Note: In case you're wondering "Where did this come from?!" - It's a follow-up to my last post :) and is something the girls & I prepared/shared quite a while back for a "Time for the Kids" segment at church. We each had our own "parts" & had the music to "This is My Father's World" playing in the background...(wish I knew how to do that here...any tips anyone?) - Just remember being so amazed myself at some of this stuff I never remembered learning the first time around :)
This past school year Strike studied from a book called Exploring Creation w/ Astronomy written by Jeannie Fulbright…. And you know, while I’ve long heard that God has revealed Himself to us in Scripture and in Creation --- I’ve learned that to understand it all better…I need to read Scripture for myself and to look closely --- sometimes very closely --- at nature to better understand how He’s revealed Himself to us in creation. Even as an adult, it’s been fascinating for me– as I’ve been more faithful about reading and studying the Bible on my own and have learned things about creation alongside my girls, I find so much of what is revealed to us in Scripture, is confirmed in creation.
I’m going to hand this over to the girls now and let them share with you just some of what we’ve been learning together:
The Solar System
Genesis 1:14 – 19 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning the fourth day.
You probably know that our solar system is the sun and all the planets that travel around it. …but, did you know that about one million earths would fit inside the sun?
And --- did you know that the planets are aligned in such an amazing way that they actually hold the earth in place and keep the earth from moving too close to, or too far from - the sun?
Psalm 104:5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
Did you know that without the sun there would be no color at all?
Did you know that Mercury is the closest planet to the sun – but it’s not the hottest!
Venus is the 2nd planet from the sun and it is actually the hottest planet in the whole solar system..
Venus rotation is strong evidence that the universe did not begin by a big bang because it spins in the opposite direction of most planets.
Earth is the only planet in the small area around the sun where life can exist.
Earth is the perfect distance from the sun to keep life on it from burning up or freezing.
*Earth has the perfect mass! - That’s important! - because mass determines the amount of gravity. Because of this, many dangerous chemicals rise up out of the atmosphere and into space, leaving our air cleaner and safer to breath.
*Earth has the perfect rotation! It’s perfectly timed for our need to rest – and it keeps the earth’s temperature in balance.
* Earth has the perfect atmosphere! – with oxygen we need to breath. It protects us from extreme temperatures and it protects earth from falling space rocks – sometimes called shooting stars.
*Earth has the perfect tilt! Without it we would not have seasons so food and plants would not grow well – if at all.
Earth has the perfect land! Some planets have no land.
Earth has the perfect magnetosphere! It pulls many harmful particles from the sun away from earth. Without it, we could not live!
Isaiah 45:18 He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited..
Mars is called the red planet - and it has bluish sunsets. Imagine that!
Between Mars & Jupiter is an asteroid belt.
Did you know that all the other planets in our solar system could fit inside Jupiter? - and Jupiter has a big red spot twice as big as earth that is a giant storm --- like a hurricane.
– and Jupiter is like a protective mother to earth. She has a very strong gravitational pull that pulls most comets and asteroids into her…keeping them away from earth!
Saturn is a lot like Jupiter. They’re both made of gasses and we have known that Saturn has rings --but recently astronomers discovered that Jupiter has rings around it too. They weren’t seen until a spacecraft got close enough to take a picture of them.
Did you know Saturn is the only planet that would float in water!
Uranus looks like it’s lying down because it’s north and south poles stick out the sides……… This makes it look like a rolling ball traveling around the sun --- and it has rings that make it’s rotation and orbit look wobbly – it also spins in the opposite direction of most of the other planets.
Psalm 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Pluto used to be considered the 9th planet – but just recently, scientists have said that it is not actually a planet after all…..
The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him. Proverbs 18:17
1 comment:
We did the same study this year. It was so exciting for ME. The kids liked it, to, but not as much as I did!
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