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7.2 - Policy on Teaching Science

7.2 - Policy on Teaching Science

SERIES 7 - EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

The foundation of Liberty’s K-8 science curriculum is contained in the Core Knowledge Sequence. Our high school science program requires all students to complete Biology, Chemistry and Physics, plus one elective science course. In accordance with our Charter, the school will supplement its science curriculum with the Benchmarks for Science Literacy1 from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Project 2061.

The Nature and Limits of Science
Science attempts to explain the natural world through observation and investigation. As explained by the National Academy of Sciences, science is a particular way of knowing about the world. In science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists. Explanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not a part of science.2 For example explanations which rely on supernatural occurrences cannot be meaningfully tested and substantiated by other scientists. Therefore, such explanations are outside the realm of science.

The National Academy of Sciences further explains, science is limited to explaining the natural world through natural causes.3 Because of its inherent limits, science cannot provide complete answers to all questions. In Project 2061’s Science for All Americans, included as a reference in Liberty’s Charter, the authors explain that there are many matters that cannot usefully be examined in a scientific way. There are, for instance, beliefs that - by their very nature – cannot be proved or disproved (such as the existence of supernatural powers and beings).4

Project 2061 Benchmark (1A/M4): By the end of 8th grade, students should know: Some matters cannot be examined usefully in a scientific way. Among them are matters that by their nature cannot be tested objectively and those that are essentially matters of morality.


Scientific Inquiry
Progress in science consists of the development of better explanations for the causes of natural phenomena. Through repeated testing, a scientific hypothesis is either supported or refuted. In this way, the accuracy of descriptions of the natural world tends to increase with time, as subsequent generations of scientists correct and extend the work of their predecessors.2 To be useful, a hypothesis should suggest what evidence would support it and what evidence would refute it. A hypothesis that cannot in principle be put to the test of evidence may be interesting, but it is not likely to be scientifically useful.4

Project 2061 Benchmark (1A/H3): By the end of 12th grade, students should know: In science, the testing, revising, and occasional discarding of theories, new and old, never ends. This ongoing process leads to an increasingly better understanding of how things work in the world but not to absolute truth.
 

Principles for Teaching Science

  1. Students should come to understand the nature and limits of science and the process of scientific inquiry described above and contained in the references cited in this policy. These ideas should be introduced throughout the grades in accordance with the Benchmarks for Science Literacy and reinforced throughout the school year - not solely as the introduction to potentially controversial topics.
     
  2. Students should come to understand that there are many important questions that cannot be answered by science alone. While students should understand underlying scientific concepts and technical issues surrounding controversial subjects, science class should not proselytize or be used for political indoctrination (e.g. promoting religious or environmental agendas).
  • Questions of faith often involve influences outside the domain of science. These influences cannot be explained by science (e.g., miracles). However, studying natural evidence which appears to contradict one’s faith can still lead to knowledge and understanding of natural world. This knowledge has contributed to human intellectual growth, health, and general welfare through the development of technology.
     
  • Questions of public policy present multi-disciplinary challenges with economic, political, legal, historical and ethical dimensions. Scientists contribute to the discussion by bringing information, insight, and analytical skills to bear on matters of public concern. Alone, they do not have the means to determine public policy tradeoffs or settle issues of ethics and morality.4
  1. Science topics such as evolutionary biology, geology, and the Big Bang theory of cosmology can lead to student questions about whether or not supernatural forces play a role in the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the mechanisms of evolution. If questions arise, teachers may explain to students that science cannot demonstrate the absence or presence of supernatural influences or causation in natural events.
  • “Science can say nothing about the supernatural. Whether God exists or not is a question about which science is neutral.”3
  • “Evolutionary theory, indeed all of science, is necessarily silent on religion and neither refutes nor supports the existence of a deity or deities.”5
  1. Topics such as Creationism (origins explained by reference to a deity), Intelligent Design (origins explained by reference to an unspecified designer), and Metaphysical Naturalism (the philosophy that the natural world is all that exists) extend beyond the realm of science and are not a part of Liberty’s science curriculum. These topics are not excluded from the science curriculum because a consensus of scientists have tested and negated the hypotheses put forward, but rather because the hypotheses are outside the domain of science.
  • “Because science can only use natural explanations and not supernatural ones, science teachers should not advocate any religious view about creation, nor advocate the converse; that there is no possibility of supernatural influence in bringing about the universe as we know it.”6
  • “Because the basic proposals of creation science are not subject to test and verification, these ideas do not meet the criteria for science.”3
  • “Explanations employing non-naturalistic or supernatural events, whether or not explicit reference is made to a supernatural being, are outside the realm of science and not part of a valid science curriculum.”5

Science texts and resources used at Liberty should support this policy.

References

  1. Benchmarks for Science Literacy: Project 2061 of American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993). Oxford University Press, New York, NY. Also available at http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/index.php
  2. Science and Creationism, A view from the National Academy of Sciences. Second Edition. (1999). National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
    Also available at https://www.nap.edu/read/6024/chapter/1
  3. Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science, National Academy of Sciences. (1998). National Academy Press. Washington, DC.
    Also available at https://www.nap.edu/read/5787/chapter/1
  4. Science for All Americans, James Rutherford and Andrew Ahlgren: Project 2061 of American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993). Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
    Also available at http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/sfaatoc.htm
  5. National Association of Biology Teachers Statement on Teaching Evolution. Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science, Appendix C, National Academy of Sciences. (1998). National Academy Press. Washington, DC.
    Also available at https://www.nap.edu/read/5787/chapter/11#127
  6. National Science Teachers Association Position Statement on the Teaching of Evolution, July 1997. Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science, Appendix C, National Academy of Sciences. (1998). National Academy Press. Washington, DC.
    Also available at https://www.nap.edu/read/5787/chapter/11

Adopted: 09-07-2000
Amended: 01-20-2005
Amended 12-03-2011
Amended: 05-22-2014
Amended: 03-23-2017