Darwin's Work to Be Highlighted in 2011 and Beyond

Frontispiece of JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES by Charles Darwin. Prehistoric looking guinea-fowl skull and ammonite fossil holding down title page. Photo: iStockphoto The ideas of Charles Darwin and the concept of evolution by natural selection continue to have a profound influence on modern biology – they permeate almost every area of scientific exploration. The Academies have long been involved in educational activities and publications on many aspects of evolution. For example, in 2008 the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine jointly published Science, Evolution, and Creationism, to help people who are interested in evolution better understand its underlying principles and how evolution is an integral component of scientific research and thinking. In 2009 the National Academy of Sciences joined many other organizations in the international scientific community to celebrate the 'Year of Science,' which commemorated Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his masterwork On the Origin of Species. Information about some of the events we hosted as part of this celebration can be accessed through our event archive.

In 2011, the National Research Council’s Board on Life Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences organized a convocation to bring together people from the life sciences community to explore ways to infuse concepts of evolution into all areas of biology education. Thinking Evolutionarily: Evolution Education Across the Life Sciences explains the major themes that recurred throughout the convocation held in Washington, D.C. They include the structure and content of curricula, the processes of teaching and learning about evolution, the tensions that can arise in the classroom, and the target audiences for evolution education.

The National Research Council also released the report A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas as a first step toward developing the next generation of K-12 science education standards. The study of evolution is one of the themes running throughout this report with section LS4 focusing specifically on biological evolution.

In a process managed by the nonprofit organization Achieve Inc., states will lead the development of K-12 science standards, rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education. The next-generation science standards will be based on the framework and prepare students for college and careers. Read more at nextgenscience.org.

We will be updating this website with new events and resources throughout the year, so please check back with us again.