Scopes - Curriculum on Trial
Format: DVD | Streaming | Download
Length:
9:46
Grade Level: 7-12+
Closed Captioned:
Streaming/DVD: English
Do you have to accept what is being taught in schools?
Conflict between freedom of religion and science in the classroom isn’t new. Neither is disagreement over what should be taught in schools.
The Scopes Trial of 1925 brought a lot of attention to the little town of Dayton, Tennessee.
John Scopes, a local teacher, volunteered to be put on trial for teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, which had been outlawed in the state-funded schools of Tennessee. It was an epic landmark legal battle, full of heated – but respectful – debates and personal drama.
It was one of the first attempts to settle the question of what should be taught in public schools. More would follow.
Where does one person’s religious freedom and freedom of speech end and another’s begin?
Whose (and which) First Amendment rights take precedence?
