[VadeRetro]

Here's the first of the series of "Challenging" paragraphs. I wasn't having much heartburn until we got to this part.

Transitional fossils are rare in the fossil record. A growing number of scientists now question that Archaeopteryx and other transitional fossils really are transitional forms. The fossil record as a whole shows that major evolutionary changes took place suddenly over brief periods of time followed by longer periods of “stasis” during which no significant change in form or transitional organisms appeared (Punctuated Equilibria). The “Cambrian explosion” of animal phyla is the best known, but not the only example, of the sudden appearance of new biological forms in the fossil record.

The "challenging" stuff tends to be an exercise in finding the BS. I have no idea if High School kids in Ohio will already have the grounding in science and logic to meet the challenge.

[js1138]

I have to confess that I didn't study this much before posting it. It took several hours to de-pdf the document, and I was mostly interested in not screwing up the text or the format.

[cornelis]

"challinging" paragraphs

It's OK. "Commonplaces are the tramways of intellectual transportation." --Ortega y Gasset

[Nebullis]

"Transitional fossils are rare in the fossil record."

For a branching tree, every branch that leads to 2 new branches is itself a transitional branch.

[balrog666]

I agree. The actual goals and ideas looked very interesting and potentially productive and I was wondering where they were going to find enough certified education-majors to teach it. But the "Challenging" answer guides make the actual lesson one in complete idiocy.

[Elsie]

Transitional fossils are rare in the fossil record. A growing number of scientists now question that Archaeopteryx and other transitional fossils really are transitional forms. The fossil record as a whole shows that major evolutionary changes took place suddenly over brief periods of time followed by longer periods of “stasis” during which no significant change in form or transitional organisms appeared (Punctuated Equilibria). The “Cambrian explosion” of animal phyla is the best known, but not the only example, of the sudden appearance of new biological forms in the fossil record.

Ok then: just what do 'real' Evolutionists find 'incorret about this paragraph?

[CobaltBlue]

The "challenging" stuff tends to be an exercise in finding the BS.

I assigned my own 10th grader the task of winnowing down cell phone providers and family plans, which I was finding overwhelming. Last week he presented me with a choice of Verizon or Cingular, and we decided on Cingular. On the way to the store, we were discussing what we might encounter in the way of sales pitches.

He suggested that if our "BS detectors" started going off that we should make "whoop-whoop-whoop" noises to each other. I was amused by this -- 10th graders do have "BS detectors," it seems.