Akron Fossils & Science Center

The Akron Fossils & Science Center is a museum in Copley Township, Akron, Ohio devoted to teaching Creation Science and Intelligent Design in contrast to commonly accepted models of planetary and animal evolution.

It was opened May 26, 2005, [http://www.wksu.org/news/story/18181 "Creation Based Science Museum Opens Today"] , audio report by Vincent Duffy, May 26, 2005, WKSU. Retrieved August 20, 2008.] by William Sanderson II, a financial planner and former Cincinnati middle-school science teacher. [http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/5/jurassic-lark "Jurassic Lark"] , by James Renner, June 6, 2007, "Cleveland Free Times". Retrieved August 20, 2008.] Sanderson has an MBA from Malone College, and a BS degree in education from Miami University in Ohio. [http://www.malone.edu/5719 "Malone college: 2005 Alumni Awards"] , Malone College, 2006. Retrieved August 20, 2008.] Museum exhibits tend to the hands-on. Touchable displays include a woolly mammoth jawbone, fossils, dinosaur teeth, bones, and eggs, a mastodon skeleton, and castings of alleged Inca burial stones (never authenticated by scientists) depicting humans being killed by dinosaurs. [http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=228853 "Museum devoted to creationism"] , by Charita M. Goshay, "Canton Repository", June 21, 2005. Retrieved August 20, 2008.] [http://web.archive.org/web/20050524200624/http://www.akron.com/20050512/wsl3.ASP "Copley home to creation-based science museum"] , by Stephanie Kandel, 2005-05-12, "West Side Leader", archived by the Internet Archive, 2005-05-24. Retrieved August 20, 2008.] A block-rolling game demonstrates the difficulty of randomly generating a 17 amino acid sequence to form a protein. [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/plaindealer/access/849079701.html?dids=849079701:849079701&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT "Museum takes a biblical path Critics say creationists put religion over science"] , by Frank Bentayou, "Cleveland Plain Dealer", June 3, 2005. Retrieved August 20, 2008.]

Many of the museum projects are targeted at kids, including "Truassic Park", a dinosaur-themed outdoor playground, a summer camp, a creationist canoe expedition, and a weekly high-school-level biology class. An ongoing study of a local creek is meant to teach young scientists in the area about data collection and procedures. [http://www.akron.com/20060504/wsl43.asp "Center studying Copley creek"] , by Kathleen Folkerth, 2006-05-04, "West Side Leader". Retrieved August 20, 2008.] Museum staff participated in the opening of the larger Creation Museum in Kentucky, but say the hands-on nature and focus on children of the Akron Fossils & Science Center sets it apart. [http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=3344350&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1 "Creation Museum in Northeast Ohio"] , video, Belinda Prinz, MyFox Cleveland, 29 May 2007. Retrieved August 20, 2008.]

The scientific community considers creationism to be pseudoscience. [http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/newsletters/2006/07_28_2006/story03.htm "Finding the Evolution in Medicine"] , Cynthia Delgado, NIH Record, July 28, 2006.] As reported by Newsweek: "By one count there are some 700 scientists (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who give credence to creation-science, the general theory that complex life forms did not evolve but appeared 'abruptly'," in "Keeping God out of the Classroom (Washington and bureau reports)",Larry Martz & Ann McDaniel, Newsweek CIX(26): 23-24, June 29, 1987, ISSN 0028-9604] "Creationism in any of its forms, such as 'intelligent design', is not based on facts, does not use any scientific reasoning and its contents are pathetically inadequate for science classes".cite web|url=http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc07/EDOC11297.htm|title=The dangers of creationism in education|publisher=Council of Europe|accessdate=2007-08-03] As a result, science organizations, such as the National Center for Science Education, criticize the promotion of creationism as a form of non-science. [cite news | url=http://www.natcenscied.org/resources/articles/5945_the_faqs_2_16_2003.asp | title=Project Steve: FAQs |publisher=National Center for Science Education | date=2008 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-09-06] [cite news | url=http://www.natcenscied.org/resources/articles/8882_statements_from_scientific_org_1_30_2001.asp | title=Statements from Scientific Organizations |publisher=National Center for Science Education | date=2008 | first=Eugenie | last=Scott | accessdate = 2008-09-06] Glenn Branch, deputy director of the NCSE explained " [The museum's] scientific claims are simply wrong and have been debunked long ago, and students who are misled by them are likely to be at a disadvantage as they study science at institutes of higher learning."

References

External links

* [http://www.akronfossils.com/ Akron Fossils & Science Center] official site