SEBRING — Scientists, professors, parents and a student apparently convinced the members of the School Board of Highlands County that their individual beliefs should not collectively affect their decision as a board on the issue of teaching evolution. Board members had stated their opposition to a portion of the proposed new state science standards, which state that evolution is the fundamental concept underlying all of biology. The board members said recently that evolution should be taught as a theory, not as fact. At Tuesday's school board meeting, the board was scheduled to consider a resolution calling for the presentation of other theories of life in the study of science. ...more

February 7, 2008

In Saturday's Highlands Today, the editorial roundup "Debate Evolution, But Not In Science Class," the author suggested that Florida hasn't reached the 21st century with its state science standards. Suggesting that by not requiring the term "evolution" to be used in curriculum has deprived Florida's educational system of some vital material is foolishness at best. Finding a biology book which meets the present standards without the term "evolution" or its concept, will be very difficult. No one seems to know just what this new rule will do to enhance science education in Florida. ...more

January 15, 2008

SEBRING — Wearing goggles and protective aprons, Sebring High School chemistry students grind up Tums and Rolaids tablets with a mortar and pestle. The heartburn remedies are harmless, but the students are using these antacid granules to neutralize hydrochloric acid. It's called titration, which is the process of gradually adjusting the dose of a medication until the desired effect is achieved. State educators are near the end of the process of updating the academic science standards for grades kindergarten through 12. After receiving an "F" grade in a 2005 study, new state science standards have been drafted and could be approved next month. It's a good thing that Florida is reworking its science standards, according to the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. The current documents are reasonably well organized but sorely lacking in content. ...more

December 16, 2007

Florida's public school students for years have been studying "biological changes over time," but proposed revisions in state science standards for the first time would use another term for that concept: evolution. ...more

December 8, 2007