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Information about the Alabama "Evolution Warning Label"
(Biology Textbook Disclaimers)
Outline
- Pictures of the "Evolution Warning Label"
- History of the "Evolution Warning Label"
- Original "Evolution Warning Label" (1996-2001)
- Weaker "Evolution Warning Label" (2001-present)
- Even weaker "Evolution Warning Label" (2004 proposed)
- Current disclaimer
- Evolution of the "Evolution Warning Label"
- Problems with the "Evolution Warning Label"
Pictures of the "Evolution Warning Label"
These are scans of the actual "warning labels" stuck in every biology textbook
by the state of Alabama, 1996-2005.
| Evolution Warning Label, 1996-2001 |
Evolution Warning Label, 2001-2005 |
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History of the "Evolution Warning Label"
The teaching of evolution has been suppressed across the South since the 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial".
Although creationists were pilloried by the national media during the Scopes Trial, they actually won the court case, and Scopes was convicted and given the minimum fine of $100. John Scopes' conviction was later overturned on a technicality, but antievolution laws remained legal, and for 40 years the teaching of evolution was banned in many southern states, and was locally suppressed in many school districts elsewhere.
From the 1960's to the 1980's, a series of court decisions overturned all of these laws as unconstitutional. However, creationism did not go away -- it simply evolved. The "intelligent design" movement was one product of this evolution, and textbook "warning labels" were another.
The original Alabama textbook evolution "Evolution Warning Label" was designed by the Alabama Eagle Forum (see their 1995 article, "Evolution Warning Labels for Alabama Texts," published in the Eagle Forum's "Education Reporter"). This label was in effect from 1996-2001. This disclaimer evolved into the shorter textbook disclaimer in Cobb County, Georgia, where it was challenged in federal court and ruled unconstitutional (the decision is currently under appeal).
In Alabama, the disclaimer has gone through several stages of evolution, detailed below.
Original "Evolution Warning Label" (1996-2001)
A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things, such as plants, animals and humans.
No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact.
The word "evolution" may refer to many types of change. Evolution describes changes that occur within a species. (White moths, for example, may "evolve" into gray moths.) This process is microevolution, which can be observed and described as fact. Evolution may also refer to the change of one living thing to another, such as reptiles into birds. This process, called macroevolution, has never been observed and should be considered a theory. Evolution also refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced a world of living things.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbooks, including:
- Why did the major groups of animals suddenly appear in the fossil record (known as the Cambrian Explosion)?
- Why have no new major groups of living things appeared in the fossil record in a long time?
- Why do major groups of plants and animals have no transitional forms in the fossil record?
- How did you and all living things come to possess such a complete and complex set of "instructions" for building a living body?
Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday you may contribute to the theories of how living things appeared on earth.
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Weaker "Evolution Warning Label" (2001-2005)
The following resolution was adopted by the Alabama Board of Education on Thursday, November 08, 2001.
A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
The word "theory" has many meanings. Theories are defined as systematically organized knowledge, abstract reasoning, a speculative idea or plan, or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations.
Many scientific theories have been developed over time. The value of scientific work is not only the development of theories but also what is learned from the development process. The Alabama Course of Study: Science includes many theories and studies of scientists’ work. The work of Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein, to name a few, has provided a basis of our knowledge of the world today.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is a controversial theory that is included in this textbook. It is controversial because it states that natural selection provides the basis for the modern scientific explanation for the diversity of living things. Since natural selection has been observed to play a role in influencing small changes in a population, it is assumed that it produces large changes, even though this has not been directly observed. Because of its importance and implications, students should understand the nature of evolutionary theories. They should learn to make distinctions between the multiple meanings of evolution, to distinguish between observations and assumptions used to draw conclusions, and to wrestle with the unanswered questions and unresolved problems still faced by evolutionary theory.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life. With the explosion of new scientific knowledge in biochemical and molecular biology and exciting new fossil discoveries, Alabama students may be among those who use their understanding and skills to contribute to knowledge and to answer many unanswered questions. Instructional material associated with controversy should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.
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Even weaker "Evolution Warning Label" (2005)
The revised draft of the Alabama Course of Study: Science (ACOSS) standards, dated January 14, 2005, contains the following weakened disclaimer. The language claiming that "evolution is a controversial theory" has been removed, but much of the rest remains.
Revised ACOSS standards, January 14, 2005
The following position statement regarding scientific
theories is included in this document. The word
"theory" has many meanings. Theories are defined as
systematically organized knowledge, abstract reasoning,
speculative ideas or plans, or systematic statements of
principles. Scientific theories are based on both
observations of and assumptions about the natural
world. They are always subject to change in view of
new and confirmed observations.
Many scientific theories have been developed over time.
The value of scientific work, however, is not only the
development of theories but also what is learned from
the development process. The Alabama Course of Study:
Science was developed within the context of trying to
establish scientific literacy, not to question or
diminish one's beliefs and/or faith. To that end, this
document includes many theories and studies of
scientists' works for examination by students. The
works of Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein, to name a
few, have provided a basis for much of our knowledge of
the world today.
