Week Seven – Order Discovering
SUMMARY: Students will find harmony and order in God’s creation.
GOING DEEPER
D. Barthel, D. McGillis, B. Piers and D. VanEerden titled a science resource written for the Prairie Association of Christian Schools, “God’s Fingerprints.” Science teachers and all other teachers desire for the students to see God’s fingerprints all over creation. One of the ways this can happen is for the students to discover the order in creation. Creation is full of order and patterns, not just randomness. In fact, when we read the creation account we read a story of God creating order out of chaos. It’s one of the things that make the creation story such a good preamble to the rest of the Biblical story which is about restoring order to a creation chaotically rocked with sin.
There is purpose in God’s creation and we are able to discover this amazing order within creation. If one doubts that, they should read those amazing chapters of the story of Job’s life (Job 38-41) where God points out some of the amazing order in His creation to a man who has every reason to doubt.
One of the inescapable conclusions for our students must be, “God really had an amazing plan for all of this, didn’t he!”
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
Could be used for devotions or memory work.
Romans 1:19-20 – What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Psalm 19:1-3 – The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Isaiah 25:1 (Message) – God, you are my God. I celebrate you. I praise you. You’ve done your share of miracle-wonders, well thought-out plans, solid and sure.
Psalm 104:1-5 – “Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty. The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.”
Psalm 119:90 – “Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you establish the earth, and it endures.”
Other Passages to Ponder:
SONGS
You can use these as part of your morning devotions or to play in the background during work.
ACTIVITIES
Ideas that you can connect to the learning that is happening or encourage in your student’s free time.
- Compare your fingerprints to someone else’s
- Make fingerprint art with an inkpad
- Do a science experiment or conduct your own
- Complete a puzzle
- Build a Rube Goldberg Machine
- Study our solar system
- Teach somebody something you’re learning about
- Study natural phenomena
- Examine the miracles of fetal development
- Ask someone how they understand Genesis’ creation account
- Learn a new poem style and write a poem
- Learn about algorithms: (Div 1) (Teacher)
- Try some coding
- Listen to the Brains On! podcast
- Explore the Fibonacci sequence: Color – Page 1, Page 2
- Construct a bridge
- Do a pattern scavenger hunt
- Create a crossword puzzle of words you’re learning
- Draw a scaled blueprint of your home
- Learn to read sheet music
- Research a famous mathematician
- Test out a variety of paper airplane designs
- Tell someone the Big Story – how do you organize God’s Story for others to hear and for you to live by?
- Make some origami
- Participate or volunteer at a local Science Fair
- Check out the 99% Invisible podcast (Stories behind design. Not always suitable for younger audiences)
- Explore architectural feats
DIGITAL RESOURCES
Digital books, devotion ideas, online resources, blog articles, etc.
Student Focused:
- I Fall Down – Read Aloud (Div 1-2)
- Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf – Read Aloud (Div 1)
- A Drop Around the World – Read Aloud (Div 1-2)
- The Oak Inside the Acorn – Read Aloud (Div 1-2)
- Zoom & Re-Zoom – Visual Story (Div 2-3)
- Follow Jesus’ Patterns – Devotion (Div 2-3)
- God’s Perfect Design – Devotion (Div 3-4)
- God’s Fingerprint – Pt 1, Pt 2 – Youtube (Div 3-4)
Teacher/Parent Focused:
- Bringing Order Out of Chaos – Devotion
- Out of Chaos – Devotion
- Order-Discoverer: Wonder! – Blog
- Chaos Theology – Article (subscription needed)
- The Fingerprints of God Are All Around Us – Article
- To Name the World – Article
- God’s Powerful Sustaining World – Devotion
- Types of Writing in the Bible – Lesson Plan
FORMATIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES (FLEX)
These are experiences that connect our learning/work to real people/problems (to go beyond our normal classroom walls). These are authentic opportunities for students to practice living the Kingdom story.
Look for ways you practice bringing “order from chaos” around your house or in the neighbourhood. What could you organize or clean up? What requires order for others to enjoy/appreciate? Some examples: recovering an abandoned garden; removing garbage from a neighbourhood ditch; organizing bookshelves, recipe cards, photographs; restoring an old piece of furniture; removing graffiti; cleaning your house; labeling shelves for storage; teaching a parent how to organize their computer files or digital bookmarks.
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS/SENTENCE STARTERS
It is said that we don’t learn from doing, but from reflecting on what we do. Give students time and space to reflect on their experiences and learning this week.
- How did God help restore Job’s trust in Him?
- What have you recently discovered about something in God’s creation?
- Why should we discover order?
- Who is somebody that inspires you to be an Order Discoverer? Tell me about them.
- When have you seen chaos restored into order?
- Where have you seen “God’s fingerprints” this week?
