I just found out that the Alabama Textbook Insert has been revised and
is being honed so it can be used in the textbooks of all the states. If
you have any comments on the following, I would appreciate hearing from
you.
Thanks!
Bill Payne
Revision of the AL Textbook Insert
> This textbook discusses the controversial theory of evolution. As you study
> this material please keep the following in mind:
>
> The word "evolution" may refer to many types of change. "Evolution" is used
> to describe changes that occur at or below the species level. This process,
> called microevolution, can be observed and described as fact (e.g., dog
> breeds), although no new major animal groups have been observed to arise by
> microevolution. "Evolution" is used to refer to the change from one major
> body plan into another (e.g., reptiles into birds). This process, called
> macroevolution, has never been observed and should be considered a theory.
> Evolution also refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces
> produced a world of living things.
>
> There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not
> mentioned in your textbooks, including:
>
> Why did the major groups of animals (phyla) appear "suddenly" in the fossil
> record (known as the Cambrian Explosion)?
>
> Why have no new major groups (phyla) of living things appeared in the
> fossil record since the Cambrian Explosion?
>
> Why do major groups (phyla) of plants and animals have no transitional
> forms in the fossil record?
>
> How did you and all living things come to possess such a complete and
> complex set of "instructions" for building a living body?
>
> Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday you may contribute to the theories
> of how living things appeared on earth.