<p> 3/1/11 CHESS Creation 101 2011-2012 Instructor: Dr. Ron Reese  E-mail: [email protected]  Address: 11424 Vale Road, Oakton, VA 22124  Home phone: 703-620-5313  Cell phone 703-477-5366 Purpose of the Course When I was first asked to teach this course in the spring of 2009, my initial purpose was to have students learn that they could believe the Bible starting with the very first word. My plan was to show them that Genesis 1-11 was real history and that a recent creation in six ordinary days is correct and defensible both theologically and scientifically. But afterward I learned of a 2006 George Barna survey of young adults in 2006 that showed that 61 percent of those who attended Southern Baptist churches when they were growing up no longer attend church. In the summer of 2009, I learned of another survey, commissioned by Answers in Genesis, to learn why students were dropping out of church life when they left the home. The survey only assessed those in their twenties who had attended conservative, evangelical churches. Although the number of former homeschoolers surveyed wasn’t large enough to be statistically significant, the results didn’t seem to make much difference where the “twenty somethings” went to school – public school, Christian school, or home school. Alarmingly, this survey showed that, of those who attended church regularly when they were growing up and no longer did, 40 percent dropped out after middle school, another 44 percent dropped out after high school, and only about 11 percent dropped out in or after college. We are losing our young people a lot earlier than we thought. When asked, “Do you believe all the accounts in the Bible are true and accurate”, only 38% said yes. The rest said no or that they didn’t know. What made them begin to doubt the Bible? A quarter of them had doubts in the areas of Genesis 1-11. Nearly 70 percent believed the Bible was written by men, wasn’t translated correctly, or had errors or contradictions. I then modified the content of this course to deal with these other questions and to equip the students to know what they were being taught in church and at home was true and to defend their faith. Course Objectives: . Students will learn that they can trust the Bible starting with the very first verse. . Students will learn scientific facts that support a recent six-literal day creation and the weaknesses of the evolution model.</p><p>1 . Students will learn about the fallacies of long-age interpretations of Genesis 1- 11, including theistic evolution, day-age theory, gap theory, framework hypothesis, and progressive creation. . Students will learn that there is overwhelming evidence that the Bible (not just Genesis 1-11) isn’t full of errors and is completely trustworthy. . Students will learn how to defend their faith, particularly when they enter college and have their beliefs challenged, in matters relating to creation vs. evolution as well as other matters. . Students will learn about college and university courses of study that can lead to careers in creation science in the areas of life and physical sciences. The course will also make students aware of career opportunities in physics, biology, geology, astronomy, and other sciences from a creationist perspective. Field Trips (dates TBD): There will be no field trip in the first semester. For the second semester I plan to have two field trips listed below. I will select a primary and a back up date for each field trip. . Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (weekday). I will be asking one or more parents to drive us from Centreville Baptist Church to the Vienna Metro Station and back. This will be a nearly all-day field trip. . Northern Virginia Astronomy Club Star Party (with my son David’s 25-inch Dobsonian reflector telescope). David is an accomplished amateur astronomer, with over 30 years of observing experience. This field trip will occur on a Friday or Saturday night. We will try to schedule this on a Friday night, but parents must recognize that this field trip will need to occur at the convenience of my son who has a full-time job and a long commute. It may be necessary, therefore to schedule this field trip on a Saturday night. David has now purchased a trailer for his telescope, and that will reduce the time at his home in getting packing up. That should enable us to get started earlier than in the past. This field trip will take place in the spring near the time of the new (no) moon at one of three Northern Virginia Astronomy Club observing sites off I-66 beyond Bull Run Mountain. The driving time to these sites varies from about a half hour to 1 hour fifteen minutes. Each student will be required to be accompanied by a parent. Each student and his or her accompanying parent will be asked provide their own transportation to permit them to leave at the end of the scheduled observing time or to stay longer. Students and accompanying parents will be asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before sunset and remain for at least two hours of viewing in complete darkness, ending about 11:00 PM, if the field trip occurs on a Saturday night. If the field trip occurs on a Friday night, I would expect students and parents to stay until midnight, as it is a big effort to assemble this telescope, and sometimes David runs into difficulties that take time to resolve. We want to provide adequate observing time to make the field trip worthwhile.