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July 26, 2012
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Would you be offended?

pablophonic:

I just got my copy of the They Might Be Giants album, Here Comes Science! in the mail, and I would like to start out by saying it is AWESOME. I love They Might Be Giants anyway, but to take some scientific concepts (Scientific Method, The Solar System, The Elements, The Spectrum of Light, Speed/Velocity, Circulatory System) and set them to some catchy music: Incredible.  

The great thing is I know I can use several of these songs next year to help kids remember ROYGBIV or facts about the sun or the planets… And it was only $12 on Amazon, but-

Several of the reviews on Amazon have issues with the lyrics of a few of the songs, and for some of them I can understand.  The line “I enjoy stories about angels, unicorns, and elves, but when I want some knowledge, whether simple or abstract, I turn to science” sounds like it’s saying angels are just as fictitious as elves and unicorns (even though I would interpret it as ‘Stories about angels aren’t going to teach you any scientific principles’).  What surprised me more was how many people took issues with TMBG saying that evolution is real, and including a song called My Brother The Ape where all of the living organisms on the planet get together for a family reunion.  People were saying that TMBG is pushing science as a religion, and that they shouldn’t be teaching small children (honestly, that’s who this CD is meant for, but you should really check out THE ADVENTURES OF DAVY CROCKET IN OUTER SPACE) about Evolution.  Seriously?

I know a lot of schools don’t want teachers to mention Evolution because it scares creationist parents, but would any of you be offended by these songs? They’re incredible. Seriously, go to Youtube and check them out (the CD comes with a DVD of cartoons for each song narrated by John and John… Killer stuff)

I personally would not be offended.

My advice is this:

Check your district’s policy on teaching evolution.  If they teach it, move to step 2.  Check the lyrics yourself.  Is there anything that directly demeans people of any religious faith?  If no, move to step 3.   Ask your team their opinions or if you have a mentor ask your mentor.  If they are supportive, move forward.

The end.

Tags: everything tmbg here comes science evolution angels unicorns and elves

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June 04, 2011
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Christian Science Monitor: Teaching creationism: Louisiana law that skirts US ban survives challenge

The successful defense last week of a three-year-old Louisiana law is casting a spotlight on how conservative groups are seeking to circumvent a federal ban on the teaching of creationism in public schools.

The Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows teaching contrary to science on the grounds it promotes critical thinking, is increasingly serving as an inspiration to religious conservatives in other states. Its defenders decry the “censorship” of nonscientific ideas and advocate allowing teachers to teach “both sides” on certain scientific theories.

Facepalm.  I have the same feelings I did when my cousin played me that Itunes song that makes fun of evolution (his family subscribes to the strictly creationist view).

Tags: science evolution education education news news louisiana

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February 12, 2011
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Time: Found: Ancient Bone That Let Humans Walk Upright

A series of slightly disturbing videos have been making the rounds, showing a gorilla named Ambam walking upright. Gorillas and chimps can walk on two legs, but only for short stretches, and with a kind of bent-over posture. This one, who lives at a wild animal park in Kent, England, stands fully erect. Ambam’s odd posture may be learned simply from observing and copying his keepers, but no matter the reason he can do what he does, a gorilla that walks like a human is eerie to watch.

Yet at some point in our evolutionary history, our ancestors may have had a lot in common with Ambam. Walking upright happened before we developed the big brains that made us fully human — that much was made clear back in 1974 with the discovery in Ethiopia of 3.2-million-year-old Lucy (formally know as Australopithecus afarensis), who walked on two legs but had a relatively tiny skull and long, apelike arms. Indeed, paleo-anthropologists are convinced that two-legged walking is what eventually led to bigger brains, as opposed to things working the other way around.


[…]

That evidence is missing no more. In a paper just published in Science, a team that includes Lucy’s original discoverer, Donald Johanson, now at the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, is announcing they’ve found one of these bones — not from Lucy herself, but from a member of her species. It’s the fourth metatarsal, one of the long bones that connects the toes to the ankles — and it very strongly suggests, say the discoverers, that Lucy and her kin walked in a modern way.

(click to read the entire article)

Tags: science news anthropology walking evolution