Evolution vs. Creationism

1. Evolution vs. Creationism An Introduction Novel by Eugenie C. Scott Presented by Sage O’Toole UCI BSEMD

2. How did we get here? Science, Evolution, Religion, and Creationism

3. Why science is particularly well suited to explaining our material universe “The scientist believes in proof without certainty, the bigot in certainty without proof” Montagu 1984

4. Science: Proof Without Certainty • Science is a way of knowing that is far different than other ways of knowing • Science involves the testing of explanations of the natural world against nature itself and discarding of those explanations that do not work

5. Science: Proof Without Certainty • Other ways of knowing: Authority Logic Revelation

6. Science: Proof Without Certainty • Science is an open-minded procedure in which ideas are constantly tested and rejected or modified • Rarely do scientists assert that they have proved something to be true • In fact, most scientific experiments are designed to DISPROVE a hypothesis

7. Scientific Terms to know and understand Hypotheses FACTS Theories Theories LAWS How would a scientist rank these in terms of importance? What about a typical person?

8. Scientific Terms to know and understand Average Person Scientist Theories Facts Most Important Laws Laws Hypotheses Theories Hypotheses Facts Least Important How would a scientist rank these in terms of importance? What about a typical person?

9. Scientific Facts • Confirmed observations • When we get the same result over and over again, we consider something a fact • With new evidence, tools for measurement, etc. FACTS CAN CHANGE! not absolutely true!

10. Hypotheses • Often written as if, then statements • Either rejected or confirmed through testing • Depends on demonstrating that a result found in a comparison occurs more or less frequently than if only chance were operating (statistics are very important here) your guess is as good as mine!

11. Laws • Extremely useful empirical generalizations • State what will happen under certain conditions not to be confused with legal issues!

12. Theories • A comprehensive explanation of some aspect of nature that is supported by a vast body of evidence Guess v. Explanation more than a hunch!

13. THE THEORY OF Evolution

14. What is Evolution? • What it isn’t: • Man evolved from Monkeys • Molecules to man • What it is: • Cumulative change through time (but not just any kind of change) • Cumulative or additive changes that take place over time in phenomena like galaxies, planets, or organisms

15. What is Evolution? • Astronomical Evolution- origin of elements, stars, galaxies, and planets • Geological Evolution- concerned with the evolution of our own planet through time • Mechanisms of astronomical and geological evolution involve the laws and principles of physics and chemistry: thermodynamics, heat, cold, expansion, contraction, erosion, sedimentation, gravity, etc.

16. What is Evolution? • Biological Evolution- the inference that all living things share common ancestors and have “descended with modification” from these ancestors, in Darwin’s words • Natural Selection is the main mechanism of Biological Evolution

17. Evolution vs. Natural Selection Evolution Natural Selection The mechanism for evolution The idea is very simple and can apply to almost anything: generate a variety of possible solutions and pick the one that works best for the problem at hand In living things- the problem at hand is usually survival and reproduction • Living things share common ancestors • Living things have descended with modification from these ancestors

18. Is THE THEORY OF Evolution Scientific? Can it be tested? YES!

19. Testable Hypotheses for Evolution • If living things descended with modification from common ancestors, then we would expect that species that lived in the remote past must be different than species alive today. • If evolution occurred, then we would expect to find only the simplest life forms in the oldest fossil containing strata and the more complex life forms to appear in more recent strata • If evolution occurred then there should have been connecting forms between the major groups (phyla, classes, orders) • If there had not been a gradual emergence of the various branches of the tree of life then we would expect that all evidence of life would be jumbled together at the same time.

20. Testing Evolution: Patterns • Evolution implies descent with modification • Observable in fossil record

21. Testing Evolution: Patterns We can test relationships between organisms found in the fossil records with each other or with living organisms today

22. Testing Evolution: Process • Scientists not only want to determine the patterns of evolution (ie how organisms relate to one another) they also want to understand the process for evolution. Studied processes include: • Natural Selection • Genetic Drift in small populations • Competition between species? • Tendency towards larger sizes? • What is the rate and pace of evolution?

23. Natural Selection • Natural Selection is now an accepted process for the change of organisms • Farmers and Pharmacists see it every day • Creationists, however, claim that Natural Selection can’t bring about differences from one “kind” to another

24. Religion and Creationism

25. What is Religion? • A set of ideas concerning non-material reality • Almost all religions involve a belief in an ultimate or absolute or transcendent reality beyond the earthly world • Almost universal among religions is the notion of spiritual beings with special powers

26. Creationism • The belief that the present universe came about as the result of the action or actions of a divine creator • Creationism to many people means that God created the universe much as we see it today and that the universe has not changed appreciably since the creation event

27. NO! Is Creationism Scientific? Can it be tested?

28. Hypotheses for Creationism • Special Creationism- God created everything just as we see it today • Theistic Evolution- God created everything through a natural process such as evolution • An omnipotent being could have created the universe to appear as if it evolved, but actually created it 5 minutes ago

29. Creationism and Testing • Science operates by testing explanations of natural phenomena against the natural world • Scientific testing requires the holding constant of controls How can we control for the actions of a god?! • We can’t therefore the question of whether a god created anything can’t be tested by science

30. Creationism and Testing • In some cases, science can be used to disprove creationist ideas IF the ideas claim to be FACT • For example: • The age of the Earth according to calculations based on the bible is about 6018 years • The grand canyon was created from the flood waters at the time of Noah’s Ark

31. Science is a way of KNOWING far different from other ways of knowing. • Science is particularly well suited to explaining our material universe and supports both evolution as a fact of nature and natural selection as a theory of evolution. • Science, however, is not well suited for addressing the ideas of creationism. • Creationism cannot be tested using science. Instead, statements of fact posed by creationism can be tested and disproved. Conclusions

32. Discussion Questions for Teachers • How is science better suited than other ways of knowing for explaining the material universe? • What are the major misconceptions students may have when attempting to define evolution? • Does the study of science and evolution automatically exclude the validity of religion?

33. Discussion Questions for Students • Can science be used to prove or disprove creationism? • What exactly does the “theory of evolution” mean? Is this just a guess? • Which terms could best be used to define evolution? Hypothesis, theory, fact, or law?