The Earth Scientist

Volume XXVIII, Issue 3
Page 25
Teaching Controversy
Mark S. McCaffrey
Abstract
What could be wrong with presenting in a science class “both sides” of controversial topics
like evolution or climate change, or having students debate the topics, using argumentation
to improve their critical thinking skills? In the case of evolution, presenting supposed
alternatives, such as intelligent design or young-earth creationism, is not only considered
bad practice, but also unconstitutional in public schools due to the separation of church
and state. However, in the case of climate change, the practice of teaching it as controversial
and presenting “both sides” as if they are equally valid, is a too common practice
among science teachers. This paper examines the reasons why teachers may be encouraged
or drawn to “teach the controversy” about climate change, why it is not an effective practice
and leaves students more confused, and how the Next Generation Science Standards may
help to transform how we teach about climate and global change science and solutions.
Teaching Evolution and Climate Change:
similar but different
Teaching evolution in classrooms has been a bone of contention for years, dating back to the Scopes
trial in Tennessee in 1925, after the Butler Act outlawed the teaching of “any theory that denies the
divine creation of man and teaches instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.”
There have been numerous court cases since then, and efforts to teach “both sides” of evolution
in public schools have been promoted. In the Kitzmiller v. Dover case, tried in 2005 in a Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, federal district court, it was found that intelligent design was a form of creationism,
and therefore unconstitutional to teach in American public schools.
In the legal arena, climate change education is substantially different from the teaching of
evolution. It isn’t unconstitutional to teach “both sides” of climate change, and many teachers do
this, although in instances where climate change is explicitly included in school district curriculum,
teachers who don’t teach to the curriculum could be accused of insubordination.
There are some similarities between evolution and climate change in how they are taught or not
taught. Like evolution, climate change often isn’t taught at all or isn’t taught well. By and large,
climate change has been missing from science education for many decades, in part because it is
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