http://www.teachersmailroom.com/religion-has-nothing-to-do-with-it-2/ a place where teachers vent, share and tell us how they really feel ... Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:01:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 http://www.teachersmailroom.com/religion-has-nothing-to-do-with-it-2/#comment-188 kmlisle Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:49:07 +0000 http://www.teachersmailroom.com/religion-has-nothing-to-do-with-it-2/#comment-188 I keep hearing this disingenuous statement from people who should know better, that if you don't "see" something directly there can be no evidence for it. That may be true for a young child who cannot deal with the abstractions of indirect evidence but for most average adults the fact that we have never directly seen something but have indirect evidence that it exists or that it happened in the past is easily understandable. The public acts on this type of evidence every day in many ways. We take our children to the doctor for treatment for strep throat even though no one ever "sees" the bacteria enter and lodge themselves there and start to grow. we get our flu shots even though no one has ever seen a virus directly. Atomic theory, Germ theory the ecological process of succession, much of human history was never directly seen by many people who accept them as fact with no objections. And yet Mr Bracken who claims to teach science uses this "I never saw it" nonsense to avoid accurately teaching biological science. Apparently his students don't learn then about modeling as a powerful research tool or about inferring hypotheses from evidence. Much of Science depends on these techniques and the proof that they are valid is that it works! More people are a healthier, safer and more prosperous than at any time in history because of inferring facts from what you have never seen. A second grader may not be able to do this; the middle school children I teach are beginning to do this; apparently adults like Mr Bracken still have not matured to the point of abstract thinking. All I can say to them is if you really expect to live in this civilization and continue to benefit from science and technology its time to grow up! I keep hearing this disingenuous statement from people who should know better, that if you don’t “see” something directly there can be no evidence for it. That may be true for a young child who cannot deal with the abstractions of indirect evidence but for most average adults the fact that we have never directly seen something but have indirect evidence that it exists or that it happened in the past is easily understandable. The public acts on this type of evidence every day in many ways. We take our children to the doctor for treatment for strep throat even though no one ever “sees” the bacteria enter and lodge themselves there and start to grow. we get our flu shots even though no one has ever seen a virus directly. Atomic theory, Germ theory the ecological process of succession, much of human history was never directly seen by many people who accept them as fact with no objections. And yet Mr Bracken who claims to teach science uses this “I never saw it” nonsense to avoid accurately teaching biological science. Apparently his students don’t learn then about modeling as a powerful research tool or about inferring hypotheses from evidence. Much of Science depends on these techniques and the proof that they are valid is that it works! More people are a healthier, safer and more prosperous than at any time in history because of inferring facts from what you have never seen. A second grader may not be able to do this; the middle school children I teach are beginning to do this; apparently adults like Mr Bracken still have not matured to the point of abstract thinking. All I can say to them is if you really expect to live in this civilization and continue to benefit from science and technology its time to grow up!

]]> http://www.teachersmailroom.com/religion-has-nothing-to-do-with-it-2/#comment-186 grafixer Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:49:00 +0000 http://www.teachersmailroom.com/religion-has-nothing-to-do-with-it-2/#comment-186 Their definition of "Academic Freedom" is neither Academic nor Free. The bills in both the Legislature and the Senate are modeled from a bill drafted by the Discovery Institute. Surely you know who they are... They were caught with the Wedge Document (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy). According to the Discovery Institute's plan, evangelicals are to be used to get religion into science classes, and then on to battle in the court system! If the Legislature or Senate even entertain placating this group's ploy, they would be voting for Academic FREE DUMB! Their definition of “Academic Freedom” is neither Academic nor Free. The bills in both the Legislature and the Senate are modeled from a bill drafted by the Discovery Institute. Surely you know who they are… They were caught with the Wedge Document (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy). According to the Discovery Institute’s plan, evangelicals are to be used to get religion into science classes, and then on to battle in the court system! If the Legislature or Senate even entertain placating this group’s ploy, they would be voting for Academic FREE DUMB!

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