science

Kansas vs. Darwin

Kansas vs. Darwin is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kansas vs. Darwin rather than just read about it. In short: Kansas vs. Darwin is a feature-length documentary film about the 2005 Kansas evolution hearings.

Key takeaways

Kansas vs. Darwin belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kansas vs. Darwin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kansas vs. Darwin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kansas vs. Darwin is a feature-length documentary film about the 2005 Kansas evolution hearings. It was released by Unconditional Films on DVD in December, 2007, and again on an enhanced-edition DVD in November, 2008, through New Day Films. This was the first feature film for Director Jeff Tamblyn. Shot at the hearings in Topeka, it also includes interviews with most of the principals in the event and many others, including then-president of the National Academy of Sciences, Bruce Alberts.

Overview Shooting on the film began over a month before the hearings. In order to gain access to all major figures on both sides, the producers and the production crew withheld their personal views on evolution, promising all subjects they were making a piece that would be politically neutral and without prejudicial editing. The film had to be edited twice in order to achieve the final product - a purely political documentary equally featuring all relevant points of view. The significance of the Kansas evolution hearings, which Kansas vs. Darwin documents, is that it's the first venue in which the "critical thinking" strategy of creationism/Intelligent Design activists was successfully used: the argument that teaching the "weaknesses" of the theory of evolution contributes to a more "balanced view" of science, and that this curricular approach encourages critical thinking. Kansas vs. Darwin depicts an instance in which the doctrine of separation of church and state was tested at the state level. The rewriting of Kansas state science teaching standards by Christian conservatives to include conclusions not recognized by mainstream science but supportive of their faith raises the question of whether the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was violated. Because the rewriting of the standards was overturned after a subsequent election, this question was never argued in court. The film also documents the worldwide boycott of the hearings by mainstream science, led by a group called Kansas Citizens for Science. Their rationale for not appearing at the hearings to answer the challenge to evolution as a bedrock theory of modern science was that by agreeing to appear side-by-side with the witnesses who supported creationism and Intelligent Design, they would endow these ideas with further, undue legitimacy.

List of Subjects Appearing in Kansas vs. Darwin Steve Abrams - Kansas State School Board Connie Morris - Kansas State School Board Kathy Martin - Kansas State School Board Harry McDonald - Kansas Citizens for Science Jack Krebs - Kansas Citizens for Science Burt Humburg - Kansas Citizens for Science Rachel Robson - Kansas Citizens for Science John Calvert - Intelligent Design Network William Harris - Intelligent Design Network Pedro Irigonegaray - Attorney charged with cross-examining witnesses

Filmmakers Jeff Tamblyn - Director, Co-Producer, Co-Writer Jeff Peak - Co-Producer, Director of Photography Mark von Schlemmer - Editor, Co-Writer

References

Ethics Daily review of Kansas vs. Darwin Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine Lawrence Daily Journal World review Booklist Online review

External links Official Kansas vs. Darwin website Kansas vs. Darwin IMDB page Director Jeff Tamblyn's website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kansas vs. Darwin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kansas vs. Darwin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kansas vs. Darwin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kansas vs. Darwin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kansas vs. Darwin

In research: Kansas vs. Darwin appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kansas vs. Darwin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kansas vs. Darwin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American documentary films, Documentary films about Kansas, Education in Kansas, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kansas vs. Darwin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kansas vs. Darwin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kansas vs. Darwin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kansas vs. Darwin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kansas vs. Darwin in simple terms?

Kansas vs. Darwin is a feature-length documentary film about the 2005 Kansas evolution hearings.

Why does Kansas vs. Darwin matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kansas vs. Darwin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kansas vs. Darwin.