Unit 4: Religion and ScienceThis unit will involve you exploring the links between science and religion. During lessons you will learn about scientific theories on the evolution of the world and the origin of life and how these theories compare to a range of religious creation stories and beliefs about life and mankind.

What things can we never know?Are some things neither ‘true’ nor false?

Eureka!! Testing your knowledge of breakthroughs in Science:

Identify what the breakthroughs are and how they helped to develop our understanding of the world. What other discoveries can you think of?

Extension: How would these discoveries affect religious believer’s views of the world and the place/role of human beings??

Spot the difference!

Creationism Big bang theory

Types of truthsWhich of these statements are ‘true’?

‘The earth spins on it’s axis at 36,000 ms’

‘The boiling point of water is 100 degrees celsuis’

‘My favourite colour is red’‘John F Kennedy was shot in the head’

‘God exists and is all-powerful and all-loving’

‘The human soul will keep reincarnating until it achieves perfection and subsequently a release From the cycle of reincarnation’

‘Aliens andc UFO’s exist and people are regularly abducted by them’

‘Miracles happen and are performed by God around the world’‘Human life evolved through a process of natural selection’.

EXTENSION: Reflect on..... What makes something true? Can a person’s opinion be considered to be ‘true’,? Is there a difference between truth and belief? How would people try and prove these different ‘truths’ above?

Truths: Finish the sentences

A scientist might accept something to be true if.............they would base this on......for example a scientist would argue

that.........is true, because............

A historian would argue that something was true if.......for example, they might say........because.

A religious person might believe something to be true if..............................they would use evidence such as................................to support their beliefs.

How are religion and science different? How are they similar?

Science Religion

Albert Einstein (Crucial 20th Century scientist and Nobel prize winner)

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.“

Student task: Discuss your views on Einstein’s thoughts here. To what extent do science and religion need one another?

Are Science and Religion actually at ‘War with one another?’

Yes No

Philosophy Homework

To follow from today’s lesson I want you to:

-Research three major scientific breakthroughs, focus in particular on explaining.

-The method/way the breakthrough happened-How was evidence important in the breakthrough?-How did the breakthrough change the way humans see the world and scientific ‘truths’?

Some ideas to get you started:

Archimedes bathtime, Newton’s apple, Fleming’s penicillin,

Lesson 2: Origins of the UniverseWhere do we come from?

Image Study: What can we learn about Creationist beliefs from Michealango’s ‘Creation of Adam’?

‘You’ve Killed God sir!’http://video.uk.msn.com/?mkt=en-gb&vid=49d9e056-64d5-4e6f-975b-

7400b8efdb98&from=sharepermalink&src=v5:share:sharepermalink:

Learning about Evolution: The Tree of Life

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/the-tree-of-life/13920.html

Student task:

Cosmology: A study of the origins of the universe

Stephen hawking on the Big Bang

‘The Big Bang theory’

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/the-big-bang-a-scientists-view/444.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/christian-acceptance-of-the-big-bang/448.html

Stephen Hawking is quite certain God did not create the universe4/18/2013

Stephen Hawking doesn't have much faith, whether he's talking about humanity's continued Earthly existence or how we came to exist in the first place. Hawking gave a lecture Tuesday at the California Institute of Technology, and what he said won’t endear him to the God-created-the-universe-in-six-days set. Hawking's talk, titled "The Origin of the Universe," didn't credit a higher being. Hawking posited that "M-theory" — which states that multiple universes are created out of nothing and that only a small number of those could sustain life similar to humanity — is the closest explanation we have. On religious explanations of the universe’s beginnings, Hawking said, "What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing hell for people who asked such questions?" 

Medieval cosmology was centered around the concept of the Ptolemaic universe, named after Greek astronomer Ptolemy (ca. 150 CE). In this geocentric (earth-centered) model, the earth was the motionless center of the universe, with the rest of the universe revolving around it in spheres.

Lesson Three: The Copernican Revolution.

16th Century Worldview Late Renaissance

Extension task:

Pairing Task:In pairs write definitions for the following terms.

Copernicus

Galileo

Geocentric

Big Bang theory

Creationism