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Discussions about the Holocaust, genocide and eugenics could be part of the science curriculum for middle and high school students in Maine as education officials update the state’s learning standards.
A group of educators tasked with reviewing the state’s current science learning standards proposed the inclusion of those topics as discussions. Maine’s education standards are routinely reviewed every five years.
The proposed revisions are also a response to state statutes enacted in recent years requiring the inclusion of Maine Native American history, African American history, and the history of genocide, including the Holocaust, in the state “system of learning results.”
References to the Holocaust, genocide and eugenics were added to the standards relating to biological evolution and heredity.
Marcus Mrowka, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Education, told CNN the topics were included as “additional context and opportunities to encourage critical thinking” to meet the Legislature requirements.
In a life sciences unit for 9th grade students about “Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits,” the proposal suggests teachers should to ask questions about the role of DNA and chromosomes in the inheritance of genetic traits and offers them the following context, “The science of genetics has been used for the purpose of eugenics. We have gained scientific knowledge in this field through unethical human experiments, such as those carried...