Evolution

Answer (5 - 7 year olds)

Have you noticed that living things can look very different from each other? Some are huge, like elephants! Others are tiny, like ants. Some move, like animals. Some stay still, like trees.

Evolution is the word we use to talk about how all the living things on Earth have ended up so different from each other.

The amazing thing is that when life on Earth first started, nearly 4 billion years ago, there was only one type of living thing. They were all very, very small, far too small to see, and they didn’t do very much!

But every new living thing was a little bit different to its parents. And over a very, very long time, lots of little differences have added up to make all kinds of big differences like new shapes, sizes, colours and even all the different types of creature you can see in the world around you!

Answer (7 - 11 year olds)

Evolution is a fancy word we use to describe how living things become more and more different over time.

We’re not talking about changes during the life of an individual living thing, but about the differences we see over many, many generations. Have you noticed how every living thing is a little bit different to its parents? Well over time, all those little differences (variation) add up to some really big ones!

When life on Earth first started, nearly 4 billion years ago, there was only one type of living thing. They were all very small, far too small to see, and they didn’t do very much! But over a very long time, those little changes between parents and their offspring (babies) brought about some really big changes, making new shapes, sizes, colours and types of creature.

Now Earth is filled with all kinds of living things, from oak trees to ostriches and mushrooms to manta rays, even the duck-billed platypus! Isn’t evolution a clever process?

For more on this, and many other Big Questions, you can explore ‘101 Great Big Questions about God and Science’ – a fantastic book aimed at your age range.

Answer (5 - 7 year olds)

Yes! Just like you are related to your mum, dad, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandads, and even great-grandparents, you are also related to every other living thing on planet earth!

A long time ago, the first life on Earth started, and very, very slowly small differences between these living things have added up to make big differences like new shapes, sizes, colours and even new types of creature, including humans!

There are some living things we are quite closely related to, like chimpanzees: our closest living animal cousins. Others are much more distant relatives, like squid, strawberries or sea cucumbers!

Every living thing on Earth is different and special but we all share the same great-great-great-great-great-(and so on!)-grandparent, so we’re all really one big, giant family!

Answer (7 - 11 year olds)

Yes! Just like you are related to your mum, dad, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandads, and even great-grandparents, you are also related to every other living thing on planet earth!

Nearly 4 billion years ago, the first life on Earth started. Every new living thing was a tiny bit different to everything else, and very, very slowly these small differences have added up to make big differences like new shapes, sizes, colours and even new types of creature, including humans!

There are some living things we are quite closely related to, like chimpanzees: our closest living animal cousins. Others are much more distant relatives, like squid, strawberries or sea cucumbers! Every living thing on Earth is different and special but we all share the same great-great-great-great-great-(and so on!)-grandparent, so we’re all really one big, giant family!

Answer (5 - 7 year olds)

No, it definitely doesn’t mean that!

Lots of people believe in a God who made us. For example, the Bible (the holy book that Christians read) says that God made the whole universe and everything in it. That includes planet Earth, and all the amazing plants and animals that live here.

The Bible also encourages people to explore everything God has made and find out about it. That’s what scientists do! They explore and discover more and more about the world around us and how it all came to be the way it is.

So lots of people think that God used evolution to make all living things, including us humans!

Answer (7 - 11 year olds)

No, it definitely doesn’t mean that!

Lots of people believe in a God who made us. For example, the Bible (the holy book that Christians read) tells us that God made the whole universe and everything in it. That includes planet Earth, and all the amazing plants and animals that live here.

The Bible also encourages people to explore everything God has made and find out about it. That’s what scientists do! They explore, research and discover more and more about the physical world around us and how it all came to be the way it is.

So, lots of people think that evolution is simply the process that God used to make all living things, including humans!

Answer (5 - 7 year olds)

All living things are different and special in their own way.

In some ways, we are very like other animals. It’s fun to see the things that make us similar and different to other animals. We can climb trees, but not as well as monkeys; we can swim, but not as well as sharks; we can sing, but not like birds – and we can’t fly at all!

But there are some things which only humans seem able to do.

We have amazing brains and bodies which let us paint pictures, build hospitals, do science, tell stories, run marathons, cook yummy food, ask amazing questions, build rockets to fly to the moon, learn all about the things we find interesting and much more. What other things can you think of?

One of the special things which people can do is think about what is right and wrong. We often have to choose whether to do the right thing or the wrong thing.

The Bible (the holy book that Christians read) teaches that humans are particularly special because God has chosen us to be His special friends and to care for everything else he has made. This involves making lots of decisions about what we think is a good or bad way to look after each other and the rest of God’s world.

