[js1138]

I can recall being a 10th grader and having an adequate BS detector. In fact I can recall going over most of the philosophical issues we discuss on these threads at age 12. Of course I had a pile of "Made Simple" books to help me along, but they were designed as notes for freshman college courses.

What I did not have at age 12 or in the 10th grade was a background of facts with which to reason about controversies in biology. It is one thing to teach abstract concepts about critical thinking; it is another thing for a school board to disseminate factually incorect statements and require students to memorize them to pass a course. The sample "challenging" statements in this lesson plan are BS dredged from creationist literature. They are at best, misleading, and more often, simply untrue.

[cornelis]

to disseminate factually incorect statements and require students to memorize them

In ninth-grade journalism (English) units, students are often given factually incorrect statements and pictures to study propaganda.