Science+and+the+Courts

Science and the Courts


 * TASK**:

Students will work in small groups to produce a collaborative wiki space that illustrate an understanding of topics discussed in the unit, how to research court cases, and explain how science applies to the American justice system in the past and present. The wiki space should incorporate the use of at least three technology strategies that you have learned during the technology program.

= Day 1 Objectives: =

Students will be Able to : 1. Define Evolution in their own words 2. Evaluate social, cultural, and political events of the early 1900s

Science and the Courts Day 1

Opener 1. Video objective: To present a funny outline of evolution. It tells the viewer about history while also entertaining them. 2. Two questions: In real time, how long did this chain of events take to occur? Was the timeline in the video accurate? 3. see picture Wordle #1

Three most important words 1. Natural selection 2. Theory 3. Adaptation

Three Minute Pause 1. Evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population over generations. Organisms evolve due to natural selection or genetic mutation. 2. I don't think anything could survive without evolution. Evolution is necessary for everything on this planet. You need to change to be able to survive. 3. Are extinct animals extinct because they could not adapt to their surroundings?

Wordle 2

Comments about second wordle 1. Longer than the first wordle 2. The new words shows that I actually learned something from the lesson. 3. Cooler!!! 4. More variety than the previous wordle

The 1920s seem like an interesting time. A lot was going on, with the Scopes Trial, Prohibtion, and women became more political. It may not have been the most enjoyable time for all but it certainly seems like it would be an interesting time period to visit if we could.



FINAL QUESTIONS FOR DAY 1!!! Answer the following question in your virtual notebook :


 * Do you think that scientific research and discovery might be in conflict with some values and ideals of the 1920's? Why or why not? Provide evidence from today's activities to support your response.**

Yes, I think so. That was exactly what the Scopes Trial was about. Scopes went against the grain when teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Nobody else was teaching that. The state of Tennessee had outlawed the teaching of evolution and Scopes felt that his students needed to know it. The 1920s and today are two totally different time periods and of course our ideas will be in conflict. We have diversity in our schools which unheard of back then.

Summarizing Activity **: //To be completed in your virtual notebook//**
Now that we have investigated evolution and highlighted some of the events, opinions and trends of the 1920s**:**
 * evidence and analysis**


 * //Q:1. Identify parallels between this topic and conflicts/events that are going on today.//**


 * //2. Make an argument for or against the theory of Evolution supporting your argument.//**


 * 1. The 19th Amendment influenced the rest of the world to create more rights and laws for women. Laws made back then still influence today. A women could be president now, where as back then, the thought of that was unheard of.**


 * 2. I think that the theory of evolution is a good theory. I am in support of it. I believe that all organisms have to adapt to their new surroundings, resulting in new forms of animals. Over generations, i believe that species will change their change to help them survive.**

= Day 2 Objectives: =

Students will be Able to



2. Identify the different views about teaching evolution in schools

3. Evaluate the impact of the Scopes trial in America



QUESTIONS 1. What was the message of this cartoon clip?
 * Answer the following questions on the clip from the Simpson episode entitled, "//Monkey Suit//," in your notebook after watching the video:**

2. Do you think something like this could actually happen?

ANSWERS 1. The message of the clip was to show what basically happened in Tennessee v. Scopes but in a humorous way. It showed how the government wanted only wanted to teach the kids about creationism, but Scopes taught darwinism. There will always be a scientific approach and religious approach to every argument. You can't convince everyone to think one way.

2. It did! It happened to Scopes.



PIRATE PAD ACTIVITIES American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU )- Group 2

Who were they?


 * The American Civil Liberties Union was relatively new during 1920s and was not known around the world, so in order to gain recognition, they hired Scopes to defy theButler Act to gain recognition for the ACLU. Scopes accepted because he wanted to gain profit for Dayton, TN, since they were on the brink of bankruptcy. They wanted to start a conversation and get people talking about the issue at hand,.if the government really had a say in religion. They wanted to try out the law, because it went against free speech and religion. They lost the case but laws like Butler Act ceased to exist in the years following the case. They gained recognition following the case and still exist today.The ACLU advocated free speech and other civil liberties.

Clarence Darrow- Group 2 Group Statement
 * Defense attorney

, he volunteered to defend John Scopes' in court. He was an atheist. Decided to put Scope guilty, so he would have the last stance in court.He want ed the prayer that was said everyday to be stopped. U ncommon to cross the the opposing attorney He made himself look like a fool because didn't want Bryan to give the closing address and wanted the decision to be reviewed in the higher court He was a famous lawyer that prevented a convicted child killer from the death penalty. He had also defended strikers, labor leaders and anarchists."almost destroyed his career when he defended two union officials accused of murder in the dynamiting of the //Los Angeles Times// building. Before the trial was over, Darrow himself was under attack -- for bribing the jury"

William Jenning Bryan- Group 2 1. William Jennings Bryan was the prosecuter of the Scopes Trial up against John Scopes defenseea team, lawyer Clarence Darrow with the help and support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 2. This person was significant to the case because he fought against the question of whether or not the Theory of Evolution should be taught in classrooms. It gave him the opportunity to rep resent the people who also did not believe/support the Theory of Evolution and it gave government and people an opportunity to make their opinions on the matter known as well as to ultimately come up with a desicion. 3. A majority of the sources we looked at revealed that Wiliam Jennings Bryan did not believe/support the Theory of Evolution because he believed in Creationalism (the explanation of human life given in the Bible) He strongly believe in equality! "Arguing for the prosecution was the famous orator and former presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. He resolved to 'protect the religious faith of our children.' " [] The Nhe New Book of Knowledge

