Science Classes

Teacher: Michelle Payne

Grade Level: 7th-8th. This middle school science course combines hands-on learning with historical context to teach students about the building blocks of life and how living things are organized. Students start with atoms and molecules, then progress to cells and DNA, all while exploring the history of scientific discovery. The course then explores the levels of organization in living things, from tissues to
ecosystems, highlighting recent discoveries. Experiments and activities are a regular part of the class, and the course is designed to take about 45 minutes of work each day.

Grade Level: 8th-9th. From the inner workings of atoms to the grandeur of  galaxies, we’ll explore creation together!

Teacher: Peggy Nikander

Grade Levels: 9th-12th

Students will study Geology and Fossils as evidence for the world wide Flood. The class will start with an in-depth look at the 3 types of rock we find on the earth. Then we will look at the layers of the earth, the plates and plate movements. We will take a thorough look at erosion and what it means for the world wide flood. Throughout the course we will consider the Columbia River Gorge, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Mt St Helens and what each shows us in Geology and the Flood.

Next up Fossils: how they are made, where they have been discovered and what we can learn from them that will provide more insight into the flood. Then the class will take a deep dive into Mt St Helens and how God used its eruption in 1980 to reveal how catastrophic events can affect the earth. Finally students will explore evidences for a young earth, the Ark, and the short Ice Age that followed the flood.

The class will include 4-5 field trips to the Gorge and Mt St Helens as well. Students should leave the course with a solid understanding of Geology and Fossils and how they both provide significant evidence for the world wide Flood of the Bible.

Teacher: Peggy Nikander

Grade Levels: 9th-12th
This laboratory-based high school biology course gives students an introduction to how living organisms are designed, how they interact with one another, and how they interact with their physical environment.  They are taught how biologists classify life, the chemical processes that make life possible, the structures of RNA and DNA, and the designs of the different cells found in living organisms.  Students also learn the means by which photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and cellular reproduction occur. They then learn the current state of biotechnology.  With the molecular and cellular basis of life covered, the students are then given a survey of the different kinds of organisms found in nature: archaea, bacteria, protists, fungi, invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants. Students learn the biogeochemical cycles that keep environments hospitable to life, which leads to a discussion of ecosystems. Throughout the course, students see that life is the result of design and that organisms have been given the ability to adapt to their surroundings. In addition, they learn various problems associated with modern evolutionary synthesis.