</p><p>2 I will consult the students and will do my best to accommodate student personal and family schedules in establishing the dates for these field trips. However, it is God who schedules that dates of the new moon. I will also attempt to schedule the field trips as far in advance as possible. I expect that each student will communicate with his or her parent about the field trip schedule. I recognize that there may be family emergencies or student illnesses that arise that preclude a student’s attendance. But both the student and their parents need to understand that I consider these field trips are an integral part of the course, i.e., mandatory. Once scheduled, I will not give permission to a student to miss for reasons of some other personal or family activity. I also reserve the right to drop from the course a student who, for reasons other than family emergencies and sickness, is absent from a field trip. Course overview: The course will be aimed at the high school junior and senior level but highly motivated, strongly interested sophomores may also attend. On a case basis, I will also permit exceptional freshmen, but they will be admitted on a trial basis. The course will be rather advanced for high school – bordering on the college level. It will consist of one 1-hour 20-minute class per week for two semesters. There will be one, 1500-word minimum, term paper required each semester (two for honors), for which I will provide a list of possible topics. Students may also suggest other topics. For the Smithsonian field trip, students will be expected to write an 800- 1000 word critique of what they saw and learned. For the astronomy field trip, the length of the paper will be 300-500 words. The course will cover such topics as: . Why a six-day literal creation is vitally important to the Christian . The Biblical case for a literal six-day (recent) creation as opposed to long ages . Scientific evidences for a recent creation . The geological record, including fossils . Weaknesses of Darwinian evolution . Where did the information in DNA come from . The Big Bang – its scientific problems and why it is incompatible with the Bible . Difficult issues for the creationist such as distant starlight and radiometric dating . What really happened to the dinosaurs and the weaknesses of the dinosaur evolution story . Is there any credible evidence that humans evolved from ape-like ancestors? . Various attempts to harmonize the Bible with evolution. . If God is a loving God, why do we experience death, suffering, disease, and natural catastrophes?</p><p>3 The course will also deal with matters of apologetics, dealing not just with creation but other common questions and statements having to do with the Bible and Christianity. Some examples are: “Why should I believe the Bible?”; “How can we know that Jesus was really raised from the dead?”; “The Bible was written by fallible men”; “How do the laws of logic, morality, and the uniformity of nature demonstrate that there is a God and that God is the God of the Bible? I will be using presentations, The Answers Academy DVD curriculum with its Participant’s Workbook, class notes, the Answers for Life apologetics curriculum with its Participant Workbook, and other pertinent DVDs to teach the class. I will also be assigning reading assignments and associated homework questions from the textbooks. The New Answers Book 1 and 2 will serve not just as textbooks but also as an initial source of information for term papers. Credits earned: 1 Honors: an honors level is available by completing a second, 1500-word minimum, appropriately footnoted, term paper each semester. Grading Information: Students will receive a letter grade. I will issue two semester grades and a final grade for the year. Each semester, the grading scheme below will be followed.  Two exams to be given during the course of the semester, each covering about one third of the semester’s work, and each counting 15% of the semester grade  Homework – 25% for the first semester and 20% for the second semester  Field trip observations – 7.5% for the Smithsonian field trip and 2.5% for the astronomy field trip, for a total of 10% for the second semester.  Term Paper – 25% for the first semester and 20% for the second semester  A Final Exam for each semester, covering the entire semester course, but placing more emphasis on the third segment than the previous two – 20% For all work I will provide both numerical and letter grades. I will use a numerical grading scheme as follows: 0-69 F, 70-79 C, 80-89 B, 90-100 A. At the end of each class I will administer a not-for-grade, five-minute mini-quiz consisting of about three questions, covering the most important points in that day’s class, assessed for correctness by the individual student. At the end of each semester, I hope to see the entire class earning either an As or Bs. I will not be grading on a curve. It has been my experience that students today (as well as many younger adults) tend to be poor spellers. They tend to rely far too much on spell checkers. In order to reinforce the importance of spelling and grammar, for each spelling and grammatical error I will deduct two points, but I will give two bonus points for each error of mine the student finds in the homework or on an exam. Points deducted or added will be based on 100 points for a perfect paper. Students will