A FLOCK OF DODOS – DIR. R.

OLSON, TALKING EVOLUTION

PRODUCTIONS, 2006
Work in pairs to answer the questions – take alternate questions – which are usually in order
as the answers appear during the documentary (although, in some cases, the ‘answer’ comes
before the ‘question’), but which sometimes are quite close to each other.

1. In what year did the ‘first’ ‘ID versus Evolution’ debate take place between
“Darwin’s Bulldog” Thomas Huxley and “Soapy” Sam Wilberforce?

2. In a recent (When?__________) poll taken in the U.S.A., what were the results?:
(i) _____% think evolution is supported by the evidence;
(ii) _____% don’t know?
(iii) _____% think evolution is just one of many theories?

3. What is Michael Behe’s definition of Intelligent Design?

4. Who is credited with being the real creator of the theory of Intelligent Design, and
when did he live?

5. What are the three examples of Intelligent Design given, and why and how are they
said to be examples of it?
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

6. When was the “Scope’s Monkey Trial”, what was it…and what was the result?

7. What does/did the teaching of Creationism violate, and why?

8. How does the Sperm Whale display evidence of having evolved?

9. What is the definition given of “irreducible complexity”?

10. What ‘key’ text was published in the late 1980’s that lead to the rise of Creationism
and (later) Intelligent Design?
11. What is the complexion of the Kansas School Board?

12. What is the argument concerning George Washington, the first President of the
U.S.A.?

13. Who is ultimately responsible for writing the Kansas State Science Standards (the
curriculum), and how are they composed?

14. What are the two possible consequences of teaching the “God of the gaps” and
“irreducible complexity” ideas to students in science classrooms?

15. What code does John Calvert compare the D.N.A. sequencing code to?

16. Why are archaeology and forensic science mentioned? Why are they false
analogies?

17. What are the three main Intelligent Design texts mentioned?

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

18. Of the 11 examples mentioned in “Icons of Evolution”, what is the example chosen
by Olson (the documentary-maker) for discussion, and what does he have to say
about it?

19. How much money does The Discovery Institute contribute to the ID campaign, and
what does its “Wedge” document seek to do?

20. What other “evils” is evolution linked to in “The Trunk”?

21. What happened in Dover, Pennsylvania (in the U.S.A.) in 2004, and to whom?

22. Who was involved in fighting what happened above?

23. In 2005, what did Judge John E. Jones say about Intelligent Design, and why was
this important?

24. What “stalled out at the intuition stage,” and why is intuition mentioned?

25. Where did the phrase “teach the controversy” originate, and what was its original
purpose?

26. What four reasons do the assembled scientists offer as to why evolutionary scientists
continually “lose the debate” with ID theorists?
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

27. “Blind obsession with the truth” is the phrase which describes evolutionary
biologists. Which phrase is used to typify Intelligent Design theorists?

28. Towards the end of the documentary, Olson begins to outline the way in which
(Western/U.S.) society has changed. How does he connect this to the debate between
evolution and Intelligent Design?
EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED – DIR. N. FRANKOWSKI,
PREMISE MEDIA CORPORATION, 2008
Work in pairs to answer the questions – take alternate questions – which are usually in order
as the answers appear during the documentary (although, in some cases, the ‘answer’ comes
before the ‘question’), but which sometimes are quite close to each other.

1. What did Stephen Meyer’s article argue, and what happened to Richard von
Sternberg as a result?

2. Who is Michael Egnor, and what did he say that caused such controversy in his
profession?

3. What is described as “a set of excuses to squeeze Creationism into the classroom”,

and who argues this?

4. What does the director of The Discovery Institute refer to as a red herring?

5. “Questions that aren’t properly answered don’t go away,” and “this theory’s got a
lot of problems.” Who says this, and about what? What reasons are given?

6. What two “meanings” (definitions) of evolution are given?

7. How is Intelligent Design defined, and how does this definition differ from that of
Creationism?

8. Newton and Einstein are linked to Charles Darwin in what way, and by whom?

9. What is the “important question to ask before we ask ‘Is Darwinian evolution
correct?’”?

10. “We don’t even know what a species is.” Who says this, and why?

11. Why is the tiles of Darwin’s book (‘The ORIGIN of Species…’) argued to be
important?

12. Ho many proteins does it take to “provide minimal life function”? What does Dr.
Walter Bradley argue is a consequence of this?

13. What is Directed Panspermia’ and who puts forward this theory as a possible origin
of life on earth?
14. What is the point made about the difference between Darwin’s understanding of a
cell and the contemporary understanding of one?

15. How much information is said to be contained in a cell, and what is the point made
about the cell containing information in one dimension?

16. What is said about the source of this ‘information’?

17. “We need engineering principles to understand these systems.” What systems, and
why?

18. What is said to be “implicit in most evolutionary theories”?

19. How is Intelligent Design coered by the mass media, according to its advocates?

20. What is the criticism offered of the ACLU and their suing of the Intelligent Design
theorists in court?

21. What is the argument put forward about the ‘Scopes Monkey Trial’?

22. Alistair McGrath says that “describing how something happens” is, in effect,
“explaining it away,” but what two question does he say are left unanswered?

23. What view of science, is it argued, did Kepler, Newton and Boyle all share?

24. According to Dr. Provine, what four consequences “connected to an evolutionary

perspective” are there?

25. Which two “evil” historical figures does Stein link evolution with, and how?

26. What are some of the arguments put forward by Stein, and the Curator of the
Hadamar Museum, to link Nazism with evolution?

27. Why are Eugenics, the Association of Planned Parenthood, and the sterilization of
50,000 American women mentioned?

28. The sociologist Steve Fuller argues that Darwinism equates to a “de-privileging of
human beings.” What two medico-social practices does he link this to?