Evolution Writing Assignment One of the topics in the news is about whether creation science should be taught in schools along with evolution or that evolution should be taught as “just a theory”. We have touched on evolution in a number of chapters so far this spring and through some of your reading assignments and you should now understand what a scientific theory is and that it is not "just a guess". Evolution is often presented as a belief system that also relies on faith even though over 150 years of scientific research has shown that evolution is an extremely robust explanation of life. The fact that there is still so much misinformation about evolution indicates that the subject is not settled and may not be for quite a while.  There appears to be a gap in support for evolution within the United States. Based on an article published in Newsweek, 99.86% of Earth and Life Scientists supported evolution as the primary force explaining life on earth today versus only 40% of the general public [Larry Martz and Ann McDaniel, "Keeping God Out of Class (Washington and bureau reports)". A 2009 Pew Research poll showed that, 97% of scientists accepted that humans evolved in some fashion, while 31% of the general public thought humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time (http://www.pewforum.org/2009/11/05/public-opinion-on-religion-and-science-in-the-united-states/). In another poll by Public Religion Research Institute (RNS Religion News Survey, September 14–18, 2011, N=1,013) 57% of respondents said that "Humans and other living things have evolved over time" came closest to their view, while 38% preferred "Humans and other living things have existed in their present form since creation." In the same poll, when people were asked "do scientists generally agree that humans evolved over time, are scientists divided, or do scientists generally disagree that humans evolved over time," 51% of respondents said that scientists agree, 26% said that scientists were divided, 15% said that scientists disagreed, and 9% said that they didn't know or refused to answer the question. Based on the polls, there is a perception within the public that scientists are divided about evolution even though over 99% of Earth and life scientists support evolution as a fact. People accept gravitational theory, quantum theory, and cell theory as fact, but when it comes to this one area of biology, suddenly they question the idea and the scientists.  As a citizen scientist, you need accurate information to make accurate conclusions. As Charles Darwin himself stated, “a fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.” With that in mind, here is your assignment. Assignment: Your assignment will be to write a 700 word paper explaining the scientific basis of evolution and why people have trouble accepting evolution. This will be a 3 part paper that will include a paragraph th ...

1. Evolution Writing Assignment
One of the topics in the news is about whether creation science
should be taught in schools along with evolution or that
evolution should be taught as “just a theory”. We have touched
on evolution in a number of chapters so far this spring and
through some of your reading assignments and you should now
understand what a scientific theory is and that it is not "just a
guess". Evolution is often presented as a belief system that also
relies on faith even though over 150 years of scientific research
has shown that evolution is an extremely robust explanation of
life. The fact that there is still so much misinformation about
evolution indicates that the subject is not settled and may not be
for quite a while.
There appears to be a gap in support for evolution within the
United States. Based on an article published in Newsweek,
99.86% of Earth and Life Scientists supported evolution as the
primary force explaining life on earth today versus only 40% of
the general public [Larry Martz and Ann McDaniel, "Keeping
God Out of Class (Washington and bureau reports)". A 2009
Pew Research poll showed that, 97% of scientists accepted that
humans evolved in some fashion, while 31% of the general
public thought humans have existed in their present form since
the beginning of time
(http://www.pewforum.org/2009/11/05/public-opinion-on-
religion-and-science-in-the-united-states/). In another poll by
Public Religion Research Institute (RNS Religion News Survey,
September 14–18, 2011, N=1,013) 57% of respondents said that
"Humans and other living things have evolved over time" came
closest to their view, while 38% preferred "Humans and other
living things have existed in their present form since creation."
In the same poll, when people were asked "do scientists
generally agree that humans evolved over time, are scientists

