The Humankind Emerging workshop is a free, three-day program for secondary science educators co-sponsored by The Wright Center for Innovative Science Education and the Foundation for the Future. It will be held at the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington.

Using humans as the focus, the workshop will address topics related to the teaching of evolution and the nature of scientific knowledge as profiled in the recently released National Academy of Sciences publication Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science.

Inspired by the National Science Foundation’s Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes (ENSI), this mini-conference will combine innovative lab activities with renowned experts to provide teachers with an up-to-date view of humanity’s past, present and future.

The workshop is offered at no cost to participants. Priority is being given to Seattle area teachers, but is open to applicants nationwide on a space available basis. These participants will receive free room and board at or near the university. All participants will receive meals at no charge. Participants will be expected to provide their own transportation.

Goals of the workshop:

1. Increase teacher skill in effectively and accurately teaching about evolution and the nature of science.
2. Develop a network of colleagues to continue the dialogue of effective teaching practices for the concepts of evolution and the nature of science.
3. Provide a backdrop for developing a vision of the future of humanity for the coming millennium.

Featured Activities:

• Naturalism vs. Supernaturalism: Two Ways of Knowing
• Nature Can't Violate the Law: Understanding the Appearance of Design
• Apparent Parents: Inferring Ancestor-Descendent Relationships
• Mother Earth Blabs About Her Age: Evidence for Deep Time
• Easy Evolution: Cladistics Analysis is a Zip...Baggie
• We're All Cousins: Molecular Biology and Primate Phylogenetics
• It's a Long and Winding Road: Fossil Hominids and Migration Patterns
• Ethics of Biotechnology: Panacea or Pandora's Box?
• Using the World Wide Web to Enhance Your Coverage of Evolution and the Nature of Science

Featured Speakers:

• The Divine Eye: Religious Expression in Human Cultural Evolution
  Dr. Brian Fagan, Department of Anthropology, UC Santa Barbara
• Human Evolution: Why the Controversy?
  Dr. Eugenie Scott, Executive Director, National Center for Science Education
• The Arrow of Time: Cosmic Evolution
  Dr. Eric Chaisson, Director, Wright Center, Tufts University
• Genes, Genomes and Society
  Dr. Leroy Hood, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Washington

At least one block of time will be set aside for a moderated Teacher Exchange session, and all participants are encouraged to bring an idea or short activity to share.

Teaching materials will be provided to all participants, and in many cases will include complete lab sets. Participants will be encouraged to use the materials in their own classrooms and then evaluate their effectiveness. Continuing dialogue will play an important role in the Wright Center’s future efforts to develop and disseminate novel teaching materials.

The Wright Center for Science Education at Tufts University is dedicated to the creation and dissemination of novel teaching techniques and resources for pre-college teachers. Through its fellowships, workshops, seminars and a variety of public outreach activities, the Center provides leadership in the training and retraining of science teachers to use innovative methods that will stimulate young minds.