Creationism vs Evolution

How do you include creationism and evolution in science lessons? Nothing could be simpler. Here's my step-by-step guide.

1. Start by explaining what a theory is. A theory is an idea that a) explains the observed facts, b) is testable and c) makes predictions. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! THIS WHAT A THEORY IS! IF A THEORY DOESN'T DO THESE THREE THINGS, IT'S NOT A THEORY!

2. Take a few facts, like these:

• There a bones buried in the ground and when we date them, they appear to be 10 million years old. And they don't look like any living animal.
• Humans share some chunks of DNA with other animals and use them for the same function. We even share a few chunks with slugs and bacteria.

3. Explain that evolution can explain these facts in incredible detail, right down to the atomic level (you can look this up yourself; I'm currently reading "Vital Dust" by Christian De Duve, which explains part of the story in a dull but fascinating way). Explain that evolution is testable (you can test it in a few days with bacteria and antibiotics). Explain that evolution makes predictions (how about "organisms must be able to pass on their characteristics to their offspring, nearly identically but with occasional mutations? This is what we now call DNA).

4. Explain that creationism does not explain the observed facts (it tells us the earth is 6000 years old, not 10 million); it is not testable (how would you test the "made in 6 days" bit?); it does not make predictions (the story ends on day 7 - there is no more to tell).

5. Conclude that evolution is a theory, whereas creationism is just, well, a "story", no more likely to be true than "the moon is made from cheese".

As an aside, you can point out a couple of bonus points:

a) You can NEVER prove a theory true and a theory is NEVER guaranteed to be right. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! Every theory ever is just waiting for the fact it can't explain. If a theory doesn't work, it gets ditched. This is absolutely fine and dandy. If someone found, for example, God's phone number, and phoned her up and got her just to confirm the creation story, that would be just fine. Good by evolution.

b) "evolution by natural selection" is actually just a few logical ideas that anyone can see is right if they stop and think for a few minutes. You can make it happen in a computer simulation. Cities evolve by natural selection (that's why they're usually build next to large rivers, for example). The controversy only comes when you use it to explain the origin of life. If you can't accept the principle of "evolution by natural selection" as being sound, irrespective of whether it explains life, then you cannot follow a logical argument and there is no hope for you!

Whether you're a creationist or a evolutionist, you can still use the above steps, and everyone can live in harmony.