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Presented by the M.A. Program in Science and Religion, Biola University

(We warmly welcome participants representing diverse viewpoints regarding evolutionary biology)

Featuring Discussion of Discovery Institute's New Supplemental Biology Curriculum

(Free copies for professors considering it for course adoption)

Friday, August 3, 2007, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. (early bird session 10:00 - 11:15 a.m.)

- Register: Contact Mike Keas, (562) 777-4049, mike.keas@biola.edu.
- Meet in room 112 of Biola's Bardwell Science Building for this free event.
- Guest parking passes are available in Bardwell room 112 where we will meet.

An exciting new supplementary textbook delivers critical thinking at its best: Explore Evolution: The Arguments for and Against Neo-Darwinism (Hill House Publishers, 2007). It is well suited for college
courses in general biology or evolutionary biology designed for either science or non-science majors.

Modules from this curriculum are also appropriate for various advanced biology courses.

Consultation Highlights
- John Bloom, director of Biola's M.A. Program in Science and Religion, will frame the consultation.
- Jonathan Wells, author of Icons of Evolution, will survey recent trends in evolutionary biology.
- Mike Keas, primary author of Explore Evolution's auxiliary materials, will introduce the curriculum.
- You, and other participants from various universities, can offer comments and constructive criticism.
- A panel of college students who have completed the Explore Evolution unit will share their opinions.
- Discuss and dine at local restaurants after 4 p.m. until Jonathan Wells gives an optional talk at 7 p.m.

Examine the auxiliary materials (PowerPoint shows, teaching tips, etc.) that accompany the new Explore Evolution curriculum and consider how they might improve your classroom performance. The supplementary textbook Explore Evolution: The Arguments for and Against Neo-Darwinism does not
teach about the theory of intelligent design. You may wish to introduce ID theory through other resources (both pro and con) that we will discuss in the optional early-bird session from 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
before our main consultation on teaching evolutionary biology begins at 1:00 p.m. Even if you think that the arguments against neo-Darwinism are inconsequential compared to the case for this majority viewpoint, you will find the supplementary textbook Explore Evolution a useful tool to spark discussion in the classroom. Regardless of your professional opinion on these matters, you will find it difficult to ignore the case both for and against neo-Darwinism that is so winsomely and accurately conveyed in Explore Evolution. If you include this new supplement alongside a standard textbook, your students will have exposure to all sides of the debate as expressed in the words of their most qualified proponents.

Jonathan Wells will also lecture on August 3, 7:00-10:00 p.m., at a related event. You may purchase tickets for this through the Science Teacher Symposium link at www.biola.edu/scienceandreligion. Some
college biology professors may also be interested in the Saturday August 4th Symposium events designed for high school biology teachers, especially if you teach non-science majors at the college level.

More about Explore Evolution

- Authors: Stephen C. Meyer, Scott Minnich, Jonathan Moneymaker, Paul A. Nelson, Ralph Seelke.
- Publisher: Based in Melbourne and London, Hill House is known for its beautifully illustrated lepidoptory volumes. Explore Evolution reflects the high publishing standards of Hill House.

Cells have the remarkable ability to keep track of their genetic contents and - when things go wrong - to step in and repair the damage before cancer or another life-threatening condition develops.

But precisely how cells monitor the integrity of their genomes, identify problems, and intervene to repair broken or miscoded DNA has been one of nature's closely held secrets. Now, however, a report in the journal Science describes a new database developed by a team of researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School that is providing the first detailed portrait of the army of more than 700 proteins that helps maintain DNA's integrity.

How this complex system could have appeared by random mutation and natural selection is mind-numbing.

More...