Solagratiamom: Introducing the Science of Origins

The Science or Origins can be a scary thing to introduce to children, but we took it on anyway this week. My goal was to help the kids tie together some of their science labs and expose them to arguments they will hear out in the world regarding Darwinism and Creationism. I also highlighted some strengths and weaknesses for both arguments. My main objective in the end however, was to have them walk away recognizing three things to be true…

Those three things were:

Both are theories -it is not fact vs. faith - everyone has a worldview. They are viewing their data through that lens. Whether that is humanism, christianity or naturalism. It all takes faith.
These theories will never be able to be proved, because they can't meet the "good science" criteria of observable and replicable.
Data can be skewed. While math itself is perfect, what man does with it can be imperfect and misleading.

History Dress Up

There wasn't a lot to do with the information presented for the science of Origins in a hands on way, via experimentation, obviously. So I focused on exposing them to these new concepts (some hadn't heard of any of these things prior to this day), and repeated the main points in different ways, so they would grab hold of them. We made a science board with visual information of the key points. I tried to present both strengths and weaknesses for each side. I let them know why I agreed with whichever side I did - which ultimately is because I believe the complexity and order of our created world, dictate a Creator. We talked about how God's Word tells us the "who" but not the how. We will have to wait for Heaven to know that one.

Origins Science Boards

I had the kids be creative and pick their background papers to make their boards however they wanted to, so they had a personal touch. The pre-printed materials were given to them to apply to their boards.

Origins Art Project

They were then told to take a piece of colored paper and draw a line down the middle to split it in half. Next they were told to draw on one side, whatever came to their mind for Darwinism. On the other side, they were to told to draw whatever came to mind for Creationism. It was fun to see what they came up with. I loved seeing their perceptions of these two topics.

DNA Craft Project

Once we were done with this project, the kids began a project for making a DNA helix. This week, I decided to just look for a craft online to make a helix. Some of the kids had previously done one with candy, so I didn't want to do that. I also wanted something they could keep. So I found this project -what a project fail! I found this DNA Helix Craft video on Youtube. It looked straight forward enough, so I went for it. I pre-cut the paper towel tubes, and drew out all the parts that required measuring and labeling. I figured that way the kids would just have to color, cut and glue. Simple, right? What could go wrong? Well, it ended up like a major Pinterest Fail that you see and laugh at (at least in my perfectionist mind). Between us five Moms, not one of us could figure it out. We all watched the video numerous times, and still to no avail. LOL! You have to watch the ladies explanation at the end of this video, for the last step. It's laughable. She states you "just glue the tabs down one side and then the other" and viola! a helix. Well, when we did that, we ended up with a ladder. When we glued the S to P's it ended up with a ringlet. We never could figure out how she got this beautiful helix. So….to anyone reading, if you decide to try it and you figure it out - let me know! The directions were so inadequate. It will teach me to always make one ahead of time! Oh well, I figured out of 69 Wonderful Wednesdays to date - one failed craft isn't too bad! I would love to know if anyone figures it out though! You'll notice at the end, all that's left standing are the Moms and we are laughing about this crazy mess.