paleonet Update GA K12

[Sally Walker <swalker@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

2 March 2004  Hello Paleonetters

    I wanted to update you on the evolution/geology controversy here concerning
the proposed draft K-12 curriculum for GA students. While they (Kathy Cox and
Board of Education) have revised back evolution benchmarks requested by the
AAAS Project 2061 (http://www.project2061.org), they still have not included:
1) the age of the universe; 2) the age of the earth; 3)   plate tectonics
tasks/activities: sea floor spreading is not mentioned, nor the age of the
ocean crust;  4)  AAAS benchmarks concerning humans and their effects on the
environment; 5) human origins and ancestry; and 6) AAAS benchmarks concerning
scientific enterprise and inquiry ("habits of mind").  While there are more
items in the edit, these are the most important ones to comment on from what
I've seen editing the Physical Sciences/Biological Sciences draft curriculum in
comparison to the AAAS guidelines.  If you want to see my complete edits, I've
uploaded them to my web site: http://wwgly.uga.edu/swalker/k12.html   Let me
know if I have made mistakes!  And, please don't forget to comment on the
curricula concerning the issues THIS WEEK if you can:
http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/spotlight/gps2.htm

Thank you!


Sally E. Walker
Associate Professor, Geology
Associate Professor, Marine Sciences
University of Georgia, Athens, GA USA
706-542-2396/E-mail: swalker@gly.uga.edu