Teaching Ideas

At Creationist Home School Science Camp our main theme is Creation Science from a Christian Biblical perspective. However, a student told only WHAT is true can have trouble later if not also taught HOW to test things to find if they are true or false.  We tell students that "The 2nd law of thermodynamics shows that Evolution cannot have occured".  But what good does this do if they do not know what the 2nd law is or WHY it is important? We try therefore to cover a variety of science areas each year with basic introductions to the How and Why of science.

What is Science?   How does it differ from guessing, wishing or wanting something to be true?  What are the limits of science- Can science tell us about God?, About Good?, About Right or Wrong?

Class ideas:

 Friction.  Why do things get hot as they rub together? Why do cars slow down if you let off the gas? Why are most cars only 20% efficient? Why can't a skyjumper go more than 120 miles per hour in freefall?  How do knots work to hold rope together? How fast would a feather fall on the moon?All of these are Friction questions and any one or two of them can fill a class session.

Electricity.  Build a simple electrical circuit with batteries, wires and small light bulbs.  Camp Adams has several good streams with small waterfalls. Rig up an automobile alternator to a wheel powered by the water and make some lights work!

Steam Engines.

Temperature.  How hot is hot? How does humidity affect our feelings of heat? What happens in space at -400 degrees? What happens on the sun at +5,000 degrees?  How can some people live in the desert at 130 degrees and others live at the North Pole at -50 degrees? New "garbage disposal systems" use a plasma arc to burn up everything, even metals, in garbage. Is this a good or bad idea?

Computers.  Study integrated circuits under microscopes. Build a simple binary system. [The first recognized computer was built with a childs Erector Set in the 1930's]. Learn basic computer usage.  Basic computer programing.

Digital photography and movie making.  It should be easy to borrow enough cameras for a class of 20 to learn good techniques.

Erosion.  How fast does water erosion occur?  Does it change as the speed or amount of water changes? How about after Noahs flood- what forces could have been at work and how might they be measured?  How about wind erosion. Should we care about the loss of top soil to erosion?  Hands on- mounds of dirt and lots of water to erode it!

Centrifugal force. Centripitial accelaration.  How does a top spin? How do gyroscopes work? Why does the moon go around and around the earth instead of flying off into space?  Use toy tops to illustrate.