find that I am a generous grader. If I think a student knows the answer but has just not expressed it properly, I will normally give full credit. I will also give partial credit wherever </p><p>4 possible and warranted. My objectives in teaching are that the students learn and find the course enjoyable as they learn. But I would want each prospective student and parent to understand that we will be covering a lot of ground in both the homework and on the exams. Homework Policy: Homework will consist generally of reading assignments and a handout to be completed at home that will ask the student questions about what he or she has read. I will collect homework at the beginning of each class, and it will be returned at the next class. Homework will be considered late if it is not turned in by the beginning of the class. Some of the homework for the apologetics portion of the course will require the parent to listen as the student practices dealing with commonly asked questions and arguments dealing with the Bible and creation vs. evolution. It is difficult to cover a topic as diverse as creation-evolution with a single hour and twenty minute class per week. In order to make a course like this meaningful under this constraint, homework assignments will need to cover a considerable amount of material that we will not be able to cover in class. Accordingly, most homework assignments will require the full 4.5 hours per week. Advance Homework Assignment: I ask that students read Genesis Chapters 1-11 in the days preceding the fall class starting date. I suggest reading a chapter a day. Term Paper: It has been my experience that a student learns the most and ends up enjoying a course the most by tackling in a term paper a subject of interest to him or her. Each semester a 1500-word minimum term paper is required on a teacher-approved subject pertaining to creation versus evolution or Christian apologetics. I will be looking mostly for original and critical, organized thought, but I also expect high standards in neatness, spelling, grammar and in giving proper credit to sources. I will reduce the grade if the term paper is sloppy. As part of the grade of the term paper, I will require an outline and list of references be turned in no later than four weeks in advance of the term paper due date. Term papers always seem to be uniformly disliked by students. However, I have learned over many years of college and university-level schooling and a career of job-related writing in my field of engineering that knowing how to write well-researched papers is essential and forms good writing habits. It is not a requirement, but a student may want to purchase a copy of certain references that may not be otherwise available. It will be important therefore that the student select a topic and start gathering and reading references very early in each semester. In grading term papers I will follow the same policy for spelling and grammatical errors as for the homework. Sometimes it may be necessary for a student to arrange for an inter-library loan at his or her local library to obtain a secular reference. This schedule should allow adequate time for that to occur. </p><p>5 Examinations: Exams #1 and #2 and the Final Semester Exam will be administered in class. In grading examinations I will follow the same policy for spelling and grammatical errors as for the homework. Excused Absences: Sicknesses of the student, family emergencies, and other absences such as those caused by a car that won’t start or an automobile accident on the way to class are considered excused absences. When feasible, I ask that parents contact me, in advance of the class in such instances. In those cases, homework can be turn in one week later without penalty. Under other circumstances, late homework will be accepted as late at the beginning of the class of the following week, but no later. Grades for late homework will be reduced one letter grade. Homework turned in later than one week after the class will receive no credit (F). If there is an excused absence on the date of the test or final, the parents of the student have the responsibility of contacting me to arrange for taking the test separately. Required Materials:  Bible – bring to class unless otherwise directed by the teacher  3-inch, three-ring binder with dividers for class student notes, handouts, end-of-class non-graded mini-quizzes, tests, and homework.  Since I will be preparing class notes, exams, homework with answers, and other handouts, there will be a copy fee of $30 for the entire school year, which I will collect on the first and second class days. Checks can be made out to Ronald M. Reese. I will use the internet to distribute homework assignments. The Role of the Parent: I ask that the parent review but not correct homework before it is turned so you will be aware of whether the student is completing his or her reading assignment and learning the most important points. The parent may want to assist the student in selecting a term paper topic and show him or her how to locate references other than those I will make available. It will be helpful if the parent reads The Ultimate Proof and the Answers for Life Participant Workbook, so that the family can discuss apologetics, and can help the student gain confidence in defending his or her faith. I will expect at least one parent to accompany his or her student the astronomy