Building Blocks in Science

by Gary Parker

In this first volume, Gary Parker looks at life sciences, digging into physical structures from early man to fossils. Parker discusses DNA, the artistic skills of Neanderthal Man, and much more in this illustrated study.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Biologist Dr. Gary Parker, along with his wife, Mary, was with Answers in Genesis as senior lecturer since AiG’s first year (1994, and remained full-time until 1999). Dr. Parker was also the head of the science department at Clearwater Christian College (CCC) in Florida. For twelve years, he served on the science faculty of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in the San Diego area.
Dr. Parker began his teaching career as a non-Christian and evolutionist. The details of his spiritual and scientific conversion, From Evolution to Creation (available as a booklet and DVD), include comic incidents. For example, he was a participant in a debate where his science department, defending the Bible, debated the Bible department, which was defending evolution!
En route to his B.A. in Biology/Chemistry, M.S. in Biology/Physiology, and Ed.D. in Biology/Geology from Ball State, Dr. Parker earned several academic awards, including admission to Phi Beta Kappa (the national scholastic honorary), election to the American Society of Zoologists (for his research on tadpoles), and a fifteen-month fellowship award from the National Science Foundation.
He has published five programmed textbooks in biology and six books in creation science (the latter translated into a total of eight languages), has appeared in numerous films and television programs, and has lectured worldwide on creation.

Reviews

[Molly]

Don’t rlly know if counting school books is allowed but yk I’m behind on my reading schedule so I’m counting it anyway

[Mar'ah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is geared toward ninth graders with a foundation of Creationism vs. Evolution. The science in this book glorifies God rather than manmade ideas that are more comfortable for some to live with. The theories of evolution are challenged in this book in a way that students can easily comprehend and understand.

I was very excited to receive, “Building Blocks for Life Science, From Genes and Genesis to Science and Scripture,” by Gary Parker a former evolutionist! Even though this book was written for ninth graders, my 4th and 5th graders understood this just fine. I loved how not only God is glorified with the Creation Science, but kids are allowed to see things from an evolutionists point of view as they need to be able to logically converse with people from all walks of life…not just those from their own background.

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the Creation model of Science. This model teaches that we are not accidents of primordial slime, but rather every person is creatively created with purpose, a mission and a unique plan by a loving Creator. That is something worth living for! Our lives are far more exciting that many people I know who believe that they are an accident.

Without giving too much away, my favorite chapter deals with the myth of racism. There is no scientific foundation for racism. From the Bible…we all came from Noah and there is only one race, “The Human Race!” Of course it delves into the science of skin and skin color and combats the idea of racism from the scientific viewpoint as well. I was so excited to have this to teach my children good principles early on…not only due to our beliefs but to cement those beliefs in ways that even the professionals can understand.

I highly encourage you to consider this book as part of your children’s education. Homeschoolers will benefit from this, but this would also be a great summer program for parents and grandparents to use with children of the government school system.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Alyssa Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very educational.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Christian, homeschooling family we are always on the lookout for new curriculum and books to help the children in their studies. It has gradually become easier to find books that teach from a solid Biblical viewpoint than it was 10-12 years ago. Much of this, in my opinion, is due to Answers in Genesis and Lew Leaf Publishing Group! And, (to prove my point), one of these books is Building Blocks in Life Science by Gary Parker. Published, of course, by NLPG. Growing up I wasn't very interested in anything science, whether biology, geology, etc. I loved Bible, History and English, in that order. However, now that I am older, I have realized just how much I missed out on by simply breezing through the Science classes without really applying myself! So even though this book is mainly designed for high-school age young people, I enjoyed reading through it myself. This is an excellent book that teaches Biology from a Biblical perspective. No wading through the "millions of years ago" and "our common ancestor was a monkey" junk. Just sound, scientific teaching with an eye to how it glorifies the Creator. I personally found the book very fascinating, and very well-written. It's not dry or boring; it actually makes Biology interesting. I especially liked the unit that covers DNA; to me this is such overwhelming evidence for a Creator!
So, if you want your teenagers learning Biology from a Biblical perspective, I highly recommend Building Blocks in Life Science.