What is taught must be in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus; (If your school is outside of Cambridgeshire: the S.C.A.A Model 2 syllabus has been included to help in matching this lesson plan with your local Agreed Syllabus).
Cambs Agreed Syllabus:
NW (The Natural World)
Enable pupils to:
know some of the ways in which Christians express and respond to their belief that God is Creator, e.g. exploring thankfulness in prayers and hymns, celebrating Harvest, looking after the environment.
Pupils should consider this:
How far do you feel you are part of the natural world?
Does this have any effect on the way you behave?
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S.C.A.A. Model syllabuses:
KEY TEACHINGS / FOCUS:
GOD
- creating & sustaining, loving, just, saving.
AT1 Read Genesis 1-2 & illustrate the days of Creation. Identify beliefs about God in the Creation story.
AT2 Share ideas on the evidence for order & pattern in the natural world & the universe.
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RESOURCES:
A wastepaper bin with some rubbish in it.
A watch.
A flower or a leaf.
STARTER:
I have made something that I want you to see:
I need a volunteer to say what they think of it.
(Teachers note: Hold up the wastepaper bin).
It is in here, so what do you think of it? What do you mean where is it? It's all those things in there that together make up what I have made.
Q. What do you think of it?
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(Possible answers: it's rubbish!!!)
OK something else:
(Teachers note: Hold up a watch).
Q. How did this watch come to be this shape & why does it work?
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(Possible answers: It was made in a factory, it's got a battery in it...)
1) It was put together, (assembled).
2) But before that, the parts were made.
3) But before that, the parts & the finished watch were designed.
4) But before that, the designer had the idea that he would design a watch.
Q. What is the real difference between the watch & what was in the wastepaper bin?
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The wastepaper bin was just a collection of rubbish, which was not in any particular form or shape, & each bit had no meaningful connection with what was next to it. Also the total pieces of the bin, when together, did not form something better & more useful.
But the watch was put together with specific parts, which when properly assembled, were able to work together to display the exact time. Amazing!
The main difference was that the watch was designed by a designer.
MAIN TEACHING:
OK another object:
(Teachers note: Hold up a flower or a leaf).
Q. How did this flower / leaf come to be this shape & why does it work?
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(Possible answers: It grew like it, it grew on a plant because the plant was growing....)
It grew into that shape because the plant was able to get:
a) water & nutrients from the ground,
b) carbon dioxide from the air,
c) enough sunlight.
This process which makes the plant grow is called photosynthesis.
Q. So was this flower / leaf designed? Was there a designer?
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Christians believe that plants, animals, humans, in fact the whole earth & all of the universe were designed by the great Designer, God.
So to go back to our flower / leaf:
1) It grew into that shape because the plant was able to photosynthesize.
2) But to be able to photosynthesize, there had to be such things as water, nutrients, carbon dioxide & sunlight. So at some point these things had to be made so that they were available.
3) But before that, all these things had to be designed as to how they would operate together.
4) But before that, the designer had the idea of what all the finished plants, animals, etc, would look like.
Christians don't believe that everything came together by chance.
If it was left to chance, then that would be like looking into the wastepaper bin. Things would be chaotic & there would be no design in it all.
The more that scientists learn about nature & how things work, the more we learn how amazing these plants, animals, etc, are. Everything has been designed so well!
There is just something in most of us, when we look up at the stars on a dark winters night, that says; "Amazing! There must be a God who created all of this!" The Bible explains this:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalms 19:1 NIV)
The Bible describes how the whole world came into existence:
It is split into 7 sections which are 7 days.
DAY 1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."
And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day."
So here we have an earth spinning in space, & totally covered by one huge ocean.
Christians believe that God is totally powerful & that nothing is impossible for Him.
Q. Is there a problem with God creating the world suddenly from nothing? Discuss.
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DAY 2 covers the creation of the earth's atmosphere.
"And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day."
Q. What do you think the waters above the expanse mean?
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It means the water in the clouds. (Teachers note: A thundercloud can carry 100,000 tons of water!)
So clouds that carry a lot of water, are separate from the water in the ocean.
DAY 3 was when God caused the continents to be pushed up from the ocean floor. And then all the different plants & trees grew up & covered the earth.
"And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.
God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.
The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day."
Notice that it says a couple of times; "And God saw that it was good."
