This week, we watched Illustra Media’s Metamorphosis: The Beauty and Design of Butterflies. Wow! We had no idea how richly complex the butterfly lifecycle actually is, and were floored by the thorough presentation of growth and transformation from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly and then by the sheer improbability of the Monarch butterfly’s migratory pattern.
At the end of the video, we were left staring blankly at each other, struggling to understand how anyone could chalk these creatures up to random, undirected chance. Please, give it a watch(you may be able to check it out at a library, like we did, if you aren’t able to purchase) and let us know your thoughts.
This film, while visually appealing, will probably lose the attention of a younger child. There is fairly complex terminology at times, and it is just over an hour long, so it may be better suited for the approaching-junior-high age and beyond. One suggestion might be to watch the film yourself, and then raise some butterflies with your children. As the butterflies grow, you can explain to your children what different things are happening within the caterpillar and chrysalis. We found a butterfly kit here, but there are probably plenty of places to pick up one of your own.
At times, the fittingness of the film is poor(there seems to be African music in the background, yet all of the subject matter takes place in North and Central America?) but as a whole, the quality of the content is very high. Purchase Metamorphosis through Illustra Media here, or watch a preview here.
Watching Metamorphosis got us thinking about evolution and intelligent design, so we decided to round up a few resources for you, many of which you can share with your children. Even if you don’t have children, these are good things for adults to know and to have on hand.
Videos
“The Watchmaker”
“A watch needs a watchmaker, that’s plain to see, a designer and builder that makes it for me.”
A video from Kids 4 Truth titled “The Watchmaker.” It is a colorful, rhyming story that depicts a watch being made through natural processes and then describes the unlikelihood of such a story by contrasting it with what is known about the actual workings of cells. This is a great, short, conversation starter for young children: http://kids4truth.com/Dyna/Watchmaker/English.aspx
“Darwin’s Dilemma”
“Darwin’s Dilemma: The Mystery of the Cambrian Fossil Record is a documentary by Illustra Media exploring the Cambrian Explosion: the sudden appearance of major animal types in the fossil record. This review will provide an overview of the content.”
This is another video by Illustra Media that is probably too weighty for very young audiences, but is a boon for young (and old) adults.
Check out a review of Darwin’s Dilemma on Apologetics315.
Written Resources
A Parent’s Guide to Intelligent Design
Parents, this pdf is for you. Produced by the Discovery Institute, it presents the debate between Darwinism and intelligent design, and explains why it is so important to understand. It provides definitions of evolution, explains clearly the stance and validity of intelligent design, and even presents problems with scientific Darwinian evolution. Pages 22-24 provide brief action points for parents(Parent or not, support intelligent design and become an advocate for its teaching in public schools and elsewhere) to help equip publicly educated kids defend their position and be able to discern logical fallacies that they will hear at school. Pages 25-27 list a number of excellent resources including videos, books and textbooks. It is a 30 page document that was helpful for us as we plan the education of our future children and also have discussions with other folks that are already navigating the waters.
http://www.evolutionnews.org/Parent’s%20guide%20web.pdf
Evolution: Philosophy, not Science
“Then why do we call evolution a fact when evolution can’t even get off the ground, based on the information we have right now? The answer you get is always the same: Because we’re here. It must have happened . That’s called circular reasoning, friends, based on a prior commitment to naturalism that won’t be shaken by the facts.”
A reflection on evolution being philosophy, not science, on Stand to Reason’s blog.
Podcast
ID of the Future
“This episode of ID the Future features part two of an interview with Dr. Rebecca Keller, who discusses the nature of science and interpretation and how it applies to science education. Her textbooks focus on the practice of science, and are available at Gravitas Publications.”
Looks like an interesting listen.
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