Year 7 Creation Stories ISBL
Key Skills:
Learning about & from religion
· Research skills
· Interpreting information
· Analysing religious stories
· Comparing & contrasting different religious stories
· Evaluating how these stories affect daily life.
Learning Objectives:
· To gain knowledge of different creation stories.
· To understand the features of the Christian creation story.
· To evaluate the importance of the creation story to Christians.
This project is equal to six weeks worth of homework and therefore you are expected to spend 6-10 hours on it in total. This is your project but you can ask your parents and teachers for help.
______
Your tasks have been set out to include:
1. Planning and research
2. Using ICT
3. Working independently
Do The Research!!!
Topic 1 – How could the world have been made?
Why does the world exist? What made all the animals and
Plants in the world? Was it God? Or was it something else?
These questions have puzzled people for thousands of years.
Different religions and cultures have tried to answer these questions in different ways. In this first topic you will have to research some of the “creation stories” told by different cultures.
Task 1: Using the internet research two creation stories from any of the following cultures/traditions/ideas/beliefs:
West African
Egyptian
Chinese
The theory of the big bang
Task2: Find four special details about creation from each of the two stories that you have chosen.
Task 2 Extension: are the two stories that you have looked at similar/different in any way? If so in what way are they, explain?
Task 3:
Write a short paragraph on the following question: Why do you think creation stories are important to people?
EXT: Choose one of the creation stories you have written about. Do you think it is an accurate account of how the world was created? Give reasons for your answer.
Task 4: Write your own version of a creation story; it must be a reflection of your ideas (religious/non religious) of how the world came into being. Include at least one illustration and lots of descriptive language. You can complete this task in the form of a story or a poem.
Topic 2 - The Christian Creation story
Probably the most famous creation story is the
one found in the Bible. This story of how God
created the world in 6 days is very similar in
Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
Task 1: Learning about the Christian creation story
Using the story board template provided for you show the main events of the Christian creation story. In each box you should put an image and underneath each box you should put some text to explain what is happening in the image.
Task 2: Learning from the Christian Creation Story
1) Two passages in the text have been highlighted in bold. Both of these passages affect the way Christians live their lives and the structure of their week. Explain how these two passages might affect a Christian’s life.
2) Christians believe that God created the world. How might this affect the way they treat the environment and animal?
Extension - What is creationism?
How does it link to the story you have just read?
The Christian Creation Story Genesis 1 – 2:2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Topic 2 – Adam and Eve
After God creates the world, the Christian
creation story continues to tell the story of the
first humans – Adam and Eve. Read the story of
Adam and Eve below
Task 1: Learning about Adam and Eve
1) What was Adam made from?
2) Why did God decide to make Eve?
3) What was Eve made from?
4) What did God command Adam and Eve not to do?
5) Who do you think the serpent is supposed to represent? What does the serpent do?
6) What did eating the fruit give to Adam and Eve?
7) What did God do when he found out they had disobeyed him?
Task 2: Learning from Adam and Eve
1) The story of Adam and Eve is a story with a moral. This means it has a message which it tells people to listen to. What do you think the moral of the story is?
2) Think about the answer you have given to question 2, how might the story of Adam and eve affect the way a Christian lives their life
3) “Humans should always obey God’s commands” Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer showing you have considered another point of view
1. Have I used key religious words in my answers?
2. Have I explained why creation stories affect the ways believers live their lives
3. Have I given my own opinions on creation stories and backed them up with good reasons?
4. Have I found some similarities and differences between religious stories?
5. Have I described the similarities and differences between religious stories
Useful websites
Creation stories:
http://www.painsley.org.uk/re/signposts/y8/1-1creationandenvironment/c-story.htm
http://folkloreandmyth.netfirms.com/creationmyths.html
http://www.magictails.com/creationlinks.html
http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSIndex.html
Watch different cultures creation stories online:
http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/2_eng_myths.htm
Watch the Christian creation story online:
http://kids4truth.com/eng_creation.htm
Assessment levels
Year 7
Level threeI can make links between religious symbols, language and stories and the beliefs or ideas that underlie them and compare my own and other people's ideas about questions that are difficult to answer.
Level four
I can describe the key beliefs and teachings of the religions studied, connecting them accurately with other features of the religions, making some comparisons between religions and ask questions about matters of right and wrong and suggest answers that show understanding of moral and religious issues
Level Five
I can explain how some forms of religious expression are used differently by individuals and communities and make informed responses to people's values and commitments (including religious ones) in the light of my learning