Geology and Apologetics by Northwest Treasures -- my REVIEW

One of my children is interested in geology.  She has taken several geology classes (and just went to a library program about geology today!) and jumps at the chance to learn more about earth science and geology.  We were given the opportunity to review some online courses relating to geology and she was very happy to participate, especially when she found out that the courses were produced by Northwest Treasures -- Patrick Nurre of Northwest Treasures taught some online classes that she took--and enjoyed and learned a lot from Schoolhouseteachers.com.

The courses that we were given access to in order to review were Geology and Apologetics accompanied by a short course called Taking the Mystery Out of Geology.

The video "Taking the Mystery Out of Geology" is a shortish video, about twenty minutes long and gives the viewer a good quick overview of Biblical young earth geology and timelines as well as introducing the viewer to several geology vocabulary terms such as uniformitarianism, rock cycle (and rock types), fossilization/petrification, and more.  It is basically narrated slides--and the narration is interesting and easy to understand.  My daughter had taken a geology course before, but she found this video interesting and helpful.  I think that the rest of the family will watch this (as well as the next one that I'm about to tell you about!)


After she finished the first video, she jumped into the course entitled Geology and Apologetics.  This course is a set of six videos, short lessons followed by review questions.  These lessons are entitled:
1: Knowing the Scriptures in the Secular Geological Age
2: Clarifying the Conflict Between Science and the Bible
3: The Geneologies and Chronologies of Genesis, are they Accurate and Reliable?
4: Evolutionary Gaps in the Fossil Record, How Serious are They?
5: Dinosaur to Bird Evolution, the Story that Never Seems to Die
6: Time and Chronology in the Secular Geological Age

Lesson 1 begins with an overview of the course and jumps right into what apologetics actually is and encompasses (and that is is for every believer) and why the teacher (Nurre) has chosen the field of geology to link to apologetics.  Lesson 2, regarding the conflict between science and the Bible...hmmm is there a conflict?  Is modern geology truly science?  Science/history/the Bible/philosophy--do you know what the differences and overlaps are? You might need to watch this chapter!

Lesson 3 Jumps into the age of the earth question (and how/if the Bible can enlighten us on this) using the writings of Genesis to help age the earth.   Lesson 4 deals with the fossil record and the "missing links" or evolutionary gaps and deficits that uniformitarianism can leave.  Lesson 5 tells us how the archaeopteryx came about (1861!) and how it relates to the fossil record and the evolutionary theory.  Lesson 6, the final chapter, kind of reaffirms the importance of the age of the earth/fossil record to Christians (how we ought to take it as important) and how/why the subject of time is so important to geologists and those espousing evolutionary theory.

The lessons are taught by Patrick Nurre--basically a lecture filled with illustrations--graphs, charts, photographs, word slides, and more.  The variety of the slides and the accompanying lecturing keep your interest, so that when the lecture is over, you are surprised that the time has passed so quickly!  They are actually pretty short lessons (between 10 and 22 minutes each) but are packed with great content.












At the end of each lesson, there are questions for the student.  Most of these questions are ones that were addressed/answered in the preceding lecture, a few are more for thought or discussion.

So, how did we use this lesson series?  My 13-year old daughter happily watched these interesting videos (and so did I!).  She answered the questions on paper (I did not!)

She wanted to share what she thinks about this course:  "The class is really cool.  I like the teacher.  He is firm in his beliefs and explains it really well!  I understood what he is teaching!  I really like it!  I learn a lot, and love it.  It talked about apologetics, and confusion people have between philosophy, history, and science."

SO, she is 13 and it is interesting/understandable to her...I (mom) am --well, many years older-- and it is interesting and understandable to me as well!  It is not just for highschoolers--also for parents!

So our wrap-up on these classes?  They are short videos, presented in a very easy-to-understand lecture, that is interesting and engaging.  They're not perfectly professional--a few additions into the video (edits)--but those did not negatively affect the content or delivery!  I would definitely recommend these to students as well as to adults. Christians need to be aware and educated in apologetics, and this area, where geology is concerned, is a great area to learn how to reconcile with your Biblical beliefs.

After enjoying these courses, I wanted to find out more about Northwest Treasures, so I stopped by their website to find out more of who they are and what their other products are.  They have a very interesting story of how they came to be (check out their "What is Northwest Treasures" page) and tons of cool projects and products!  They have a really neat looking high school curriculum entitled The Northwest Treasures Curriculum Project:  Building Faith for a Lifetime of Faith which looks really good--it's a 4-part series that I would like to look into for perhaps an upcoming schoolyear.  They also have products for younger students as well as some great education kits (need to add to your fossil or rock collection anyone?), fun gifts, and more.  They even offer field trip/camps!  Wow!  Spend a little time checking out Northwest Treasures, especially if you or your students have an interest in geology!

If you'd like to hear what some other reviewers have to say about the course their families experienced from Northwest Treasures, please click on the link below!