UT students celebrate evolutionist

Knoxville campus cites scientist’s birth

Knoxville News Sentinel

KPartygoers mingled through the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture on Friday, pausing to snack on birthday cake and to play games like “stick a tooth on the dinosaur,” a twist on the classic pin-the-tailon-the-donkey.

They also posed for photos with a cardboard cut-out — and a larger than life-size puppet — of the guest of honor, biologist Charles Darwin.

The second a n nua l party at the museum celebrated the British scientist’s 207th birthday on Friday. The party came after nearly a week of events for Darwin Day on the University of Tennessee campus.

Today, Darwin Day organizers will lead a workshop to share fossil kits and lesson plans related to Darwin’s theory of evolution and this year’s theme of paleontology with K-12 teachers from across the state.

Fossils are not just about dinosaurs, but are important for learning about evolution as well, said Jen Bauer, a UT graduate student and an organizer of this year’s Darwin Day.

Co-organizer and fellow g raduate st udent Sara h Sheff ield agreed and said she and Bauer are both paleontologists, so this year’s theme was a way for them to show how evolution applies to dinosaurs, fossils and skeletons. It’s also a way to stop misinformation, she said.

Misconceptions persist about evolution, and those misconceptions are more common when discussing common ancestors of species further back in time, Sheffield said. But she said it’s important to remember that evolution uses the same scientific process as all other types of science.

UT students Haleigh Col l ier, a junior, a nd Christopher Anderson, a senior, attended the birthday party, pausing for a game of corn hole.

Both psychology students, t hey sa id t hey wanted to show support for all types of sciences by attending the birthday party.

Events like Friday’s are engaging and a good way to make the information memorable, Anderson said.

“It’s a way to interact with science in a fun way,” he said.

Sheff ield, an aspiring professor, said she enjoys teaching elementary and college students about paleontology and, in turn, about evolution.

She said it’s important for students to be scientifically literate so they can be the next innovators.

Bauer agreed and said evolution can be a contested topic, but that’s often because it hasn’t been explained correctly.

“Evolution is not a bad word,” she said.

PHOTOS BY CAITIE MCMEKIN/KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL Universit y of Tennessee graduate student s Orlando Schwery and Angela Chuang pose for a photo with a giant bust of biologist Charles Dar win at his 207th bir thday par t y Friday at the McClung Museum of Natural Histor y and Culture at UT Knoxville.

Paleontology is the theme of this year’s Darwin Day event s at the McClung Museum of Natural Histor y and Culture at the Universit y of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Luca s Santana plays pin the tooth on the dinosaur at a par t y Friday honoring what would have been the 207th bir thday of the late evolutionist Charles Dar win.