GAMES IN DEVELOPMENT

Kansas 1999: Evolution or Creationism
E-mail reacting@barnard.edu for availability

The Kansas Board of Education has been “captured” by the religious right. They have just removed the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution and of modern Big Bang cosmology from the required school curriculum of the state. As a result, Kansas has become the laughingstock of the “blue states.” Scientific societies are working hard to reverse this ruling which they feel threatens the ability of Kansas students to prepare for scientific and technical careers. Centrist Republicans are trying to reclaim control of the GOP. Democrats see this as a wedge issue to help elect Democrats, including Al Gore who is campaigning for President. But many members of the Board defend their decision as one that keeps the teaching “scientism” out of the schools and protects the good Christian children of Kansas from indoctrination in the secular humanism of the liberal left. Shouldn't parents have some say in what their children learn and be able to protect them from ideologies that undermine the family's beliefs? At the same time, the religious right has discovered Intelligent Design as a possible way to circumvent the Supreme Court’s decision against teaching creation in the public schools. How does the state decide between the conflicting claims of authority of religion and science?

Students begin the game by running for election to the Board of Education to try to defend the ideology assigned in their roles. They will prepare campaign speeches and debate their opponents. In the end, the voters will elect a new Board of Education and the new board will then revisit the science curriculum in a series of meetings to write the science curriculum and reach a final decision. The debate is informed by selected readings from Darwin’s Origin of Species and Hume’s Dialogues On Natural Religion. Students also gain a rich understanding of the complexity of evolution reading Micrcosmos by Margulis and Sagan. The game includes optional labs to help students understand how evidence is used to support scientific theories.

About the Author:

David E. Henderson is Professor of Chemistry at Trinity College and a founding member of the Environmental Science Program at Trinity. His research has included studies of acid precipitation and its effects on stream chemistry. He is also an expert on liquid chromatography and has published widely in the field. He has a wide range of interests including environmental protection and the history of religion. He is author of two other Reacting games, Acid Rain in Europe, 1979-1989 and Constantine and the Council of Nicaea.