“Evolution should not be disputed,” Rahul Singh, a graduate student in the biological sciences department, said.

Darwin Day is an event in February here at North Dakota State that strives for two things — to celebrate Charles Darwin’s birthday and to educate youth and adults alike.

Charles Darwin was a scientist who gave birth to the scientific notion of evolution. He is also known for his theory of natural selection.

This year’s Darwin Day is set to put on something like a science fair that is open to the public, will feature a keynote address by Lee Dugatkin, professor and university scholar in the University of Louisville biology department, a discussion on how taming and domesticating dogs has forced them to evolve into something they weren’t originally.

Additionally, there will be middle school students attending an educational portion of the festivities to learn about evolution. The 300 children attending will receive passports to check off locations they’ve visited and facts about evolution they’ve learned. They will also have the opportunity to see a bunch of cool reptiles and creatures.

The kids’ experience will be visiting focus tables and participating in activities.

Some forms of evolution the kids may learn about include antibiotic resistance, some evolutionary properties that were caused by climate change, how people are evolving to not have wisdom teeth and other evolutionary things that have happened.

Darwin Day is selling T-shirts to support their cause for $10. You can also purchase last year’s Darwin Day shirt for $5. All the money collected goes to the biological sciences department.

One message that the department wants students to take away from the event is to learn about evolution and that it is real, and that acknowledging it can lead to a deeper understanding of the world around us.