Evolution is JUST a Theory?

While I respect everyone's right to believe and teach their own children as they choose, I need to clarify the statement that "evolution is just a theory." If we're going to do science, we need to understand the terminology.

Evolution is indeed a theory but the word "theory" as in common use is not the same as a "scientific theory."

scientific theory: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <the wave theory of light>

Scientist use the scientific method; which includes
-observation
-hypothesis
-experiments to test the hypothesis
-publish findings to a peer-reviewed journal
-Other scientists will to try to prove it to be wrong
-if scientists cannot prove the theory is wrong, it becomes a scientific theory

The theory of evolution has been through this process. This means there are facts to back up the theory of evolution. It couldn't be called a theory otherwise. No theory can ever be proven as 100% accurate. Science is never 100% sure of anything. There are always new facts to be found and adjustments to be made. Our knowledge of science is always growing and changing based on continuous scientific research. That's what makes it science. Claiming you know all the answers and it's settled is NOT science.

Scientific theories must be falsifiable and must be able to be modified according to new findings.

Other scientific theories include, for example:

-Germ theory of disease
-Cell theory
-String theory
-atomic theory
-plate tectonics

Many scientific theories have been disproven, such as:
-expanding earth
-emission theory
-recapitulation theory
-geocentric theory of the solar system

Scientific laws are similar to theories and can also be referred to as theories because there is always being a chance we'll find other facts that will require modification, such as:
Theory of gravity
Hubble's law of cosmic expansion
Kepler's law of planetary motion

Hope that clears that up and is helpful to someone.

Earthchild has spoken. Thanks for listening.