Reaction Paper for Evolution
 
My thoughts regarding about the “problems” addressed in the articles as I understand them to teach the theory of evolution in my classroom. It is important to define what the difference between a law and a theory is. According to Narguizian, “Laws consist of primarily as statements or generalizations made about natural phenomenon. On the other hand, “theories however consist of explanations for how the law works”. It is very crucial to understand the different between law and theory.  My thoughts regarding the theory of evolution are that it can be thought in science classroom, but it requires that we as teacher address the misconception and at the same time keeping our biases away from the classroom. 
The teaching model used in the article that uses geological perspective of teaching evolutionary biology effectively because it addresses the underlying assumptions and limitations in understanding how the nature of science works. These assumptions and limitations are crippled by the lack of understanding and the biases that science educators bring into the classroom. We must address these assumptions and limitations through the geological concepts and it is an effective approach in teaching evolution. It is very important that that we use the nature of science and the scientific method to teach evolution in the classroom.
All three articles have approached the teaching of evolution via the nature of science and geological perspective. It is very important to establish a discussion of evolution that provides opportunities for students and teachers in order to explore how scientists developed scientific explanations to explain the rationale behind the theory of evolution. There are many ways to address the topic of evolution in my classroom. I will address the topic of evolution by developing a theoretical framework for teaching evolutionary concepts that must involve natural occurrences and to make sure that the theory is testable. It can be connected to the unifying themes such as evidence: use of data or documentation to support a conclusion, models help explain natural phenomena and Constancy: there is stability in cause-effect relationship in the natural world.
In addressing my concerns in teaching this topic, my approach will be planning debates in class that can creates questions or position statements on the topic of evolution. Students will do research on the historical background, experiments or different observations that provide an explanation to the theory of evolution. I will allow students to use various perspectives in order to defend or refute evolution and natural selection. This can help students enhance their learning and participate in cooperative groups. In the Cherif article provides a hand out that I can use in my classroom as a class assignment such handout is called “I believe vs. I think”. This handout will allow students to develop their position about the theory of evolution. Students will be able to recognize the body of evidence that gave rise to the proposal of the theory of evolution. The use of fossil and geological time can address how to introduce the theory of evolution in connection with the nature of science.
The concerns that I have regarding about these articles is that we should not used only one approach in teaching the theory of evolution but rather than using different approaches present in the article by Cherif: “What on Earth is Evolution?” It is the best written article and it used various approaches in addressing the theory of evolution. It is the responsibility of the teacher to teach evolution and natural selection as well as deliver the content with out introducing any biases. It biases are introduce; we must address it and provide example in addressing this misconceptions and biases. We must provide students to take part of the learning experiences in the classroom and have students have ownership that will make them understand both the nature of science and scientific content.
It is a good approach to introduce the theory of evolution via the nature of science through the scientific method and geological perspective in addressing the theory effectively in the classroom. There are resources that one can use in designing this special topic in the biology curriculum that can address the science content and introduce the nature of science to the students as part of their learning process.
According to Cherif, “Although evolution is called a theory, this does not mean that evolutionary biology is guesswork or is not supported by evidence.” It is an approach through set of ideas that can be scientifically experimented and provide evidence that can be used in many ways in the biology curriculum. This will enhance student attitudes and it will contribute to student’s ownership and willingness to draw conclusion about the evolutionary explanations for other natural selection phenomena.