists, but also to help teachers address questions about the teaching…

The evolution-related attitudes and actions of Minnesota high school biology teachers were studied to estimate the prevalence of creationism among biology teachers. Minnesota's high school biology teachers were questioned about the evolution education in public schools regarding the percentage of biology teachers who teach evolution, class-time…

Describes the background and outcome of the McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education case heard in federal court in the early 1980s. The decision repealed a legislative act which called for "equal time" in science classrooms for presenting evolution and creationism. The decision also established that "creation science" had no scientific merit or…

Although most high school students want their biology classes to include evolution, most high school biology classes in Minnesota do not emphasize evolution. This lack of an emphasis on evolution defies state educational standards and is associated with most students (high school and college) having serious misconceptions about evolution. The…

Traces the history of legal rulings leading up to the Edwards vs. Aguillard decision by the Supreme Court that it is unconstitutional to mandate "balanced treatment" and "equal time" for teaching creationism along with evolution in school science classes. Contains 17 references. (WRM)

Evolution is the cornerstone of biology and one of the most powerful, exciting, and well-supported laws in modern science. Evolution transforms biology from a collection of unrelated observations and definitions into a coherent discipline that, among other things, helps people understand life's history and predict answers to important research…