field trip. I will need the help of one or more parents for transportation to and from the Vienna Metro for the Smithsonian field trip. A parent must accompany his or her student on the astronomy field trip and drive separately. Texts: Regrettably, there is no single text that is really appropriate for a high school course like this on creation. Accordingly, I have selected a small group of paperback books </p><p>6 that are reasonable in cost, very interesting to the student, and cover the various topics we will be discussing in the two-semester Creation 101 course. I have provided the costs of new books and in some cases used books and where you can find them. You should be able to find them in used condition from Amazon.com, DealOz www.dealoz.com, or some other on-line used bookseller, but please be careful that you get the proper edition, as some have been revised. I ask that you purchase two of them, the Answers Academy: Participant’s Workbook and the Answers for Life: Participant Workbook, new from Answers in Genesis www.answersingenesis.org , as used copies may be filled in. Answers in Genesis shipping costs are $4.99 for shipments less than $100.00 and free for shipments over $100.00. If all the textbooks except Evidence That Demands a Verdict are purchased from Answers in Genesis, the total cost, including shipping, is $76.93. Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Volume 1, is available from Christian Book Distributors http://www.christianbook.com/ for $7.99 plus shipping.  The Bible. I will be using the New King James Version (NKJV), but other modern versions are acceptable for use in the class. For instruction, I prefer to use a modern version that is more literal in its translation, e.g., the, NKJV and New American Standard Bible (NASB). The King James Version (KJV), although not modern, is also literal in its translation. For class and homework, the student can use his or her personal Bible. It is not necessary for the student to purchase a particular version of the Bible.  Creation: Facts of Life – How Real Science reveals the Hand of God, 2nd edition, 10th Printing (Revised) or subsequent, by Gary Parker, Ph.D., 2006, Master Books, Green Forest, AR; available from Answers in Genesis for $11.99 plus shipping. Dr Parker’s doctorate is in biology with a cognate in geology (paleontology); Dr. Parker taught evolution in his college-level biology classes before first becoming a Christian and later a creationist.  The Ultimate Proof of Creation –resolving the origins debate, by Dr. Jason Lisle, 2009, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, available from Answers in Genesis for $13.99 plus shipping. Dr. Lisle has developed the two planetarium shows at the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum and holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. This text is about apologetics, with emphasis on creation.  Answers Academy: Participant’s Workbook, Answers in Genesis, 2005, available from Answers in Genesis, www.answersingenesis.org for $7.99 plus shipping. I ask that you purchase this book new from Answers in Genesis, as it has blanks that the student will be filling in.  The New Answers Book [1] – 25 Top Questions on Creation/Evolution and the Bible, 2006 and The New Answers Book 2 – Over 30 Questions on Creation/Evolution and the Bible, 2009, Ken Ham, General Editor, Answers in Genesis, Master Books, Green Forest, AR. The first two books are available for $14.99 each plus shipping from Answers in Genesis. There is also a New Answers Book 3 that has recently been published. I have a copy, but will not be using it as a text. The three-book set sells for for $34.99 and is probably </p><p>7 worth the additional cost. The New Answers Book 3 may contain potential term paper topics that the student may want to pursue.  Answers for Life: Participant Workbook by Steve Ham, Answers in Genesis, 2008, $7.99 plus shipping. I ask that you purchase this book new from AiG, as it has blanks that the student will be filling in.  Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Volume I – Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith, by Josh McDowell, Here’s Life Publishers, San Bernadino, CA, 1979. (available from Christian Book Distributors http://www.christianbook.com/ for $4.99 plus shipping). Additional Resources:  I have an extensive creation library that I will make available for check out for use as some of the references needed for the students’ term papers.  Other resources are available on-line at no cost from the Answers in Genesis website, www.answersingenesis.org, the Institute for Creation Research website, www.icr.org, and the Creation Research Society website (www.creationresearch.org).  Acts and Facts is a free magazine published bimonthly by the Institute for Creation Research by simply signing up at http://www.icr.org/signup/. The publication includes interesting articles on various aspects of creation, including current topics such as “global warming”. It may be a helpful resource of selecting a term paper topic. If your student plans to take the course, I recommend signing up for this free resource right away.  I encourage the students to use secular references from the public library or the Internet as sources for their term papers. It is important, that the student to hears both sides of the story. I am sure that properly grounded, real truth will prevail.</p><p>8</p>