The theory of evolution by natural selection, a theory
included in this document, states that natural
selection provides the basis for the modern scientific
explanation for the diversity of living things. Since
natural selection has been observed to play a role in
influencing small changes in a population, it is
assumed, based on the study of artifacts, that it
produces large changes, even though this has not been
directly observed. Because of its importance and
implications, students should understand the nature of
evolutionary theories. They should learn to make
distinctions between the multiple meanings of
evolution, to distinguish between observations and
assumptions used to draw conclusions, and to wrestle
with the unanswered questions and unresolved problems
still faced by evolutionary theory.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of
life. With the explosion of new scientific knowledge
in biochemical and molecular biology and exciting new
fossil discoveries, Alabama students may be among those
who use their understanding and skills to contribute to
knowledge and to answer many unanswered questions.
Instructional materials chosen to implement the content
standards within this course of study should be
approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and
critically considered.
|
Evolution of the "Evolution Warning Label"
| 1996-2001 |
2001-2005 |
2005 |
A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF
EDUCATION
This textbook discusses evolution, a
controversial theory some scientists
present as a scientific explanation for
the origin of living things, such as
plants, animals and humans.
No one was present when life first
appeared on earth. Therefore, any
statement about life's origins should be
considered as theory, not fact.
|
A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF
EDUCATION
The word "theory" has many meanings.
Theories are defined as systematically
organized knowledge, abstract reasoning, a
speculative idea or plan, or a systematic
statement of principles. Scientific
theories are based on both observations of
the natural world and assumptions about
the natural world. They are always
subject to change in view of new and
confirmed observations.
Many scientific theories have been
developed over time. The value of
scientific work is not only the
development of theories but also what is
learned from the development process. The
Alabama Course of Study: Science includes
many theories and studies of scientists'
work. The work of Copernicus, Newton, and
Einstein, to name a few, has provided a
basis of our knowledge of the world today.
|
A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF
EDUCATION
The word "theory" has many meanings.
Theories are defined as systematically
organized knowledge, abstract reasoning,
speculative ideas or plans, or systematic
statements of principles. Scientific
theories are based on both observations of
the natural world and assumptions about
the natural world. They are always
subject to change in view of new and
confirmed observations.
Many scientific theories have been
developed over time. The value of
scientific work, however, is not only the
development of theories but also what is
learned from the development process. The
Alabama Course of Study: Science
was developed within the context of trying to
establish scientific literacy, not to
question or diminish one's beliefs and/or
faith. To that end, this document
includes many theories and studies of
scientists' works for examination by
students. The work of Copernicus, Newton, and
Einstein, to name a few, has provided a
basis of our knowledge of the world today.
|
The word "evolution" may refer to many
types of change. Evolution describes
changes that occur within a species.
(White moths, for example, may "evolve"
into gray moths.) This process is
microevolution, which can be observed and
described as fact. Evolution may also
refer to the change of one living thing to
another, such as reptiles into birds. This
process, called macroevolution, has never
been observed and should be considered a
theory. Evolution also refers to the
unproven belief that random, undirected
forces produced a world of living things.
There are many unanswered questions about
the origin of life which are not mentioned
in your textbooks, including:
- Why did the major groups of animals
suddenly appear in the fossil record
(known as the Cambrian Explosion)?
- Why have no new major groups of living
things appeared in the fossil record in a
long time?
- Why do major groups of plants and
animals have no transitional forms in the
fossil record?
- How did you and all living things come
to possess such a complete and complex set
of "instructions" for building a living
body?
|
The theory of evolution by natural
selection is a controversial theory that
is included in this textbook. It is
controversial because it states that
natural selection provides the basis for
the modern scientific explanation for the
diversity of living things. Since natural
selection has been observed to play a role
in influencing small changes in a
population, it is assumed that it produces
large changes, even though this has not
been directly observed. Because of its
importance and implications, students
should understand the nature of
evolutionary theories. They should learn
to make distinctions between the multiple
meanings of evolution, to distinguish
between observations and assumptions used
to draw concusions, and to wrestle with
the unanswered questions and unresolved
problems still faced by evolutionary
theory.
|
The theory of evolution by natural
selection, a theory included in this
document, states that
natural selection provides the basis for
the modern scientific explanation for the
diversity of living things. Since natural
selection has been observed to play a role
in influencing small changes in a
population, it is assumed, based on the study of
artifacts, that it produces
large changes, even though this has not
been directly observed. Because of its
importance and implications, students
should understand the nature of
evolutionary theories. They should learn
to make distinctions between the multiple
meanings of evolution, to distinguish
between observations and assumptions used
to draw concusions, and to wrestle with
the unanswered questions and unresolved
problems still faced by evolutionary
theory.
|
|
Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday
you may contribute to the theories of how
living things appeared on earth.
|
There are many unanswered questions about
the origin of life. With the explosion of
new scientific knowledge in biochemical
and molecular biology and exciting new
fossil discoveries, Alabama students may
be among those who use their understanding
and skills to contribute to knowledge and
to answer many unanswered questions.
Instructional material associated with
controversy should be approached with an
open mind, studied carefully, and
critically considered.
|
There are many unanswered questions about
the origin of life. With the explosion of
new scientific knowledge in biochemical
and molecular biology and exciting new
fossil discoveries, Alabama students may
be among those who use their understanding
and skills to contribute to knowledge and
to answer many unanswered questions.
Instructional materials chosen to
implement the content standards within
this course of study be approached with an
open mind, studied carefully, and
critically considered.
|
Problems with the "Evolution Warning Label"
Since 1996, the Alabama "Evolution Warning Label" has appeared in many states and school districts, usually but not always being defeated after acrimonious debate. Although the 2001 Alabama "Warning Label" is a weakened version, it is worth looking at some of the critiques of the parent disclaimer from across the country.
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