Evolution took center stage at the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) annual meeting in Reno, Nev., Nov. 3-8, 1998. If the teachers needed a theme, evolution was a logical choice--after all, it underlies and unifies contemporary biology. But NABT had other fish to fry. Despite a spate of court victories, evolution hasn't made much, if any, headway with the public. And many high school teachers apparently aren't aware of its centrality to the discipline, or they feel too intimidated to stress its importance in biology. With a recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, "Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science"1 for focus, NABT rallied the troops.
Also in attendance was New York Times reporter Jon Christensen, who solicited comments about the evolution theme on the message board. Christensen's Nov. 24 story, "Teachers Fight for Darwin's Place in U.S. Classrooms,"2 captured biologists' frustration, mixing attendees' comments with accounts ...
