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“Scientific Literacy” with Grandmother Fish?

DunkleosteusSannoble ENV.jpg

The right question isn’t when, but how you should introduce a child to evolution. In a recent article on NPR’s 13.7 Cosmos and Culture blog, Barbara King praises a new book about common ancestry written for 3-7 year olds. Unfortunately, Grandmother Fish is another attempt to present evolution as dogma, not as a scientific hypothesis.

The book begins:

This is our Grandmother Fish. She lived a long, long, long, long, long time ago. She could wiggle and swim fast. Can you wiggle? And she had jaws to chomp with. Can you chomp?

There are many problems here — and all of them prevent students from truly learning science. The story format, claiming to recount the past, does not lend itself to critical analysis. Darwinian evolution is presented as a fact, without any hint of scientific dissent. The book doesn’t leave room for dissent either. It just encourages agreement with evolution by asking children to mimic actions they have in common with supposed ancestors.

The end result is that preschoolers come away identifying with “grandmother” fish, reptile, mammal, and ape. King calls this progress, saying, “Grandmother Fish is a fun way to start children down a path of scientific literacy.”

No, pre-conditioning young minds to accept evolution uncritically isn’t fostering scientific literacy. As CSC Research Coordinator Casey Luskin has noted:

Everyone wants to be “scientifically literate,” but the Darwin lobby pressures people by redefining “scientific literacy” to mean “acceptance of evolution” rather than “an independent mind who understands science and forms its own informed opinions.”

Discovery Institute advocates presenting evolution objectively. Students should learn both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of neo-Darwinism. Our Science Education Policy says, “Evolution should be taught as a scientific theory that is open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can’t be questioned.”

It’s worth noting here that on the issue of common ancestry, intelligent design proponents hold a range of views. Some accept common ancestry, while others do not. However, all would agree that the topic should be presented critically, with a discussion of the scientific arguments both for and against.

Teaching critical examination of the issues, not spoon-feeding young children neo-Darwinism, is the best way to promote scientific literacy.

Image: Dunkleosteus skull, Sam Noble Museum, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sarah Chaffee

Now a teacher, Sarah Chaffee served as Program Officer in Education and Public Policy at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. She earned her B.A. in Government. During college she interned at Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler’s office and for Prison Fellowship Ministries. Before coming to Discovery, she worked for a private land trust with holdings in the Southwest.

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