Prehistoric Cultures

Fall 2012 Calendar -- DAY

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14 February 2012
. . . in History
  . . . in Headlines

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In the News . . .

• Why Screaming Babies Are So Hard to Ignore -- Telegraph (21 January 2012)
  
  
• Belief in Evolution Boils Down to a Gut Feeling-- Live Science (20 January 2012)
  
  
• Nicolas Steno: The Saint Who Undermined Creationism -- Christian Science Monitor (11 January 2012)
  • How Nicolas Steno changed the way we see the world, literally -- Christian Science Monitor (11 January 2012)
  • Nicolas Steno Google doodle marks his 374th birth anniversary -- Guardian (10 January 2012)-
    
    
• Thomas Hills: Why Human Intelligence Isn't Evolving Faster -- Guardian (07 January 2012)
  
  
• New Year Brings New Attacks on Evolution in Schools -- Live Science (01 Jauary 2012)
  
  
• Cultural Diversification Also Drives Human Evolution -- ScienceDaily (22 December 2011)
  
  
• Evolution During Human Colonizations: Selective Advantage of Being There First -- ScienceDaily (03 November 2011)
  
  
• People Still Evolving -- Planet Earth (25 October 2011)
  
  
• Human Evolution: The First 200 Million Years -- Past Horizons (20 October 2011)
  
  
• Can Evolutionary Theorists Ever Make Sense of Religion? -- Guardian (19 October 2011)
  
  
• Evolution: Sugar Helped Separate Human Ancestors From Apes' -- ABC News (12 October 2011)
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• Sexual Selection by Sugar Molecule Helped Determine Human Origins, Researchers Say -- ScienceDaily (11 October 2011)
  
  
• Are Humans Still Evolving? -- Discovery News (06 October 2011)
  
  
• Kids' Evolution Book, Shunned in US, Gets Award -- Discovery News (16 September 2011)
  
  
• Can Evolution Breed Better Communities? -- NPR (28 August 2011)
  
  
• Don't Throw It Out: 'Junk DNA' Essential In Evolution -- NPR (19 August 2011)
  
  
• Evangelicals question the existence of Adam and Eve. Some conservative scholars are saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. Genomic evidence is too strong, they say, to believe in a historical Adam and Eve. But for some, this questions the fundamental nature of Christianity, creating a profound rift in the community. -- MPRNews (09 August 2011)
  
  
• Gossip Girls (and Boys): Evolution Makes Us Love to Dish Dirt -- ABC News (01 August 2011)
  
  
• Evolution Controversies: A History in Photos -- Discovery News (11 July 2011)
  
  
• Human Evolution: The Long, Winding Road to Modern Man -- Past Horizons (23 June 2011)
  
  
• Humans are evolving slower than thought -- MSNBC (16 June 2011)
  
  
• American Muslim Clerics Sign Up for Evolution -- New Scientist (27 Nay 2011)
  
  
• Cooperative Robots Obey Evolutionary Law -- New Scientist (04 Nay 2011)
  
  
• Evolution Targeted in Classrooms -- Discovery News (29 April 2011)
  
  
• Creationism on the Rise in Texas? -- MSNBC (27 April 2011)
  
  
• The Untold Story of Evolution -- Guardian (25 April 2011)
  
  
• What Fossils Teach Us About Human Evolution -- Guardian (25 April 2011)
  
  
• Scientist Imam: Muslims Need to Talk About Evolution -- NewScientist (19 April 2011)
  
  
• Evolution teaching poor in U.S. high schools -- USA Today (28 January 2011)
  
  
• 13 percent of biology teachers back creationism -- MSNBC (28 January 2011)
  
  
• Poll: Belief in Evolution Increases -- Discovery News (21 December 2010)
  
  
• 4 in 10 Americans Still Hold Creationist Views -- Live Science (17 December 2010)
  
  
• Evolutionary Psychology: Why Daughters Don't Call Their Dads -- EurekAlert (29 November 2010)
  
  
• New Statistical Model Moves Human Evolution Back Three Million Years -- ScienceDaily (05 November 2010)
  
  
• Evolving Culture: Where Do We Go From Here? -- NPR (06 September 2010)
  • Un-Natural Selection: Human Evolution's Next Steps
    
    
• The Artificial Ape: How Technology Changed the Course of Human Evolution by Timothy Taylor -- Guardian (04 September 2010)
  
  
• Science Diction: The Origin Of [the term] ’Evolution’ -- NPR (13 August 2010)
  
  
• Animal Connection: New Hypothesis for Human Evolution and Human Nature -- ScienceDaily (20 July 2010)
  
  
• Tanning Ability Driven by Evolution -- Science (22 June 2010)
  
  
• Human Evolution: We're Not There Yet -- NPR (02 July 2010)
  
  
• Tibetans May Be Fastest Evolutionary Adapters Ever -- NPR (01 July 2010)
  
  
• Penis size: An evolutionary perspective -- Guardian (06 May 2010)
  
  
• Study Shows How Viruses Changed Human Evolution -- Reuters (19 February 2010)

From The ScoutReport.org (17 July 2009 | Volume 15, Number 28)

Debates about the content and focus of United States history courses continue on in Texas

http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2009/scout-090717-inthenews.php#1

Everything is a bit bigger in Texas, and it would seem that an ongoing debate about what should be taught in history classrooms in the Lone Star State mirrors that particular sentiment. Along with other states, Texas recently approved new science standards that allowed for creationist critiques of evolution, and this current debate revolves around the place of faith in such curricula. Several of the history curriculum reviewers, including one Reverend Peter Marshall, have suggested that the curriculum be modified to emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith, and the civil virtue of religion. There also appear to be initial divisions about which historical figures should be referenced within such materials. Jesus F. de la Teja, the chairman of the history department at Texas State University, noted that the curriculum should draw on a more diverse set of role models, especially Latinos. Other outside observers have stated that these curriculum analysts should all be trained academics, while other parties remain skeptical of trained historians' emphasis on multiculturalism. This debate has raged on across the country for decades, but it will be interesting to see how things turn out in Texas over the coming months. [KMG]

The first link will take visitors to an article from this Tuesday's Wall Street Journal which addresses some of the ongoing curriculum debates in Texas. Moving on, the second link leads to a recent piece from the Beaumont Enterprise which talks about the Texas State Board of Education's curriculum review process. The third link will whisk users away to a passionate editorial piece on this subject by Jacquielynn Floyd of the Dallas Morning News. The fourth link will take visitors to the initial remarks by the social studies reviewers on the proposed curriculum changes. Teachers of American history will be delighted to learn about the fifth site, which was created by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies. Here they will find excellent teacher-selected resources, complete with primary documents and lesson plans. Finally, the last link leads to the TeachingAmericanHistory site, which was created by the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University. Here visitors can listen to free lectures, look over lesson plans, and check out their primary document library. [KMG]

From The ScoutReport.org (17 April 2009 | Volume 15, Number 15)

Evolution of Life

http://www.evolution-of-life.com/en/home.html

A number of groups are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" by Charles Darwin. This educational site, created with funds provided by Volkswagen Stiftung, celebrates this anniversary by offering videos, animations, and documents for teachers that explore the origins of life and evolution. The materials here are divided into three sections: "Observe", "Explore", and "Teach". In the "Observe" area, visitors can watch several short films, including the "O as Origin" movie, which follows a water molecule named "Piccolina" as she moves forward through time and becomes more and more complex along the way. There's also another film here that follows Darwin as he works on some of his discoveries and theories. Visitors can also elect to listen to these videos in French, English, and German, and they will also want to sign up to receive email updates when new material is added to the site. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.