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As a biologist and a biology teacher, I don't think Intelligent design can be considered a science. It simply cannot be subjected to the same rigors of science that scientific hypotheses can. Scientists, contrary to popular belief, do not just make up theories and try to prove them. They are subject to the scientific method which entails lots of observations, paper research, and experiments.

Intelligent design is solely based on religious belief. There was no hypothesis, no observations and no experiments. You can neither see it nor prove it. Therefore, it cannot be considered a science. Now I am not saying it is wrong to believe in the idea of intelligent design. It is my idea that everyone is entitled to their beliefs be it Christian, Wiccan, Buddhist, Muslim, etc. But these kind of ideas have no place in a science class. Teach them in literature, comparative religion, or even history.

On the other hand, the evolution theory is based on science. The evolution theory is the synthesization of several scientists' ideas and observations. It incorporates the ideas of the new geologists (who came about around Darwin's time) like Lyell. Also incorporated in this idea is the idea that species are not fixed which was first perpetuated by Lamarck. Darwin also used his observations as a naturalist on the Beagle to come up with the idea of evolution. Darwin's Book, "On the Origin of Species" is full of page after page after page of observational data proving his theory of evolution. Plus, another scientist Wallace who was doing work in Africa came up with the theory of evolution as the same time as Darwin did. Therefore it seems inevitable that science would at some point synthesize this theory.

You can also mathematically prove micro-evolution or the change in the frequency of alleles in a population. You can use an equation call the Hardy-Weinberg equation in order to track this genetic change in populations proving or allowing one to see micro-evolution in action. Therefore, the theory of evolution follows the rules of science and has long been accepted in the scientific community. It should therefore be taught as a science where the idea of Intelligent Design should not.

Learn more about this author, Heather Lyon.
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