Spirituality

Row in Australia as teachers told to tell kids about dinosaurs on Noah's Ark

By T.K. Randall
February 1, 2026 ·  250 comments

Image Credit: Simon de Myle (1570) via Wikimedia Commons The teaching of Creationism in schools has long been a contentious subject, but in Australia recently, concerns were raised when a Christian science conference informed science teachers from a number of Christian schools that they should teach children some highly questionable material.

Those attending the event, which was hosted by US-based fundamentalist group Answers in Genesis, were instructed to tell their students, among other things, that there were vegetarian baby dinosaurs aboard Noah's Ark.

During one presentation by Australian geologist Andrew Snelling, they were also told that the radiometric dating technique used to show that fossils are millions of years old is flawed and that mountain ranges such as the Himalayas were formed during the Great Flood.

In Australia, it is compulsory for children to be taught the approved syllabus."The students need to understand evolution as an explanation for the diversity of life and talk about the scientific evidence that supports the theory," said Prof David Geelan, the president of the Science Teachers' Association of Queensland.

"A thoughtful and nuanced teacher [at a Christian school] could say: 'In our church we believe X, but for your assessments you should demonstrate your understanding of the scientific theory as currently developed.' But I'm not sure that always happens."

Geelan also expressed concern that Answers in Genesis is pushing science denialism onto children.

"[They] say scientists are lying to you... [and] that very often then forms up with other forms of science denialism," he said. "That distrust of science is the main negative."

"They probably shouldn't be teaching things that directly contradict the syllabus."

Source: The Guardian | Comments (250)

Tags: Australia, Christian, School