Gov. Mead approves new K-12 science standards

Gov. Matt Mead has approved new K-12 science standards, two years after a heated battle over the benchmarks.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports the Wyoming Board of Education approved and sent the standards to Mead on Sept. 23, and the governor approved them this week.

The standards have about 50 percent of the benchmarks that were considered by the board two and half years ago. That model said climate change is man-made, an assertion blasted by some state lawmakers.

Fossil fuels extraction is the state’s main industry.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow says that with the new standards, students should use the scientific method to investigate for themselves the causes and effects of climate change.

___

Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com