Origins

David Cartwright

9th – 12th Grade

Prerequisite: Recommended to finish Biology or at least Physical Science

Textbook:

Materials:

Supply Fee:

Length: 1 hour Class

Class Description: What is the origin of the human race? Did God use evolution to create, or is the Bible literal in the Genesis account? Was there a world-wide flood? Where did the fossils come from?

How did Noah get all the animals on the Ark? What about radioisotipic dating methods, distant starlight, ancient civilizations, and the accuracy of biblical history?
This class will explore the origins of the universe from a historical and scientific perspective in these seven major sections:

  1. Worldview: while many characterize the debate as “science vs. religion”, the reality is rather more complicated.
  2. Hydroplate Theory, Noah’s Flood, the antediluvian world and the Ark: This section will cover the question of whether the Flood was a local flood or really did cover the world and will include a feasibility study of the Ark and some of the things we can learn about the world before the Flood.
  3. Paleontology and the fossil record: We will examine the “missing links”, the Cambrian Explosion, stasis, paraconformities and other aspects of strata.
  4. The biological sciences: we will examine the origins of Darwinism genetics, chemical origins of life, and the challenge of attaining life from non-living matter.
  5. Geochronographs: Radioisotopic dating, dendrochronology, coral reef growth, erosion and deposition of sediments, plutonium halos, resident helium in granite, recession of the moon, and other ways to measure the age of the Earth and Universe will be studied in this section.
  6. Physics: Entropy, distant starlight, stellar birth, retrograde motion, the “fine tuning of the universe” and other aspects of astrophysics will be covered in this section.
  7. Archaeology: What support does the Bible have in the various excavations done in the areas

Students should expect to spend 2-3 hours per week discussing the section, learning a few vocabulary words, and writing a short reaction paper at the end of each section. This class is designed to be a science elective and is ideal for 9th grade and above. Parents are welcome to attend so long as there’s room!

This class will count as a high-school level Earth Science, a lab can be added if
necessary. No textbook or prerequisite is required, and the homework will consist of some vocabulary, concept questions, and short reaction papers.

Teacher Biography: Bio/Chem/Math from SNU, teaching since 2008, homeschooled, homeschool dad.

My wife and I graduated from SNU in 2010 and I started teaching homeschool classes two years previous. My degree is in biochemistry with an emphasis in history, music and theology.