John Scopes- Group 2 John Scope was a Biology Substitute Teacher born in 1900 who aspired to be a Coach. He was charged with violating the Butler's act which prohibited the teaching of any lesson that insulted or defied the Divine design and creationism. But that wasn't the case at all, in fact John Scopes was approached at a local Pharmacy and asked if he could testify against the injustices of the Butler's Act and bring it's unconstitutional injustices to light. While the other side of the case, those who enacted the law wanted their small town of Dayton to recieve more revenue by shining a spot light upon themselves with a controversial topic. The trial was a giant publicity stunt filled with rhetorical questions that flied (flyed?) across the room between the two of them. Scopes played a very small part in the actual trial and never took stand nor did he show up certain days.

__Judge John T. Raulston-Group 2__


 * Judge Raulston was the judge of the court case, Tennessee vs. John Scopes, but even though the jury had the final decision in the verdict of the case, Raulston had an influence by what he said and who he invited on to testify for the case.
 * Raulston wanted to make the case well-known since he infatutated with publicity and having his own photos taken
 * Raulston was a conservative Christian, who stuck to many traditional values, therefore, he offered some bias toward the case
 * Raulston often clashed with Clarence Darrow on anything to show his ongoing bias toward the beliefs of evolution. There was not much evidence in indicting Scopes, yet Raulston tempted the Grand Jury to indict Scopes
 * Raulston opened a case one day with a prayer, showing his beliefs to the Bible and Christianity. This also opened up signs to the favoring he had toward the lessons taught by the Bible
 * Raulston did not allow Darrow's scientific experts to testify before the grand jury, which shows that he was nervous as to how their findings could influence the jury, so by not allowing them to testify, there was little evidence to support Darrow's defense

Clarence Darrow-Group 1 Clarence Darrow's role in the trial was as the most famous lawyer who ( m ) defended John Scopes. He argued for the side of science, and pressed on the prosecuting attorney, Bryan, to admit that the Genesis and the Bi bl e was a bunch of garbage. His main goal was to prove that the Butler Law was unconstitutional. However, h e only ended up creating a furious debate over the issue of religion vs. science. Like his father, Darrow was an atheist, and thus argued for the side of science with a firm belief in the truth of evolution. Scopes was found guilty, but Darrow later appealed the case to the Tennesee supreme court. Scopes was released on a technicality but the Butler Act remained.

William Jennings Bryan- Group 1 William Jennings Bryan was a highly influential national figure. He was elected in the House of Representatives and ran for president three times. He was a major player in the creation of the Butler act, and when the Scopes trial came up, he was placed as prosecutor despite that not being his job.

ACLU-Group 1 ACLU is organization in which they defend anyone being accused of teaching evolution. In Tennessee V Scopes the ACLU defended John Scopes for he had been accused of teaching evolution. The ACLU told John Scopes to teach evolution on purpose; for teaching out the text book is requirement in Tennessee he had no choice but to break the law. John Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution but he made a point the law was pointless .

John Scopes- Group 1 1900-1970 John Scopes was a biology teacher, and was asked by businessmen to be indicted teaching evolution. At 24, he was a defendant and he claimed he was innocent because he did nothing wrong. Basically, he didn't teach evolution, he was just there to be used.

John T. Raulston- Group 1 John T. Raulston, the judge in the Scopes trial, was "a popular local attorney of no special competence." Although his rulings more often favored the prosecution and his deference to Bryan was especially obvious, Raulston was credited with "acting according to his lights as well as his prejudices." The attention that came with the Scopes trial pleased Raulston, and he seemed to have a near obsession with having his picture taken. Raulston was a deeply religious man. During the trial he quoted scripture. It was also his practice to open proceedings with a prayer whenever a clergyman was present. His decision on the trial was to deem John Scopes guilty of all charges. He ruled in favor of creationism. He was a very religious man who was particularly biased towards the prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. He also enjoyed the attention he obtained from the case. His family was given front row seats to the court cases



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I really like my slideshow. I think it gives an accurate description of the Scopes Trial. I used the newspaper background since this was a major case and would make for some good newspaper headings. I chose "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Seal. I like the song and I think it does a good job of describing the case. The evolutionists are hoping for a change and they hope this case will make it come. I used a lot of pictures of the major characters to show the audience who is who. I tried to keep the order of the pictures in a chronological order. The audience feels like they know what's going on, based on the pictures and captions. I also went in depth with some of the pictures. For example, I used chattering teeth to show that the ACLU wanted to get people talking about the case. i used a man with empty pockets to show that the city of Dayton had no money and Scopes agreed to break the act to get money for his city. I think I did a pretty good job of representing the Scopes Trial. Enjoy!

Day 3: Objectives
//Students will be able to:// Explain how their Glog/Slide represents the signifcance of events that occurred during the Scopes Trial Identify and explain the connection between science and the justice system in today's world

10 WORDS OR LESS ACTIVITY The Scopes Trial, a legendary courtcase, pitted science against religion.