The Discovery Institute, a creationist think tank which is critical of evolution is supplying students with prepared questions on such topics as the origins of life and the theory of evolution.
Some of these questions are based on incorrect information.
Attacking evolution does not prove any other theory to be correct. Students should know that any scientific theory must be based on verifiable evidence.
We should encourage students to search for information from scientific journals or college biology text books that support any other theory, such as creationism or intelligent design.
These questions given to students by the Discovery Institute should aid in the teaching of evolution.
The following are the Discovery Institute's questions and a brief answer with sources:
1. Miller-Urey experiment.
Why do textbooks claim that the 1953 Miller-Urey experiment shows how
life's building blocks may have formed on Earth - when conditions on the
early Earth were probably nothing like those used in the experiment, and
the origin of life remains a mystery?
Stanley Miller did have a good idea of what the early environment on Earth might have been like by studying the gasseous clouds in outer space. The experiment has been repeated several times by other scientists using other probable gasses. These experiments have yielded interesting results about how life may have started, but they have little to do with the scientific theory of evolution which is based on evidence from DNA, cells and organisms. The Miller-Urey experiment is in text books to show that scientists are continually studying the early stages of life. The Miller-Urey experiments also show how science is done and verified. (BIOLOGY today and tomorrow, Cecie Starr, 2005 . pg. 221-222)
2. Darwin's tree of life.
Why don't textbooks discuss the "Cambrian
explosion," in which all major animal groups appear together in the
fossil record fully formed instead of branching from a common ancestor
-thus contradicting the evolutionary tree of life?
Text books do present information of the Cambrian period. The fact is that all major groups do not appear in the same strata. The claim that the major groups of animals appeared suddenly in the fossil record is wrong and misleading. It can be easily demonstrated by checking the early animal evolution that stretches back ten to forty million years earlier than Chengjiang fossil beds. There is a complete explanation of the creationist spin on the Cambrian Explosion in the National Center for Science Education, REPORTS, Sept/Oct 2000, pages 16-22.
3. Vertebrate embryos.
Why do textbooks use drawings of similarities
in vertebrate embryos as evidence for common ancestry - even though
biologists have known for over a century that vertebrate embryos are not
most similar in their early stages, and the drawings are faked?
The reason that text books use comparison of early embryo development is because they show so many similarities. In the very early stages, sometimes photographs are used to show the formation of tissues which will develop into organs. Human embryos, for example, have pharyngeal pouches, a tail, and six aortic arches - all features found in embryonic fish. The statement that these drawings are faked probably refers to Haeckel who did his work in the middle 1800's. We now have very good photographs of the tissue and organ development to show the similarities as well as the differences of embryology development. (BIOLOGY today and tomorrow, Cecie Starr, 2005 . pg. 471)
4. The archaeopteryx.
Why do textbooks portray this fossil as the
missing link between dinosaurs and modern birds - even though modern
birds are probably not descended from it, and its supposed ancestors do
not appear until millions of years after it?
There is much new evidence to connect dinosaurs and birds. Recent fossils found in China leave no doubt about birds evolving from dinosaurs. Most paleontologists now consider birds to be dinosaurs because of the evolution of feathers and skeletal structure. There is an excellent documentary on this subject, "The Dinosaur Feather Mystery," produced by Discovery Communications.
The June 2005, DISCOVER magazine has excellent photographs showing dinosaur fossils with feathers.
5. Peppered moths.
Why do textbooks use pictures of peppered moths
camouflaged on tree trunks as evidence for natural selection - when
biologists have known since the 1980s that the moths don't normally rest
on tree trunks, and all the pictures have been staged?
The Peppered Moth is a good example of Directional Selection in a population. It is only one of many examples. Some text book authors use butterflies, insects, mice and even plants. The principle is still the same. It shows a change in the population because of a change in the environment. (BIOLOGY today and tomorrow, Cecie Starr, 2005 . pg. 187-188)
6. Darwin's finches.
Why do textbooks claim that beak changes in
Galapagos finches during a severe drought can explain the origin of
species by natural selection - even though the changes were reversed
after the drought ended, and no net evolution occurred?
This is a strange question because the example shows how evolution occurs because of a change in environment. There is no such thing as "net evolution." Evolution is not headed in any direction.
7. Mutant fruit flies.
Why do textbooks use fruit flies with an extra
pair of wings as evidence that DNA mutations can supply raw materials
for evolution - even though the extra wings have no muscles and these
disabled mutants cannot survive outside the laboratory?
Most mutations are not beneficial to the organism. Most offspring do not survive to reproduce. The example is evidence for evolution by Natural Selection.
8. Human origins.
Why are artists' drawings of apelike humans used to
justify materialistic claims that we are just animals and our existence
is a mere accident - when fossil experts cannot even agree on who our
supposed ancestors were or what they looked like?
Fossil experts do agree on the basics of human evolution. As with every field of evolutionary study new discoveries are being made each year. That is the way science works. New discoveries mean that scientists can evaluate the evidence and improve upon theories. Human fossil history is changing and will change even more as scientists learn more from new discoveries.
9. Evolution as a fact.
Why are students told that Darwin's theory of
evolution is a scientific fact - even though many of its claims are
based on misrepresentations of the facts?
Students are taught that evolution is a fact because there is overwhelming evidence to support it and there is no other scientific theory that explains the diversity of life on earth.
Attacking evolution is meaningless unless there is another theory based on evidence to challenge it.
As teachers, we have an obligation to show our sources of information. Students have the same obligation if they are speaking in a classroom.
