Five Gifts Science: Lesson 1

Light Helps Us See shapes and shadows

Psalm 119: 18 - "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law."
Manna Moment:  The first gift from God that we will explore is a gift of sight that we may be able to see His wondrous creation.

Chaos vs. Order

Our first activity of the day is building towers with blocks.  Use all kinds of blocks.  We notice that before we begin to build that the blocks are a mess.  Often when children want to play with blocks, they dump out the whole box.  This leaves quite a bit of chaos.
Once our towers are built, we wonder if the blocks could have made themselves into a tower or by themselves they would be chaos.  It takes someone outside the blocks to give it order and purpose.  This is what our Creator God has done for us.  He is outside our world, He created our world and everything in it with order, purpose and love in mind.
We then practiced noticing where things were chaotic and when they were in order.

Storytime

I chose to use Margaret Miller's My Five Senses as an introduction to the Five Gifts that God has given us to explore His world.  This is an older book, however, the pictures are large and the text is simple.  You can use any Five Senses book that you love to introduce these lessons to your students/children.

---

Peek-a-box Investigation

Question:  Do we need light to see?
In the student's book, there is a place to circle a hypothesis, their best guess considering what already know about light.
Hypothesis:  The (more/less) light we have, the better we can see.

During class, I brought the Peek-A-Box to them.  We talked about the investigation and then we made a verbal hypothesis.  After we investigated, then we went back to their seats with their books and documented the results.  Each student after making their hypothesis would peek through the box with the flap on the top closed to see if they are able to see the toy.  If they can see a toy, can they see the color of the toy?  
Then, I opened the flap on the top of the box and let some light into the box.  The students then peeked through the tiny peep hole on the side of the box to see if they could see the toy now.   The small toy I placed in my peek-a-boo box was a red, plastic frog.

How to make a Peek-a-box

Materials:
Shoe Box
Exacto knife (or box cutter)
Colorful 3D shapes or toys (easy to draw)
Tape or glue

Procedures:
1. Poke a circle hole 1/4 inch diameter in the side of the shoe box.
2.  Using the exacto knife, cut a flap on top of the lid to the box.  Cut only three sides so that you can close it and open it.
3.  Tape or glue a colorful 3D shape or toy that is easy to draw on the bottom of the box just under where the flap you cut in the lid is.
4.  Place the top back on the box, taping it shut so that little fingers don't just open the box :)

Casting a shadow Investigation

In Acts 5:14-16, Luke describes a time when God's power was spreading healing and wholeness even through Peter's shadow!  Consider how far a shadow can reach.  The healing power of Jesus can reach even further!!

There is a wonderful shadow puppet template of Jesus the Redeemer in the Five Gifts curriculum book that is helpful to use in this investigation.  You can find the investigation on page 9 in the Five Gifts curriculum  Note: Any time I use the word 'investigation', I will be applying the scientific method.  Any time that I use the word 'demonstration', I will be providing instructions on how to 'demonstrate' the activity together while asking questions.

Research Question:  How can I make a shadow larger or smaller?  What happens when we move Jesus closer to our light source?

Background Research:  A shadow is created when light rays cannot pass through an object

Procedure:  
1.  Cut out your shadow puppet and tape it to a bamboo skewer
2.  Choose a flat wall or surface to place a lamp in front of.
3.  Hold your shadow puppet between the lamp and wall.
4.  Move your shadow puppet closer and further away from the wall.

The Casting the Shadow Investigation in the Five Gifts curriculum uses a flashlight instead of a lamp.  A flashlight will create more vivid shadows, however, for a class setting, it was nice to turn on the lamp and let the students explore.  If you are at home with your students, use a flashlight and have fun discovering

For more shadow making fun, there is a Jesus the Redeemer template, where the students can try and match the shadow of their Jesus to the outline on page 10 in the Five Gifts curriculum

exit question

After each class time, I will always ask the students an exit question as an informal assessment of understanding.  I never withhold the answer if they do not know it but, we do repeat it before they leave.
Our Exit question today was:
What is one gift God has given us to be able to explore His creation? (The gift of sight)
If you are homeschooling, there are many opportunities to bring up the gift of sight.
For example:
What part of our body helps us see light?
What did God create on the first day?
When you do your nighttime routine with your children, you can talk about how it is very hard to find their clothes or clean up in the dark.

Five Gifts science Curriculum

This first lesson of Five Gifts Science is free for you!  I hope that it is a blessing to you and that you might prayerfully consider joining me as I teach each week.