2. divided, or do scientists generally disagree that humans evolved
over time," 51% of respondents said that scientists agree, 26%
said that scientists were divided, 15% said that scientists
disagreed, and 9% said that they didn't know or refused to
answer the question.
Based on the polls, there is a perception within the public that
scientists are divided about evolution even though over 99% of
Earth and life scientists support evolution as a fact. People
accept gravitational theory, quantum theory, and cell theory as
fact, but when it comes to this one area of biology, suddenly
they question the idea and the scientists. As a citizen scientist,
you need accurate information to make accurate conclusions. As
Charles Darwin himself stated, “a fair result can be obtained
only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on
both sides of each question.” With that in mind, here is your
assignment.
Assignment: Your assignment will be to write a 700 word paper
explaining the scientific basis of evolution and why people have
trouble accepting evolution. This will be a 3 part paper that will
include a paragraph that summarizes, in your own words, the
scientific explanation of evolution (do not cut and paste), the
second paragraph will be on why the public has trouble
accepting evolution (use research), and the third paragraph will
be where you explain one of the common misconceptions about
evolution listed below (explain why it is a misconception).
Select the common misconception from the list below. I want
you to support your writing with references – a minimum of one
per paragraph. An example of documentation would be:
Understanding Evolution: An Introduction to Evolution.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/evo_02.
Web page accessed 04/20/12.
You may cite the documentation in the text or just include a
reference number in the text and then list and number the

3. references at the end.
Common Misconceptions you may select from for the third
paragraph. Pick only one of these.
1. Humans evolved from monkeys.
2. Evolutionary theory implies that life evolved by chance or
randomly.
3. Evolution is not science because it is not observable or
testable.
4. Gaps in the fossil record disprove evolution.
5. Evolution is a belief system much like a religion.
Your paper will be graded on the following
1. Summary of evolution. Is it accurate and stated logically? Is
it stated clearly in your own words?
2. Research and explanation about why some people cannot
accept evolution. (This is the only area where I will accept
"creation science" references)
3. Accuracy of your explanation about the misconception and
presentation of the correct information.
4. Presentation of information and supporting facts.
5. Number and quality of documentation. If all information
comes from the same author or same web site, points will be
deducted. Your text book will only count as a single source.
Criteria
Excellent job
Good job
Minimal work
Scientific summary of evolution
Clear and accurate summary
General summary
Disorganized summary or lacking information
Explanation of why the public has trouble with evolution
Clear and accurate explanation with documentation

4. General explanation with limited documentation
Disorganized explanation with limited or missing
documentation
Explanation of the misconception and an accurate correct
explanation of the misconception
Clear and accurate explanation with documentation
General explanation with limited documentation
Disorganized explanation with limited or missing
documentation
Number and quality of documentation.
2 or more per paragraph
1 per paragraph
missing documentation
Word count
Over 725
700-725
less than 700
Some writing notes for this class:
· The word goal is the minimum and does not include the title or
the references – it is the body of the text.
· Don’t pad the text by repeating the title multiple times – “How
will learning biology help me in my everyday life? I will tell
you how learning biology will help in my everyday life.”
· When I ask for citations or references, I want good sources of
information. If I ask you to write about trees I expect your
sources to be from a reputable source. The web site
www.Ilovetrees.com is not a reputable source. The US Forest
Service or National Arbor Day Foundation would be much
better sources. A reputable source has staff members that are
experts in the field and present scientifically valid information.
· Personal statements within a paper are never penalized as long
as they are substantiated by some reputable source (see bullet
point above). “I believe green cats live on Mars” may be your
true belief, but it is not substantiated by any reputable source.

5. This is a science course and I expect scientifically based
information.
· Spell checker is your friend, but don’t rely on it. While this is
a science course and not English, I do want you to understand
the difference between their, they’re, and there; your and
you’re; and other commonly misused words. You can use this
web page as a quick reference:
http://wsuonline.weber.edu/wrh/words.htm
· Keep direct quotes from other writers to a minimum. I do read
for and check for cut and paste from web pages. Some “quoted”
source material is acceptable, but excessive cut and paste will
be deducted from your word count. Major chunks of cut and
paste will be grounds for failing the assignment. Read the
source, cite the source, and put it in your own words.