COUNTERING CREATIONIST MISCONCEPTIONS IN THE EARTH SCIENCES

Creationist forces target earth science classrooms when subjects such as the fossil record, radiometric dating, the age of the earth, and—more recently—climate change are part of the curriculum. Using techniques honed by decades of attacks on evolutionary biology, creationists seek to sow misconceptions about the validity of the earth sciences, and to promulgate confusion about the nature of science itself. This talk will help to equip teachers to recognize the major—and factually inaccurate—creationist claims about the earth sciences and the nature of science. This talk also suggests strategies for K-16 teachers to present the best science possible in an environment in which a selective and ideologically motivated skepticism about science is common.