{Guest Post} Transforming Science into a Way to Discover More about God
Today’s guest post comes from a friend that I met while in college. The first time I met Katy, it was in Intro to Geology during one of my first years of college- she was my TA! After that, I began seeing her around the campus ministry that I was a part of, and was surprised that this person loved Jesus AND loved science at a very deep level. Years later, Katy and her husband, Wes, have 4 kids, and she is instilling a passion for God and a love for science in them. Katy has a B.S. in Geology, an M.A. in Education, has taught science for 12 years, and homeschools her elementary children.
Classroom
education of the masses often reduces science to a body of knowledge that must
be mastered to advance to the next grade. When educating our children at home,
it is tempting to just superimpose this lifeless perspective into our living
room or backyard. Get through the textbook, buy the supplies for the demos, and
hope they learn something. No matter how high-tech the labs are and no matter
how rigorous the curriculum; the main point of science can often be missed
completely. Here are three paradigm shifts that can transform science education
into devotion, critical thinking, and apologetics for children.
General Revelation
we open the Scriptures to teach our children, we are teaching them about God’s
character revealed through Jesus Christ. Scripture is special revelation in
which God reveals His plan of redemption. Science is a ministry of general
revelation. Through studying what God has made, we can also learn about God’s
character. We can approach God’s
creation and God’s word with the same awe and wonder. Every time we explore the
natural world with our kids, we expose them to God’s creativity, artistry,
engineering, and thoughtfulness.
We are born scientists. 4
year olds are full of questions: “Why does it do that?”, “What is it made of?”,“What would happen
if?”. As parent educators, it is
imperative to nurture their inquiry. Inquiry is science! Often science is
wrongly perceived as a body of knowledge to download into a child’s brain. However scientific “fact” is constantly
changing with new data collection methods. Actual science is the process of
asking a question and formulating a way to answer it. When we saturate our kids’ minds with science
facts, we smother their natural inquiry and wire their brains to only memorize
instead of think. Science knowledge
paired with hands-on demonstrations is great for foundational understanding of
vocabulary, natural laws, and science tools. We can then encourage actual
science to happen when we answer our kids’ questions with excitement and more
questions. “Wow! I hadn’t thought of that. Why do you think it does that? How
could we work together to figure that out? What do we already know that would
help us make a guess?” Even if a child is young and their efforts to do an
experiment seem silly, her brain is forging new pathways as she is thinking in
new ways. The important thing is these new ways are not scripted for her to
follow; she is thinking on her own to answer her own questions.
Data and Worldview
what science is and what science isn’t. The scientific method is an amazing
tool that has solved a myriad of problems. True science always includes data
collection with verifiable data. Science cannot answer questions outside the
realm of measurement and observation. Any knowledge that cannot be evaluated
using the scientific method is not science; it is philosophy. Science is a
great way of knowing, but it is not the only way of knowing. Many aspects of
reality are outside the realm of the scientific method.
It is hard to find scientific literature that includes only data without any
added worldview or bias. As humans, we want to take data and fit it into a
framework. There are many different mental frameworks, or worldviews that can
fit the same data. In our kids’ future, they will encounter scientists who use
data to endorse their own worldview and discount the biblical worldview. We can
train our children to discern between data and worldview. When our kids
understand the true function of the scientific method, they won’t let false
worldviews deny their faith. An analogy would be a ruler. A ruler, like the
scientific method, is excellent for measuring all sorts of objects. However, a
ruler can’t measure light. Does that mean light cannot exist? That would be a
narrow-minded conclusion. Likewise, just because God and supernatural aspects
of reality cannot be measured by the scientific method, it doesn’t mean they
don’t exist.
