Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

This place really exists near Bristol.....and they believe in creationism.

http://www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk/edu...ation-biology/

They think the flood happened.

http://www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk/edu...-a-true-story/

They are involved in A-Level education.

http://www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk/education/a-level/

Ok, so most of the education stuff they do is harmless probably, letting kids see animals. But how much of this religious claptrap seeps through in their teachings, I wonder.

[Julia]

Gawd! I can't imagine ANY schools touching the place with a bargepole.

[farmersboy]

"Genetic information needs an intelligent programmer to put it there. Animals have the ability to act voluntarily; they have life in a sense in which bacteria and plants do not have life. Because life in the sense of consciousness is not a property of matter, the existence of animals requires a life-giver. The normal word for such a being is “God”."

Aargh!! This is not a place for children, and should have all sorts of caveats posted about the place in large letters that this is not science but religion...

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

It's safe to say they are nuts.

What Really Happened?

We don’t know exactly, because we were not there. But the conception, gestation and birth of a human baby and the processes whereby seeds turn into plants, caterpillars into butterflies, eggs into chicks, don’t look like things that came about by chance. Intricate design points to a designer, life requires a life-giver, and the information in every cell needs an intelligence to put it there. They point to an awesome Power.
If, after honest inquiry, you find that you cannot explain such things as made by the world itself, it may then be reasonable to ask whether there exists a Creator.

Here, we suggest that the most important facts to consider are not scientific ones but the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – the facts that show that he came from God, and came to reveal God. One New Testament writer, John, describes him as the Word made flesh. He had authority to tell us about life because he was the Son who executed the commands of his Father at Creation. ‘All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.’ In the Old Testament we read:

• “God spoke, and it came to be, He commanded and it stood firm.” Psalm 33:9
• “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.” Psalm 33:6
• “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. And God said “Let there be light… and God created every living, moving thing according to its kind.” Genesis 1:2, 20

The Bible indicates that we have a Creator God. It also indicates that he is willing, and indeed wants, to enter into a personal relationship with each of us, his creation. Jesus Christ said “Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.” Revelation 3:20

http://www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk/edu...ally-happened/

While they teach stuff about genes technology....

Gene Technology

Genetic Modification (GM) is the process of changing or inserting genes. Genes carry the information about the different characteristics of an organism such as the colour of its leaves or how tall it can grow. These genes are made from a string of DNA, the material found in the cells of all living things which allows them to function, repair and reproduce themselves. Genetic Modification is done by altering DNA or by taking genes from one organism and putting them into another. Genes can be moved between organisms that are of the same or different species. For example, genes could be introduced from one plant to another plant, from a plant to an animal or from an animal to a plant. This altered genetic material is then called recombinant DNA.
Why use genetic modification?
People have been breeding animals and plants for hundreds of years with the aim of developing or removing certain characteristics. Racehorses are bred to be faster and stronger and roses are bred to give a wider range of colours. The world’s main food crops have been chosen and bred to suit the countries and conditions they are grown in and make them more tasty.
Traditional breeding methods involving mixing thousands of genes, whereas genetic modification allows just one individual gene to be changed in a pre-determined way.
For example, herbicides are used to kill weeds in fields of crops but they can also affect the growth of the crops they are intended to protect. By using genetic modification, a gene with a particular characteristic, such as resistance to a specific herbicide, can be introduced into a crop plant. When that herbicide is sprayed on the field to kill the weeds, it will not hinder the growth of the crops.
Similarly, genetic modification can be used to reduce the amount of pesticide needed by altering a plant’s DNA so it can resist the particular insect pests that attack it. For example GM Maize and Cotton that resist their primary insect predator are widely used around the world . Laying hens have chicks that have been bred so that male and female chicks are born different colours. Only the females are required for egg production, so can be separated early.
How does it work?
Paste in pics from the GM crop display
To extract the gene from the original organisms enzymes called restriction endonucleases are used. Restriction endonucleases are usually found in microorganisms. Specific restriction endonucleases cut DNA at a specific nucleotide sequences, these are called recognition sites. The enzymes cut in a staggered way so that a few base pairs are left exposed on each side of the double strand of DNA, these bases are complementary to each other and are referred to as sticky ends.
Once the gene is extracted it needs to be combined with a plasmid which is also known as a vector, since they add the new gene into a host cell transferring genes from one organism to another. Plasmids are found in bacteria and are double stranded circular bits of DNA, which are separate to the chromosomal DNA. They are used as vectors for the gene since they are small and replicate many times inside the bacteria and therefore produce many copies of the desirable gene. The gene is combined with the plasmid by using the same restriction endonuclease to cut open the plasmid that was used to extract the gene. Therefore both the plasmid and the gene have complementary sticky ends, and the bases join together with hydrogen bonds. The enzyme DNA ligase will join the gene to the plasmid with phosphodiester bonds.
The plasmid along with the inserted DNA is referred to as recombinant DNA and it is then placed into bacterial cells. The bacterial cells are more permeable to the plasmids if they are treated with calcium ions. When the bacteria cells contain the recombinant DNA they are referred to as transformed cells.
Not all of the bacteria cells will take up the recombinant DNA and these cells need to be separated from the transformed cells, which do. These can be separated by the use of a radioactive DNA probe or genetic markers such as a gene for antibiotic resistance. Once the transformed cells have been identified they need to be multiplied.
Introducing new genes into crop plants
The soil bacteria Agrobacterium tumefaciens contains a plasmid called a Ti plasmid. This is used as the vector for the gene to be introduced into and returned into the Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The transformed bacterium is introduced into leaf discs or isolated plant cells in a culture and the plasmid is transferred into the plant cells. These transformed plant cells are then grown into undifferentiated tissue and then in the right conditions are grown into plantlets, which are known as transgenic plants.
GM foods used today
GM is increasingly recognised as being useful to us, but it needs safeguards.
All commercial tomatoes are genetically modified to avoid rotting after a few days in the shop.
The most widely used barley for beer making, Golden Promise was developed by bombardment with X-rays.
Some GM could be harmful to other plants or to us, so regulations are in place to keep GM development under close scrutiny.
Implications of gene technology
With the use of gene technology many questions are raised such as ‘Is this unnatural?’ and ‘Are we interfering with nature?’

http://www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk/education/a-level/

I wouldn't want my kids learning any science from these people.

[Mulder]

What I'd like to know is, if a god was responsible for evolution, why was he so fond of beetles?

[Electric Angel]

I wonder if they get much business...

[MischiefMonkey]

We nearly visited there year before last while on holiday. Didn't realise it was creationist!!! Glad we went to a zoo with dinosaurs instead.

(not real dinosaurs obviously)

[filippo lippi]

The creationist zoo will have dinosaurs. Dinosaurs being hunted by cavemen or pulling some Egyptian pharoah's chariot, but they'll be there

[Mongrel]

The creationist zoo will have dinosaurs. Dinosaurs being hunted by cavemen or pulling some Egyptian pharoah's chariot, but they'll be there

Awwww - now I want to go.

[farmersboy]

I'd like to go, but I fear I'd get slung out by Security for laughing too much and pointing out all the mistakes...

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

I'd love to go as well - however from the way the website has been written, I fear the creationist nonsense is quite well hidden, if visible at all.

It would be much more fun if they were explicit about their beliefs.

[Tim the Mage]

What I'd like to know is, if a god was responsible for evolution, why was he so fond of beetles?

Perhaps he came from Liverpool?