# Presentation: 237926

## The Big Bang, Kansas

**      ****and Creationism**

*Scott Dodelson *
*April 5, 2000*

- A Scientist’s Perspective

## August 1999: Kansas Board of Education

- eliminates evolution/Big Bang from curriculum

## Slide 3

## Minutes of the August 14, 1999 Meeting

## Report from Science Standards committee

- recognized committee members who were present and asked
- Dr. Loren Lutes, Co-Chair of the Committee, to report on the
- latest update of the Kansas science education standards.
- Dr.Lutes indicated the committee had met in May and June
- in open public session and the result was the Fifth Draft
- of the Kansas Science Standards which the committee
- recommended be adopted. He indicated the standards in
- their current form had the support of the Kansas Association
- of Teachers of Science, Kansas Association of School Superintendents,
- Unified School Administrators, KNEA, the Governor and the Regents
- presidents and had been reviewed and supported by outside
- evaluators and national science organizations.
- He indicated the high level of support was due to the
- fact the standards were based on national standards and
- the 1992 and 1995 Kansas standards.

-      well-received by outside evaluators

## Several Board members propose changes

- approve Kansas Curricular Standards for Science as recommended
- by the State Board Subcommittee with the following changes:
- Page 6, paragraph 1, sentence 2: change shall to should;
- Page 6, paragraph 2, sentence 3: change shall to should;
- Page 6, paragraph 2, sentence 3: change censured to censored;
- Page 8 and 9: change items starting at Science as Inquiry through the
- 	History and Nature of Science to bulleted items under the
- 	heading Standards on page 8;
- Page 36, Indicator 4: change to read "Suggest alternative scientific
- 	hypotheses or theories to current scientific hypotheses or
- 	theories;
- Page 90: eliminate paragraphs 2, 3 and 4;
- Page 91: eliminate paragraphs 1-4
- Page 90 \& 91-92: move the remaining language to Appendix 1 under
- 	Falsification on page 87; Remove all assessment flags
-                    throughout the document and refer to staff for
- 	recommendations on assessment items.

-                   to the Standards

## Unhappiness about changes and 

- with how the subcommittee went about its work on them.

- Unhappiness about changes and
-               lack of openness

## Defense of changes

## More defense: parents should not be left out

- He noted that in the writing committee's draft, one of the most
- important stakeholders in the state, the parents, had been left
- out. He felt there was overwhelming support from parents for some
- latitude about what was to be taught. He said it was his belief
- that the subcommittee's document did not state in any way that
- evolution should not or could not be taught, but that the Board
- was asking the local school districts to communicate with their
- community and find out what was best to meet the needs of their
- local schools. He added his hope that all Board members could
- leave the sensitive discussion of the standards as friends.

## We are interested in the children ...

## Some humor and ...

- his belief in his own origins and she would debate the position that he did not descend from apes.

- Board votes 6-4 in favor of changes

## Three Pillars of Evidence in support of

- 			The Big Bang

- Expansion of the universe
- Light elements
- Cosmic Radiation

## Pillar 1: Expansion

- In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovers that distant
- galaxies are receding faster than nearby ones.

## Pillar 1: The early data

## Pillar 2: Light Elements

## Pillar 2: Light elements

- Hydrogen: 75%
- Helium:     24%
- Helium-3:  1 part in 10000
- Deuterium: 1 part in 100,000
- Lithium: 1 part in a billion

- _Predictions_

- _Observations_
- 	75%
- 	24%
- 1 part in 10000
- 1 part in 100,000
- 1 part in a billion

## Pillar 3: Cosmic Radiation

- Predicted remnant of Big Bang first detected in
- 1964 (Penzias & Wilson, Nobel Prize). Observed
- in great detail by COBE satellite in 1990.

## Pillar 3: Cosmic Radiation

## Evidence counts: It’s not OK to twist the

- 	facts to fit your theory

- E.g. deterrence
- in the death penalty
- debate.

## Numbers:

- God spoke to Moses, saying,  "Send out men for yourself to explore the Canaanite territory that I am about to give the Israelites. Send out one man for each                     patriarchal tribe. Each one shall be a person of high rank."
- Deuteronomy:
- All of you then approached me and said, "Send men ahead of us to explore the land. Let them bring back a report about the way ahead of us and the cities that we shall encounter."

- Unsolicited Advice: Fear not apparent conflicts!

## Hot Topics: Dark Matter

- More matter
- exists in galaxies
- than we can see

- What is this new
- form of matter?

## Hot Topics: The Origin of Structure

- The matter in galaxies was
- initially coupled to the
- cosmic radiation.

- Detailed study of the
- radiation will unravel
- many cosmic mysteries.

## Hot Topic: The Origin of Structure

- SDSS: 1 Million Galaxies

- MAP: The primordial picture

## ?

- Hot Topic: The Accelerating Universe

- Wide variety of evidence points
- to accelerating expansion. What
- is responsible?

- Vacuum energy
- Cosmological constant
- Quintessence
- Large extra dimensions
- Strings
- Membranes

## Should we study the Big Bang?

-  Lots of evidence
-  Evidence matters
-  Conflicts with our traditions can be overcome
-  It’s an exciting time!

- Yes

## We will emerge richer ...

- What is the way to love and fear Him?
- By considering His works and His wonderful
- creations and seeing in them His wisdom.
- 			Maimonides, *Code of Law*