The
international science journal Nature reports that five U.S. states - Rhode Island, Kentucky, Kansas, Maryland and Vermont - have become the first to agree to adopt the
Next Generation Science Standards. Based on the
Framework for K–12 Science Education developed by the
National Academy of Sciences, these new
Standards embrace scientific topics like evolution and climate change that, despite consensus within the scientific community, remain oddly controversial in some states. As views evolve, the learning climate changes.