Q. What do you think it means by being 'good'?
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It was well designed, & it was perfectly made.
Q. When you look at the natural world, would you agree that it is good? Discuss.
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DAY 4 was when the sun, moon, planets & stars were made.
"And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.
God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.
He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day."
It says here that the sun, moon, planets & stars give us light, but they also serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.
Q. How do they mark seasons and days and years?
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The earth spins giving day & night.
The moon gives shows us a 29 day month.
The earth does one orbit of the sun in 365 days 5 hours & 48 minutes.
Stonehenge shows that people then were able to measure the length of the sun's shadow. As the year progresses the position of the shadow changes, then twice a year (21st June & 21st December) the shadow stands still. This is known as the 'solstice' & it is a way of marking the seasons.
The Egyptians measured their year by the rising of a bright star, Sirius, at dawn.
A Greek poet in about 750 B.C. wrote: "Begin your harvest when the Pleiades are rising (=May), & ploughing when they are going to set. (=November)....Set your slaves to winnow the grain when strong Orion first appears." (=July).
A solar eclipse occurs every 18 years 11 days. (Teachers note: The Babylonians, Egyptians & Greeks knew this).
DAY 5
"And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas,
and let the birds increase on the earth."
And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day."
Notice that it says all these birds & creatures were created according to it's kind, & not that everything evolved by chance from simple one celled animals.
If evolution is to be believed, there are 1000's of unsolvable questions on how certain things evolved.
For example;
Guillemots lay their eggs on bare windswept rocks, but the eggs have a special shape so that when the wind blows the eggs rotate, whereas an ordinary 'egg shape' would roll off the rock & get broken! Bearing in mind evolution requires many 1000's of years for things to 'evolve', all the eggs would have got blown off the rocks. Guillemots don't live for 1000's of years so that eventually they lay the right shaped egg!
Q. How would those eggs have evolved? Discuss.
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Q. Do you think that something like this could have evolved without the aid of a 'Designer'? Discuss.
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The Guillemots eggs are just a simple example, but when you start to look at how complex eyes are, how could that evolve? Or what about reproduction, where a male and a female is required. This is not something that can evolve over 1000's of years, because without reproduction animals & plants die out!
DAY 6
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day."
Gen 1:1-31 (NIV)
DAY 7
On the 7th day we are told that God 'rested'.
Q. Why do you think it says that God rested?
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(Possible answers: He was tired)
Because God is God, He cannot get tired, His energy is unlimited.
He rested because He had made everything.
But He is still involved with His creation. The Bible tells us that God still holds things together & that He "sustains" all things.
The Bible tells us that humans did not evolve from apes, but that God created them different from the animals & all other creatures.
By saying that "God created man in his own image" that does not mean that God has a human body.
A coin bears an image of the queen. That does not mean that the queen consists of just a head!
So, humans bear something of God, an image of God, in them, & it is this that makes us different from the animals.
Q. So what actually makes humans different from animals & creatures?
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(Possible answers: humans wear clothes, make computers...)
Humans can reason, & design things.
They can construct complex machines, & amazing electronic gadgets.
Humans can create music, pictures, write stories, & poetry, etc.
They have got very complex languages.
And humans have got a conscience of right & wrong.
PLENARY:
Christians believe that God has designed & created the whole world.
(Teachers note: Evolution is taught as if it is a certain fact, but many hundreds of scientists now have huge reservations over this. Here is a quote from William Dembski, who is an associate research professor (amongst other things): Mainstream scientists must leave strict Darwinism behind if they are to maintain their professional integrity. Strict Darwinism asserts that Darwin's mechanism of random variation & natural selection is able to account for all the complexity & diversity we see in living forms. The evidence simple does not support this claim, & there is good evidence to suggest that this mechanism cannot do all that strict Darwinists attribute to it (evidence now acknowledged even by biologists who oppose intelligent design).
To find out more visit the: "Are we being blinded by unscientific science?" link on the Home page of this web site.)
Therefore some of their songs & hymns celebrate this.
Q. Why do you think this is something to celebrate / to feel happy about?
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Q. How far do you feel you are part of the natural world?
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Q. Does this have any effect on the way you behave?
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Either take a short time to discuss these questions, or leave it with them.
(Teachers note: There are two worksheets to accompany this lesson plan).