Skip to main content

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego

Written by Joy
2 Comments
Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego

Our next lesson for Wednesday’s Around the World is about Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego was taken captive, along with Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar II was king.  Nebuchadnezzar wanted to train these young men to serve in his palace.  The king tried to change these young men in several different ways.  He first changed their names.  They all had Hebrew names and the king changed them.  Then, he invited them to live in the palace, eat his food and learn the language of the king.  The king wanted to reshape their minds and way of thinking so they would become loyal followers of him.

While their names did change, they refused to eat the king’s food.  They didn’t want to defile themselves of all the food that the king was served.  While they didn’t change the way they believed, they did grow strong and were placed in service under Nebuchadnezzar.  While serving under the king, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, the king told them they had to bow down to a huge gold image that he had built.  But by being faithful servants of God, they refused.  This upset the king so much that he had Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego thrown in a furnace and heated up so hot that it killed anyone who went near it.  However, despite it being so hot that not one hair was singed on any of their bodies!  Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and couldn’t believe what he saw!  The guys were not burned or harmed in any way!  He also noticed that there was another person in the furnace with them!  It was God!  God protected his faithful followers!  Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t believe it and said this:

Daniel 3:28

28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

After seeing this amazing miracle, Nebuchadnezzar declared that anyone who spoke against God, would die.

The activity for this lesson is a really neat one.  You are to attempt to burn different types of material.  This is definitely an activity that needs adult supervision.  My kids were really excited that they were going to get to burn things! 😉

Items we used to burn.

Items we used to burn.

The material you need for this activity is a candle, metal tongs and several small items to burn.  We used a piece of chalk, polyester, plastic, strawberry top, piece of cloth, a paper clip, pine needles, plastic clip and a little of Samuel’s hair.  We also had a bowl of water to put out the items that caught fire.

Claire burning a strawberry top.

Claire burning a strawberry top.

We lit the candle and each child took turns choosing an item to see what would burn and what didn’t catch fire.

Samuel burning his hair.

Samuel burning his hair.

Once the kids saw how easy it was for the cloth and hair to burn, we talked about the miracle that happened with Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.  How not even one hair on their body or even their clothes did not have any burn marks on them at all.   God had saved them from the fiery furnace!  It was a great lesson to show that if you are faithful to God, He will take care of you during those trying times.

What have you been studying in history and geography?  Have you done any fun activities or projects? I would love for you to share with us any history or geography lesson, project or activity that you have done in the last couple of weeks.  Just link up below!


2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , , , , , , ,

Chronicles of Dinosauria review

Written by Joy
Chronicles of Dinosauria review

The Chronicles of Dinosauria is written by Dave Woetzel, illustrated by Richard Dobbs and published by New Leaf Publishing.

Chronicles of Dinosauria is this amazing book by Dave Woetzel that talks about the history of Dinosaurs and Man.  In this beautifully illustrated book, Dave Woetzel covers the Creation and the Dinosaurs, the Flood and the Dinosaurs, Fossil Evidence , the Historical Evidence, Artistic Evidence, Cryptozoology Evidence and Biblical Evidence of Dinosaurs and Man.

In this book, the author addresses one of the big questions that a lot of people have.  Did man and Dinosaur live at the same time?  Mr. Woetzel does a wonderful job of explaining and giving scientific evidence how man and dinosaur lived together. (Yes, I believe that man and dinosaur lived together.)

How did Dave Woetzel come to this conclusion?  He traveled around the world finding artifacts and talking to people.  In this books, he shares his own personal pictures and other papers, drawings and information that he came across during the search.

Between all of the information that Mr. Woetzel used to write this book and the amazing drawings that Mr. Richard Dobbs created to go along with the work, this book is put together wonderfully and answers many questions that one might have regarding how man and dinosaur lived together and what happened to the dinosaurs.

My kids and I have really enjoyed reading this book.  We definitely recommend it to others who want to learn more about man and dinosaurs living together.

Kids reading Chronicles of Dinosaura.

Kids reading Chronicles of Dinosaura.

**Disclaimer: I was given this book by Master Books, a division of New Leaf publishing, in exchange for a review.  All opinions in the review are my own.  No other compensation was given.

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday’s Around the World~ Ezekiel and the edible scroll

Written by Joy
1 Comment
Wednesday’s Around the World~ Ezekiel and the edible scroll

 

As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted a Wednesday’s Around the World in a couple of weeks.  It wasn’t because I didn’t want to post, I just couldn’t seem to get the post written.  The last couple of weeks, I have been struggling with migraines, allergy/sinus headaches and even a Fibromyalgia flare-up that lasted longer than what I liked. When I have a Fibromyalgia flare-up, I basically hurt from head to toe and have no energy whatsoever, which makes it very hard to think and concentrate.  I am praying that I don’t have one of those for a while.  It is now finally feeling like spring and the kids and I want to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we have been having.  Now on to Wednesday’s Around the World where we are talking about Ezekiel, the prophet and the edible scroll.

We studied about Ezekiel a couple of weeks ago.  He was taken as a young man to Babylonia, just like Daniel.  It wasn’t until after he had been held captive of about 5 years before he became a prophet.  Ezekiel was a preist and a prophet to the Judeans that lived along the River Chebar.  This group was able to worship and live somewhat of a normal life.

