Evolution in Ontario Schools

 
The United Church Observer comments on the deficiencies of Canada's education system when it comes to teaching evolution Where's Darwin?].

“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution,” wrote the late Ukrainian geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky, who found evidence for evolution by studying the genetic varietals of fruit flies. To most scientists, Darwinian evolution is the unifying principle of biology, as solid and significant as Newtonian gravity or Copernican heliocentrism. But you wouldn’t guess it from its place in Canada’s school system.

In all but one provincial science curriculum, evolution is relegated to a single unit in a Grade 11 or 12 elective course taken by a sliver of each graduating class. It would not be a stretch to say the majority of Canadian high school students graduate without ever encountering Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

The situation in Ontario is a little more complicated than this statement suggests. There's plenty of opportunities in Grades 1-8 to learn about diversity, change and adaptation but unfortunately it's true that the word "evolution" isn't mentioned [The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8: Science and Technology, 2007]. I'm told by several teachers that they frequently talk about evolution even though it's not specifically mentioned in the curriculum guidelines. It would be much better to put the fundamental concept of biology in the provincial curriculum.

Evolution is only covered specifically in Grade 12 Biology [The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11 and 12: Science]. As mentioned in the United Church of Canada article, this course is only taken by a small percentage of students in Ontario high schools.

The curriculum looks pretty good (see below). I wonder how it compares with the curricula in typical American high schools? Does anyone know?

The fact that this material is required in Grade 12 Biology suggests that high school science teachers will probably be familiar with the basic concepts of evolution and I'd be surprised if it doesn't get brought up in other courses. After all, the same teachers that teach Grade 12 Biology are often teaching other courses as well.

The fact that the Province of Ontario curriculum is so strongly supportive of evolution in the Grade 12 curriculum indicates that the government doesn't have any doubts about the validity of evolution even though they may be a bit wishy-washy about mentioning it in the primary grades.

Evolution
Overall Expectations
By the end of this course, students will:
• analyse evolutionary mechanisms, and the processes and products of evolution;
• evaluate the scientific evidence that supports the theory of evolution;
• analyse how the science of evolution can be related to current areas of biological study, and how technological development has extended or modified knowledge in the field of evolution.

Specific Expectations
Understanding Basic Concepts
By the end of this course, students will:
– define the concept of speciation and explain the mechanisms of speciation;
– describe, and put in historical and cultural context, some scientists’ contributions that have changed evolutionary concepts (e.g., describe the contributions – and the prevailing beliefs of their time – of Lyell, Malthus, Lamarck,Darwin, and Gould and Eldridge);
– analyse evolutionary mechanisms (e.g., natural selection, sexual selection, genetic variation, genetic drift, artificial selection, biotechnology) and their effects on biodiversity and extinction (e.g., describe examples that illustrate current theories of evolution, such as the darkening over time, in polluted areas, of the pigment of the peppered moth, an example of industrial melanism);
– explain, using examples, the process of adaptation of individual organisms to their environment (e.g., explain the significance of a short life cycle in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria populations).
– formulate and weigh hypotheses that reflect the various perspectives that have influenced the development of the theory of evolution (e.g., apply different theoretical models for interpreting evidence).

Developing Skills of Inquiry and Communication
By the end of this course, students will:
– outline evidence and arguments pertaining to the origin, development, and diversity of living organisms on Earth (e.g., evaluate current evidence that supports the theory of evolution and that feeds the debate on gradualism and punctuated equilibrium);
– identify questions to investigate that arise from concepts of evolution and diversity (e.g.,Why do micro-organisms evolve so quickly? What factors have contributed to the dilemma that pharmaceutical companies face in trying to develop new antibiotics because so many micro-organisms are resistant to existing antibiotics?);
– solve problems related to evolution using the Hardy-Weinberg equation;
– develop and use appropriate sampling procedures to conduct investigations into questions related to evolution (e.g., to determine the incidence of various hereditary characteristics in a given population), and record data and information;

Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment
By the end of this course, students will:
– relate present-day research and theories on the mechanisms of evolution to current ideas in molecular genetics (e.g., relate current thinking about adaptations to ideas about genetic mutations);
– describe and analyse examples of technology that have extended or modified the scientific understanding of evolution (e.g., the contribution of radiometric dating to the palaeontological analysis of fossils).

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[Hat Tip: John Pieret "Refried Great Northern Beans" who loves finding examples where other countries are as bad as his. ]