Science Iowa

01/20/2025

A followup to the previous post regarding the Iowa science education standards:

It can be difficult to make a comment because the survey wants you to focus on specific standards. Here's an ootion to comment quickly and easily:

Use the survey's first page to comment about the climate change and evolution language. After the demographic information questions, there's this one:

What do you think Iowa educators, schools, and districts will need to best support implementation of these standards(check all that apply)?

Mark whatever choices you like, but be sure to include "other" and use that space to comment on the climate change and evolution language.

Suggested language: "Please restore references to climate change and evolution in the draft to language the science standards review team put forward. We must adhere to concepts supported by the weight of evidence and the consensus of experts."

Here's the survey link again:

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

01/19/2025

Attention, science advocates: You must act now.
An unidentified Iowa Department of Education bureaucrat (or bureaucrats) altered an expert committee’s draft of revised science standards for Iowa elementary and secondary students. https://educate.iowa.gov/media/10837/download?inline The changes downplay or remove references to evolution and climate change. KCRG-TV tracked the changes: https://www.kcrg.com/2025/01/15/iowa-could-remove-mentions-climate-change-education-standards/ The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported that members of the 37-member science standards revision team didn’t know about the modifications until the department released the draft for public comment early this year. https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/committee-members-we-didnt-recommend-science-standards-omitting-climate-change-evolution/
We still can block these unacceptable, unscientific modifications, but time is short.
First, go to this survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GHS2RYC to comment on the proposed draft. Ask department officials to restore climate change and evolution language to what the committee put forward. The comment period ends on February 3.
Suggested language: "Please restore references to climate change and evolution in the draft to language the science standards review team put forward. We must adhere to concepts supported by the weight of evidence and the consensus of experts."
Second, the last of five public forums on the standards will be from 4 to 6 p.m. this coming Thursday. January 23, at Room B100 of the Grimes Building, 400 E. 14th St. in Des Moines. You can watch (and perhaps comment) via Zoom. https://idoe.zoom.us/j/97968828538?pwd=Ek6o34fqpaTYkFGNTUZj5nbFjpLXAl.1 If you’re able, please attend in person and register to speak.
This is one of many incremental ways that anti-science forces will try to shape reality to match their religious and political beliefs over the next few years. We must draw the line now.
Please share this.

Yours in support of science,

The Science Iowa team

07/30/2024

Science Iowa relies on your support for our mission: advocating for science in the public interest, publicly supported research and evidence-based policy. Please give on August 7 and throughout the year. Your donation is tax-deductible. https://iowagivesgreen.org/partners/

06/13/2024

Without good data, Iowans can't know whether air quality measures are working and where and when to avoid bad air quality. Our friends at the Iowa Environmental Council want the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to improve its air quality monitoring network, which is lacking in significant areas. Go to the link before Sunday, June 16 to comment on the DNR's policy.

https://iaenvironment.salsalabs.org/dnrairqualitymonitoring/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f66f734b-deb8-44fc-94a5-76b833865304

05/31/2024

Daniel Schmude, a Republican running for the nomination to Iowa House District 35, supports the Iowa Climate Action Plan and believes we need to gather evidence to convince climate change doubters. Read more of his views at the Iowa Science Policy Candidate Survey. We’re awaiting responses from his opponent, Angela Kay Schreader, and from many other primary election candidates.

https://iowasciencepolicy.weebly.com/

05/30/2024

In the race for the Democratic nomination for State House District 34, Samy El-Baroudi backs cover crops and no-till farming to improve water quality and rural resiliency in the face of increased floods and violent storms. Read more of his views at the Iowa Science Policy Candidate Survey. We’re awaiting responses from his opponents, Rob Johnson, Dudley Muhammad and John R. Campbell Jr., and from many other primary election candidates.

https://iowasciencepolicy.weebly.com/

05/29/2024

Nuclear power should be an option for Iowa and students should be encouraged to participate in STEM programs like Project Lead the Way and FIRST Robotics, says James Wassell, candidate for the Republican nomination for Iowa House District 20. Read more of his views at the Iowa Science Policy Candidate Survey. We’re awaiting responses from his opponent, August Gibbons, and from many other primary election candidates.

https://iowasciencepolicy.weebly.com/

05/28/2024

Doug Campbell, seeking the Republican nomination for Iowa Senate District 30, says climate change is a fraud, and waste from confined feeding operations should be treated the same way as human waste. Read more of his views at the Iowa Science Policy Candidate Survey. We’re waiting for responses from his opponent, Waylon Brown, and from many other primary election candidates.

https://iowasciencepolicy.weebly.com/

05/23/2024

As longtime Science Iowa members know, for every election cycle since 2018 we’ve collaborated with multiple Iowa organizations to press candidates on their views regarding science, environmental, health and education issues. We help lead this effort with ASPIRE and Connecting Science to Society, each a chapter of the National Science Policy Network. (https://www.scipolnetwork.org/science-on-the-ballot) NSPN leads the Science on the Ballot initiative to do similar surveys in other states.

Our Iowa Science Policy Candidate Survey (https://iowasciencepolicy.weebly.com/) has improved with every election and in 2022 garnered responses from candidates at the top of the ticket: the U.S. Senate race.

We’re beginning 2024’s cycle with a questionnaire ahead of the June 4 primary election. With only 25 such races across the U.S. and Iowa houses of representatives and the Iowa Senate, this is soft launch for the fall general election. Nonetheless, we hope responses will help voters choose candidates that best reflect their views.

Here are districts that have primary races:

• U.S. House: 1, 3, and 4.

• Iowa House: 20, 22, 24, 34, 35, 41, 44, 60, 64, 72, 89 and 91.

• Iowa Senate: 16, 26, 30 and 38.

If you live in one of these districts, go here to find responses we’ve received from primary candidates. If there are none – a likelihood – please use the provided contact information at the top of the form and urge them to respond. We provided some handy text (https://iowasciencepolicy.weebly.com/how-to-help.html) for you.

You also can help support this effort with a donation here: https://hello4260.wixsite.com/scienceiowa/donate. Your help will be especially needed as we prepare for the general election.

Together, we can put science at the center of our elections.

02/26/2024

Science Iowa is at Environmental Advocacy Day at the Capitol.

01/28/2024

It’s fun to when a groundhog emerges from its den to speculate about its implications for the weather, but we’ll stick to what actual meteorologists say.

While you wait to see what the sleepy woodchuck does, please join Science Iowa for its regular meeting on Thursday, Feburary 1 at 1 p.m. With the Iowa legislature back in session, we’ll discuss what science-related issues are before lawmakers and what position we might take on them, including HPV vaccines and the “science of reading.”

We’ll also get an update on the Iowa Science Policy Candidate Survey and June’s Science Festival Trail. We’re working to obtain a sponsor to help defray the event’s expense.

In the meantime, you can help defray our regular expenses with a donation to Science Iowa. Our web hosting costs us $6 a month, plus another $20 annually. Just a few dollars can help us keep that going – or help us as we plan for a new website. You can help us continue our work with a contribution here. Any amount helps.

We hope to see you Thursday. The Zoom information is below.

Topic: Science Iowa February ‘24 Meeting

Time: Feb 1, 2024 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/86544425960

Meeting ID: 865 4442 5960