Day 19 - NATURE CONVERSATION

SUN

4 In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which comes out like a bridegroom

leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.  

Psalm 19:4c-6

NATURE CONVERSATION

I can sure relate to the "nothing is hidden from its heat" part. I'm outside for only a few minutes and feel like I'm getting a sunburn.

Some things to consider about the sun. First, is that God is creator of the sun. Ancient people often worshiped the sun. Our first day of the week is even called "Sun"day. But we as Christians worship the Creator and not created things. We marvel at God's majesty by observing creation and giving Him glory.

We can dive into discussions about the purpose of the sun. One purpose of the sun stated in Genesis 1 is to measure time. For more on that discussion, see my Nature Day about the moon.

Other purposes of the sun, for discussion and study, are heat energy for plants to grow and a source of light.

NATURE JOURNAL

• Record the temperature at various times of day or in different places (shade, nonshade). We purchased thermometers for use in our experiments from Steve Spangler Science. I don't believe they sell them anymore, but they can be purchased inexpensively on Amazon.
• Track the movement of the sun by watching the shadows.

NATURE STUDY

• Learn the parts of the sun. We did this as part of our CC cycle 2 science.
• Observe and learn about eclipses. There will be a full solar eclipse over North America in August, depending on where you live.
• Study of how sunlight affects our bodies - Vitamin D, sunburns, skin cancer, etc. - as well as how to protect our skin from the sun.
• Observations of how the sun and lack of sun affects plants. If you are into gardening, this is a natural discussion. We plant certain plants where there is full sun (that is, little shade) and other plants in shady areas.