Table of Contents:
This teacher’s copy of The Biblical Creation story lesson plan is printer-friendly.
RESOURCES:
A wastepaper bin with some rubbish in it.
A smartphone.
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.
(Teacher’s note: Hold up the wastepaper bin with all the rubbish in it).
It is in here, so what do you think of it?
What do you mean where is it?
It’s all those things in here that together make up what I have made.
Q. What do you think of it?
(Possible answers: it’s rubbish!!!)
Okay something else: (Teacher’s note: Hold up a smartphone).
Q. How did this smartphone come to be this shape and why does it work?
(Possible answers: It was made in a factory, and it’s got a battery in it).
- It was put together, it was assembled.
- But before that, the parts were made.
- But before that, the parts and the finished phone were designed.
- But before that, the designer had the idea that he would design a smartphone.
Q. What is the real difference between the phone and what was in the wastepaper bin?
The wastepaper bin was just a collection of rubbish, which was not in any particular form or shape, and 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 and more useful.
But the phone was put together with specific parts, which when properly assembled, were able to work together to do so many things. Amazing!
The main difference was that the phone was designed by a designer.
MAIN TEACHING:
OK another object: (Teacher’s note: Hold up a flower or a leaf).
Q. How did this flower/leaf come to be this shape and why does it work?
(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:
- Water and nutrients from the ground
- Carbon dioxide and oxygen from the air.
- Enough sunlight. This process which makes the plant grow is called photosynthesis.
Q. So was this flower/leaf designed?
Q. Was there a designer?
Did God create the world and us?
Christians believe that plants, animals, humans, in fact, the whole earth and all of the universe were designed by the great Designer, God.
So to go back to our flower/leaf:
It grew into that shape because the plant was able to photosynthesize.
But to be able to photosynthesize, there had to be such things as water, nutrients, carbon dioxide, oxygen and sunlight.
So at some point, these things had to be made so that they were available.
But before that, all these things had to be designed as to how they would operate together.
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 and there would be no design in it all.
The more that scientists learn about nature and 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 winter’s 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;
Psalms 19:1 NIV
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
The Bible describes how the whole world came into existence:
It is split into 7 sections which are called 7 days:
DAY 1 (Genesis 1:1-5)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1-5 NIV
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 Earth spinning in space and totally covered by one huge ocean.
Christians believe that God is totally powerful and that nothing is impossible for Him.
(For teacher’s background interest see this article on: Does Genesis Fail Scientific Study? Day 1 – opens in a new tab)
Q. Is there a problem with God creating the world suddenly from nothing?
Discuss.
DAY 2 (Genesis 1:6-8)
This day covers the creation of the Earth’s atmosphere:
And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’
Genesis 1:6-8 NIV
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?
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.
(For teacher’s background interest see this article on Creation Days 2 And 3 – Atmosphere And Vegetation – opens in a new tab)
DAY 3 (Genesis 1:9-13)
This was day three when God caused the continents to be pushed up from the ocean floor.
And then all the different plants and trees grew up and covered the earth:
And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,
Genesis 1:9-13 NIV
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?
It was well-designed, and it was perfectly made.
Q. When you look at the natural world, would you agree that it is good?
Discuss.
DAY 4 (Genesis 1:14-19)
This was when the sun, moon, planets and stars were made:
And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky
Genesis 1:14-19 NIV
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 and 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?
- The earth spins giving day and night.
- The moon gives us a 29-day month.
- The Earth does one orbit of the sun in 365 days 5 hours and 48 minutes.
- Stonehenge shows that people then were able to measure the length of the sun’s shadow and the seasons.
As the year progresses the position of the shadow changes, and then twice a year (21st June and 21st December) the shadow stands still. This is known as the ‘solstice’ and 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),
and 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 and 11 days. (Teacher’s note: The Babylonians, Egyptians and Greeks knew this).
(For teacher’s background interest see this article on Creation Of The Sun Moon And Stars – Is Genesis Scientific? – opens in a new tab)
DAY 5 (Genesis 1:20-23)
This was when the sea and flying creatures were created:
And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures,
Genesis 1:20-23 NIV
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 and creatures were created according to their kind, and 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 and 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 how can they eventually lay the right-shaped egg!
Q. How would those eggs have evolved?
Discuss.
Q. Do you think that something like this could have evolved without the aid of a Designer?
Discuss.
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 are required?
This is not something that can evolve over 1000′s of years, because without reproduction animals and plants die out!
(For teacher’s background interest see this article on: According To Their Kinds – Does Science Threaten Genesis? – opens in a new tab)
DAY 6 (Genesis 1:24-31)
This was when the land creatures were created, including humans:
And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:
Genesis 1:24-31 NIV
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.”
Q. What special task did God give to us (humankind)?
To rule over the creatures and other animals.
Q. Does that mean being cruel to them?
No, a good leader can rule without being unkind.
Q. God created mankind in his own image, what does that mean?
God is invisible, so it doesn’t mean to look like him.
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, and it is this that makes us different from animals.
Q. So what actually makes humans different from animals and creatures?
(Possible answers: humans wear clothes, and make computers)
Humans can reason, and design things.
They can construct complex machines and amazing electronic gadgets.
Humans can create music, pictures, write stories, and poetry, etc.
DAY 7 (Genesis 2:2-3)
on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy…”
Genesis 2:2-3 NIV
Q. Why do you think it says that God rested?
(Possible answers: He was tired)
Because God is God, He cannot get tired, His energy is unlimited.
He had made everything but He is still involved with His creation.
The Bible tells us that God still holds things together and that He ‘sustains’ all things.
By God resting on the seventh day, it set up an ideal work pattern of having one rest day in seven.
PLENARY:
Christians believe that God has designed and created the whole world.
Therefore some Christian songs and hymns celebrate that God created the world.
Q. Why do you think this is something to celebrate/feel happy about?
Q. How far do you feel you are part of the natural world?
Q. Does this have any effect on the way you behave?
Either take a short time to discuss these questions, or leave it with them.
(Teacher’s note: There are two worksheets to accompany this lesson plan:
The Biblical Creation story worksheet 1
The Biblical Creation story worksheet 2
See also: The Biblical Creation story. RE resources)
Teacher’s note:
Evolution is taught as if it is a certain fact, but many hundreds of scientists now have reservations over this.
For teacher’s background interest see this article which looks at: The scientific community question Big Bang’s validity – opens in a new tab.
Also, see this article: Scientists Who Believe In God And The Genesis Creation Account – which opens in a new tab.
There is an organisation, the Creation Research Society, whose members have to be scientists (who have earned a postgraduate degree in a recognized area of science) and who believe among other things, that the Bible is: “historically and scientifically true in the original autographs…. the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths.”
As of February 2012, there were 700 scientists (Voting) members, each of whom would stand up for these things, as being acceptable to them as scientists.