Alexandra Ballentine

Progress Paper
NHD 2016

Going into NHD, I was interested in Darwinism, the theory of evolution. This was due to
a book that I just finished that spiked my interest. When I started looking around online to learn
more about the topic, I ran across creationism, which was the main theory that opposed
Darwinism. This led my research towards creationism and the controversy that surrounded the
two theories. From there, intelligent design (ID) started to come up more and more. Eventually, I
switched my topic from Darwinism and creationism to Darwinism and ID in science class. The
change in topic made my research easier due to a greater number of reliable sources that covered
the debate between Darwinism and ID.
I conducted my research through many different sources including the internet and books.
I used the internet to gain some understanding of my topic in the beginning. After the trip to the
Parkway Library, I used the books that I checked out to begin learning more about ID and the
overlap and differences between ID and Darwinism. Between the two trips to the library, I took
notes and finished with all of the useful and relevant sources. Then, I checked out books from the
Bucks County Library to continue on with the research I had begun. These books were what
locked my topic onto the Darwinism and ID debate in schools and the trials that surrounded the
issue. I also gained a better understanding of the terms and events that occurred over the course
of the controversy. From there, my research continued through books and the internet during the
second trip to the Parkway Library and I finished with gathering information using the internet
from home.
I selected a website to present my information because the notes that I gathered sorted
themselves very well into groups that build off each other. That narrowed down the categories to
a website or an exhibit. Since a website could hold more information and it would be easier to
divide into as many links and pages as necessary, I chose that category. I created my project by
isolating the main events in my topic and shaping the relevant information around them. Then, I
determined what other information was important and finished building my categories.
My topic related to the theme because of the events that occurred during the debate. My
topic relates to encounter because of the many encounters in the classrooms and the courtrooms.
Although creationism became unconstitutional to teach, ID and Darwinism continued to
encounter each other. The relationship between ID and creationism relates to exchange because
of the many ideas that are shared between ID and creationism. Many of the same ideas and
arguments can be found in both the creationism and ID campaigns. These similar arguments are

often shown during the times that they encountered Darwinism in the way that advocates argue
their side.