180-Minute Symposium

180-099

Evolution Makes Sense of Biology

Session Start/End Time:

Sunday, Feb 15, 2009, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

HRC Crystal C

In 1973, geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky wrote in a science teacher journal article, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” By “making sense,” Dobzhansky meant, “Why are things like they are, instead of some other way?” Evolution, the inference of common ancestry, tells us why things are like they are in biology -- much as the periodic table organizes the data of chemistry. Unfortunately, the U.S. public by and large does not understand this, and equally unfortunately, teachers of biology at both the 7–12 and university level rarely teach biology in the light of evolution. Rarely is evolution explicitly brought into the subject matter of courses in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology; but even in organismic biology, ecology, and behavior, evolution is often overlooked as an organizing principle that could help students “make sense” of biology. A series of specialists in several fields of biology will address this oversight, providing specific examples of how evolution “makes sense” of their particular specialties in biology. The purpose is to model how these subjects in biology should be taught -- to improve the teaching of biology, but also eventually to improve the understanding of evolution in the general public.

Organized by:

Eugenie C Scott, National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA;Joshua Rosenau, National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA

Presentations:

  Symposium Organizer--Eugenie C. Scott, National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA

  Symposium Co-Organizer--Joshua Rosenau, National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA

  Moderator--Eugenie C. Scott, National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA

  Why We Need To Apply Dobzhansky's Maxim Today--Joshua Rosenau, National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA

  Evolution Makes Sense of Biochemistry--David Deamer, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA

  Evolution Makes Sense of Cell and Molecular Biology--Kenneth R. Miller, Brown University, Providence, RI

  Evolution Makes Sense of Developmental Biology--Sean B. Carroll, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

  Evolution Makes Sense of Anatomy--Neil Shubin, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

  Evolution Makes Sense of Behavior--Olivia Judson, Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London, United Kingdom