How Would a Sixth Grader Respond?

            In Professor Grobstein’s class on Thursday we each individually generated a sentence that held what we believed to be the essential information of Biological Evolution. We then took turns reading the sentences aloud, and after each sentence a member of the class was asked to come up with a sixth grade response to the sentence. These responses ranged from complete confusion, to “what is natural selection?” to “sounds good to me!” This exercise felt meaningful because it performed the variety of interpretations of Biological Evolution and the beliefs about what lies at the heart of the theory. At the same time, engaging with our sixth grade frames of mind made tangible the process of reconciling a story with one’s experience and worldview.