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Think you can help me with this?
As an environmental science teacher, how would you respond to someone who tells you (a) that he or she does not believe in biological evolution because it is "just a theory"? How would you respond if another student states, (b) we should not worry about air pollution because through natural selection, the human species will develop lungs that can detoxify pollutants? In your responses, be sure to provide factual evidence from earth's history (Miller, 2005)
As I do not have the text in question available to use for specific retorts on your part, allow me to give you my own thoughts as to how I would reply to this.
First, to address the issue of biological evolution and the skeptical (or outright disbelieving), I would affirm that a skeptical approach is a good one, as it is only through skepticism which science has been so productive. A theory which fails even one test is not a valid one, and science holds this dictum to be true above virtually all else (that a theory must not only explain a given situation but also anticipate future outcomes of others is the cardinal rule). Admit that yes, evolution is a theory, as is every other explanation offered for how life on this planet has reached this particular stage...then point out that at this point it is also the only theory which can manage to withstand the rigors of dispassionate scientific scrutiny.
As for the student and the "natural selection" cop-out, I would endeavor to point out that natural selection does not always ensure that a hardier species will evolve and survive. Countless species have become extinct when they failed to adapt to their conditions, and that it is far easier - and with a greater chance of success and survival - for humanity to do its best to maintain those conditions which brought our species to our current state of evolution than to rely on natural selection to get us to some currently unknown point.
I hope this helps.
