It is not men from monkeys!

There is a good interview in the Scientific American about the ruling in the USA, given by a Pennsylvanian federal court justice in favour of the parents who complained about a school board requiring teachers to read out a statement questioning natural selection and evolution while promoting "intelligent design" in grade 9 science classes.  The article contains a short interview with Jennifer Miller, one of the teachers in the school district, who describes a few key points about the issue.

Teachers should not be afraid to teach science in their science classes and need to be confident to say no to non-science intrusions be they religious, quasi-religious or pseudo-science.  One of the themes of the IB Biology curriculum is Evolution and teachers should be bringing natural selection into their teachings more vividly and early in the studies.  This is  a controversial topic in many regions but science depends on independent thinking and questioning. 

I teach evolution as a fact- things have changed over time.  Looking at the fossil record, incomplete as it is and always will be, shows that life forms in the past no longer exist and forms living today can not be found in the fossils from where these organsims now live.  Homologous structures, biochemistry and vestigial organs all point to the connectivity of life yet how these changes have and are occurring is the real question.  Darwin's theory of natural selection is only one way to look at how to explain evolution.  Natural selection is approached in topic 5 Evolution and option D Evolution.