Answer (7 - 11 year olds)

All living things are different and special in their own way. In some ways, we are very like other animals. It’s fun to see the things that make us similar and different to other animals. Why not see what similarities and differences you can spot?

There are some things which only humans seem able to do. Can you think of any?

Lots of people think that humans are the only animals who wonder about the universe around us and seek to find answers to our questions about the meaning of it all. Lots of people also think a sense of morality – thinking about what is right and wrong, and the ability to choose our actions based on this, is uniquely human.

The Bible (the holy book that Christians read) teaches that humans are particularly special because God has chosen us to have a particularly close relationship with him, and also to care for everything he has made. These ideas give Christians an important starting point for exploring answers to human questions about meaning, and right and wrong. The Bible says that knowing God helps people find out even more about these things.

To explore this question, and many more Big Questions, further you can read ‘101 Great Big Questions about God and Science’ – a fantastic book aimed at your age range.

Answer (5 - 7 year olds)

Scientists don’t say that we evolved from the monkeys and apes that are around today, but we are part of the same family.

Today’s monkeys and apes are our distant cousins. Just like you and your cousins share the same grandparents, we share the same great-great-great-great-great-(and so on) grandparents with today’s monkeys and apes.

If you visit some monkeys or apes in a zoo or watch a video you might notice how, even though we’re different, they look and even act a bit like we do, it’s easy to see how we’re part of one big family.

Answer (7 - 11 year olds)

Scientists don’t say that we evolved from the monkeys and apes that are around today, but we are part of the same family. And that family goes back a long way!

Today’s monkeys and apes are our distant cousins. Just like you and your cousins share the same grandparents, we share the same great-great-great-great-great-(and so on) grandparents (ancestors) with today’s monkeys and apes.

All living monkeys and apes (including us) evolved from those same ancestors.

If you visit some monkeys or apes in a zoo or watch a video you might notice how, even though we’re different, they look and even act a bit like we do. It’s easy to see how we’re part of one big family!

To explore this question, and many more Big Questions, you can read ‘101 Great Big Questions about God and Science’ – a fantastic book aimed at your age range.

Answer (5 - 7 year olds)

Adam and Eve are the central characters of some stories in the Bible (the holy book that Christians read) that talk about God making people.

The Bible is full of songs, poems and stories. Christians believe that these were written to help people understand who God is and how much he loves everything and everyone he has made. Some of these stories talk about real events which happened. Some of them are more like poems which use clever ‘word pictures’ to talk about important things that Christians believe are true but hard to understand otherwise.

Most of the stories about Adam and Eve are in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Genesis is full of important ‘word pictures’ written to help us understand complicated things. So lots of people aren’t sure whether Adam and Eve are example characters in an important ‘word picture’ or actual people.

Many Christians would say the important thing to remember is that, even when we’re not sure what kind of story each part of the Bible is telling us, we can still trust they are telling us important, true things. The stories about Adam and Eve teach that God loves people very much, that he made us to be His special friends and to look after everything else he made.

The Bible encourages people to explore and discover the world that God made. That includes finding out about the wonderful way in which humans have developed through evolution to become the people we are today. These scientific ideas of how humans developed do not disagree with what the Bible says about God creating us, we could see them as telling us how he seems to have done it.

Answer (7 - 11 year olds)

Adam and Eve are the central characters of some stories in the Bible (the holy book that Christians read) that talk about God making people.

Parts of the Bible talk about real events which happened in history. Some parts are more like poems which use clever metaphors or ‘word pictures’ to talk about important things that Christians believe are true but hard to understand otherwise. Since the Bible was written a long time ago, it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between the different types of stories, but there are lots of clues to help us work it out.

Most of the stories about Adam and Eve are in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Genesis is full of important ‘word pictures’ written to help us understand complicated things. So lots of people aren’t sure whether Adam and Eve are example characters in an important ‘word picture’ or actual people.

But whether Adam and Eve were real or not, many Christians agree that, through these stories, the Bible teaches that God loves people very much, and that he made us to be His special friends and to look after everything else he made.

The Bible also encourages people to explore and discover the world that God made. That includes finding out about the wonderful way in which humans have developed through evolution to become the people we are today. These scientific ideas of how humans developed do not contradict what the Bible says about God creating us, we could see them as telling us how he seems to have done it.

For more about Adam and Eve, the clues we can use to think about who they were and many more Big Questions, you can explore ‘101 Great Big Questions about God and Science’ – a fantastic book aimed at your age range.