Akron Fossils & Science Center
Encyclopedia
The Akron Fossils & Science Center is a museum in Copley Township
, Ohio
, USA, a few miles west of Akron
, devoted to presenting creation science
and intelligent design
in contrast to commonly accepted models of planetary and animal evolution.
It was opened May 26, 2005, by William Sanderson II, a financial planner and former Cincinnati middle-school science teacher. Sanderson has an MBA from Malone University in Canton, Ohio
, and a BSc
degree in education from Miami University
in Oxford, Ohio
. 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. A block-rolling game demonstrates the supposed difficulty of randomly generating a 17 amino acid
sequence to form a protein
.
Many of the museum projects are targeted at children, 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. 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.
The scientific community considers creationism to be pseudoscience
. As a result, science organizations, such as the National Center for Science Education
, criticize the promotion of creationism as a form of non-science. 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."
Copley Township, Summit County, Ohio
Copley Township is one of the nine townships of Summit County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 13,641 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the western part of the county, it borders the following townships and cities:...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, USA, a few miles west of Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
, devoted to presenting creation science
Creation science
Creation Science or scientific creationism is a branch of creationism that attempts to provide scientific support for the Genesis creation narrative in the Book of Genesis and disprove generally accepted scientific facts, theories and scientific paradigms about the history of the Earth, cosmology...
and intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
in contrast to commonly accepted models of planetary and animal evolution.
It was opened May 26, 2005, by William Sanderson II, a financial planner and former Cincinnati middle-school science teacher. Sanderson has an MBA from Malone University in Canton, Ohio
Canton, Ohio
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, and a BSc
BSC
BSC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:Science and technology* Bachelor of Science , an undergraduate degree* Base Station Controller, part of a mobile phone network; see: Base Station subsystem...
degree in education from Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
in Oxford, Ohio
Oxford, Ohio
Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...
. Museum exhibits tend to the hands-on. Touchable displays include a woolly mammoth
Woolly mammoth
The woolly mammoth , also called the tundra mammoth, is a species of mammoth. This animal is known from bones and frozen carcasses from northern North America and northern Eurasia with the best preserved carcasses in Siberia...
jawbone, fossils, dinosaur teeth, bones and eggs, a mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
skeleton, and castings of alleged Inca burial stones (never authenticated by scientists) depicting humans being killed by dinosaurs. A block-rolling game demonstrates the supposed difficulty of randomly generating a 17 amino acid
Amino acid
Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
sequence to form a protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
.
Many of the museum projects are targeted at children, 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. Museum staff participated in the opening of the larger Creation Museum
Creation Museum
The Creation Museum is a museum near Petersburg, Kentucky that presents an account of the origins of the universe, life, mankind, and man's early history according to a literal reading of the Book of Genesis...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, but say the hands-on nature and focus on children of the Akron Fossils & Science Center sets it apart.
The scientific community considers creationism to be pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
. As a result, science organizations, such as the National Center for Science Education
National Center for Science Education
The National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is the United States' leading anti-creationist organization, and defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes...
, criticize the promotion of creationism as a form of non-science. 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."
External links
- Akron Fossils & Science Center official site