Day 20 - NATURE CONVERSATION

INSECTS - CICADAS

23 Be glad, O children of Zion,

   and rejoice in the Lord your God,

… 25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you. Joel 2:23a, 25-26

NATURE CONVERSATION

Cicadas are not specifically listed in the Bible, but the Bible mentions locusts, grasshoppers and crickets.   Often locusts are mentioned as a plague, as something that will destroy the crops, a result of judgement.  I choose the verse above because God promises to restore what had been destroyed by these insects.

The cicadas in my yard are not particularly destructive, but they can be when they arrive in huge numbers.  I am reminded of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book On the Banks of Plum Creek when the grasshopper took over their crops and she related it to how those in Egypt must have felt (Exodus 10).

24 Four things on earth are small,
    but they are exceedingly wise:
25 the ants are a people not strong,
    yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
    yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 the locusts have no king,
    yet all of them march in rank;
28 the lizard you can take in your hands,
    yet it is in kings' palaces.
Proverbs 30:24-28

NATURE JOURNALING/OBSERVATION

I thought about titling this one "The Sounds of Summer."  One of our first observations when going outside is the sounds.  We hear the cicadas singing their songs all day long.  Here's a youTube video of a cicada.

Studying Insects through Questions

NATURE STUDY

Planet Earth video series, Episode 10 "Seasonal Forests", at approx. minute 25-30.  Available on Netflix.

Suggested Reading, Cycle 3

Here are books that we actually read my first time through cycle 3, when my children were in third, second, and kindergarten.  We did not make it through all of the Childhood of Famous American series that I listed, but we actually read (mostly as read alouds) all the others during that year.  This list is not meant to be exhaustive.  I may add to it as we go this year.  We will be reading the books suggested by the Essentials curriculum.  Those are not listed here because I wanted to include books meant for younger elementary.

 

Printable Cycle 3 Reading List

Making Connections

How do we make connections with our memory work?  How do we review and build vocabulary?
This section will be ideas for making those connections from straight rote memory to using the information we are memorizing.

History Crossword Puzzle
This crossword puzzle reviews vocabulary used in Cycle 3 history sentences.

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.

Putting my Kid's Creativity to Work

Summer boredom.  That's where we are right now.  Too hot outside, plus our little ones have been sick, so we can't have friends over or go places.  Here's one activity I found for the kids that was not just busy work.  Creative but useful.

Envelopes for our Money

Our church is going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, which encourages you to use cash for budgeting.  We made some cute, durable envelopes and even added Scripture to them. 

These are made with cardstock (some plain and some scrapbooking paper) and tape - colorful duct tape on some and clear packing tape on others.   

My daughters came up with most of the designs and Scriptures themselves.

Day 18 - NATURE CONVERSATION

ANTS

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

Proverbs 6:6-8

Nature Conversation

Our yard is covered in ant beds. So, this has been a main topic when we are outside. (In fact, these ants seem to be making their way into our house. ....) So, today, we read portions of Proverbs 6 and Proverbs 30 and discussed how the ants are busy in the summertime. They are self-motivated, not needing a ruler to direct them. Are we self-motivated like that? Or are we like the sluggard described in the following verses?

We struggle during the summer - with it too hot to be outside. We easily sunburn and the heat seems to drain our energy and make us cranky. However, God does not want us to be lazy and waste our summer. We need to be as diligent as ants in making the use of our time, doing whatever the Lord calls us to do.

Nature Journaling

• Proverbs 30 is filled with imagery, word pictures. My girls were inspired to draw based on some of these word pictures. It mentions ants, but also includes roosters, snakes, eagles, lizards, etc.
• Make record of size and locations of anthills. 
• Take time to watch ants. Not just the "watch out for ants" as you spend time outside, but watch ants to observe where are they going? Are they following other ants or out alone? Are they carrying food on their backs? How far do they venture from their homes? A lot can be learned by simple observation.

Nature Study

• Identify types of ants.
• If the Bible identifies ants as wise, why do they bite us? This is a paraphrased question from one of my kids. Dive into the protective instincts and abilities of different creatures. Also, see the discussion about Animal/Human Interactions.
• Explore/research what works for pest control.

Nature Connections

Aesop's Fable: "The Grasshopper and the Ant"

We sang this song this morning: it has a part that says, "Learn a lesson from the bugs."