The way Ezekiel prophesied was a little unusual compared to other prophets.  God gave Ezekiel visions that are hard for us to understand.  For example, Ezekiel wrote that he had seen creatures with 4 faces and 4 wings in a fiery cloud.  One of the strangest though was God gave Ezekiel a scroll to eat.  The scripture says,

Ezekiel 3:3-4

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.”Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 

 After everything that Ezekiel had seen in his life as a prophet, Ezekiel has no problem following God’s instructions.  He ate the scroll and then went to the house of Israel and told them about God.  Ezekiel was an amazing man and lived his life out as a prophet.  A lot of the Hebrews that Ezekiel lived with turned away from their idolatry and started serving God.  He died, obeying God while still living in captivity.

The activity for the lesson on Ezekiel, we were to make an edible scroll.  The kids liked this idea!  All you need for this activity is one slice of bread per kid, a knife and honey to drizzle.

The first thing the kids did was cut the crust off the bread and then made the bread as square as they could.

cutting the crust off and squaring the bread up.

cutting the crust off and squaring the bread up.

Once they finished squaring off their bread, they were to write “Oh Israel” on their “scroll”.  This proved challenging to them, because it was hard to write with the honey.  I didn’t have a small bottle with a nozzle, so I improvised and used ziploc bags and cut off a very tiny part of the corner.

Writing on their "scroll" with honey.

Writing on their “scroll” with honey.

The last things the kids had to do was then roll the bread up just like a scroll and eat!  I think this was their favorite part! 😉

eating their "scroll".

eating their “scroll”.

So what all have you been learning in the last couple of weeks?  Did you do any neat projects or activities?  I would love if you would link up and share it with us!


2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , , , , ,

making a compass for Apologia Astronomy lesson

Written by Joy
7 Comments
making a compass for Apologia Astronomy lesson

The next project for our Apologia Astronomy lesson, was making a compass.  It is the last project on our lesson about planet Earth and tied in with the last section that we read about, “Perfect Magnetosphere”.   What is a “Magnetosphere”? A magnetosphere is a huge area of magnetic power that is around Earth.

The Earth has a huge magnetic field that is made in the outer core of the earth.  This magnetic field pulls harmful particles away from the earth.  The harmful particles is called a solar wind.  Without this magnetic field, we wouldn’t be able to survive on Earth.  Isn’t that amazing?

The magnetosphere that is around the earth actually blocks some of the solar winds that come from the sun.  The solar winds that are able to get through are mostly around the North and South Poles.  As they are traveling past the North and South Poles, they start running into gases in the earth’s atmosphere.  This is where those beautiful lights that are called “auroras” come from!

Now on to the fun part of this lesson, the project of making a compass!  The supplies for this project  that you will need is a cork, permanent marker, a lid from a yogurt or sour cream container, a sewing needle and a magnet (needs to be a strong magnet).

clairecompass

What you do first is label the lid with (N)orth, (S)outh, (E)ast, (W)est.  Then you run the needle over the top of the magnet several times, making sure that you move the needle in the same direction.  Then you will cut off a little piece of cork and put it in the middle of the needle.

pouring water in the lid.

pouring water in the lid.

Then you will fill the lid to the very top with water.  You will then put the cork and needle in the lid so that the needle is floating roughly parallel to the surface of the water.  Then watch what happens!  Turn the compass and you will notice that the needle continues pointing in the same direction.

Needle is pointing North.

Needle is pointing North.

Regardless of how you turn the compass, one end of the needle will always point to the north and the other end to the south.  Yes, this really works!

Checking the direction the needle is pointing.

Checking the direction the needle is pointing.

How does this work?  Since you turned the needle into a magnet by running it over the magnet, it is affected by the Earth’s magnetic field!

My kids had a really fun time with this project.  Well I have to admit, I did too!  We can’t wait to begin the next lesson on the Moon!

I am linking up with The Homeschool Scientist and Apologia.  Be sure to stop by Apologia and check out the other projects that have been linked up!

Have you done any neat science projects or activities?  I would love for you to share them with us!

 

2013, homeschooling, , , , , ,

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Aesop’s Fables, Tortoise and the Hare

Written by Joy
5 Comments
Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Aesop’s Fables, Tortoise and the Hare

I was so excited about this week’s Wednesday’s Around the World. We read about Aesop’s Fables and talked about the story of Tortoise and the Hare, for our Mystery of History lesson.   So who is Aesop?  Aesop was a slave in Greece during the Archaic period.  However, his skill, he was so good at it, bought him his freedom.  What was Aesop’s Skill?  He was a master storyteller.  The type of stories that Aesop told were called fables.  Fables are stories that have a moral to them.  

Claire working on her Tortoise.

Claire working on her Tortoise.

Aesop also used animals a lot in his stories.  He would use the animals to represent people in different positions in the society.  For example, the story about the Tortoise and Hare.

The activity for today’s lesson was to read a story from Aesop’s Fables and make puppets of the characters from that story.  Then have the kids renact the story using  their puppets.  I chose the fable about the Tortoise and the Hare.

Samuel working on his Tortoise.

Samuel working on his Tortoise.

While the Mystery of History book suggested using paper sacks or socks, we just used what materials we had on hand.  We used felt for the Tortoise and the Hare.  Then the kids used jewels and other craft supplies to decorate the puppets.

Samuel and Claire with their Tortoise and Hare.

Samuel and Claire with their Tortoise and Hare.

The kids also used popsicle sticks to put on the puppets to hold them up.  I think they did a very good job making them.  The kids really enjoyed this fable.

When I had posted a picture of the kids on A Journey of Joy Facebook page, a friend mentioned that Jim Weiss had told the story for Home Educating Family Association.  You can listen to Jim Weiss tell there story, HERE.  He is an amazing story teller!

So what have you been learning about in History?  Have you done any fun projects or activities lately?  Please link up and share with us all!

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link.


2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , , , ,