And the Fourth and the Fifth

"And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also...And the evening and the morning were the fourth day." Genesis 1:16, 19

Yesterday we studied the sun, the moon, and the stars. 

Did you know that the area of the "Sun's surface the size of a postage stamp shines with the power of one and half million candles"? And that it takes 8 minutes for the light from the sun to reach the Earth and 4.2 light years for the light from the star Alpha Centauri? Awesome Space: The Sun and other Stars by John Farndon

Did you know that the moon reflects light from the sun, so "from Earth we see different amounts of the near side illuminated according to how far the Moon has traveled on its orbit"? DK Eyewitness: Moon by Jacqueline Mitton

Did you also know that the moon is a cookie?

We learned about how the moon effects the tides of the ocean.  The moon's gravity pulls the Earth and the surrounding water into an oval. The increased amount of water on the sides of the Earth closest and farthest from the moon create a high tide. To illustrate to the kids how the water of the tide can be higher without adding more water we filled up a bucket with water then used the pressure of our "moon" to make the water rise.

 

We also read my favorite children's book on space. This year we got the new revised edition that drops Pluto from the planetary list (poor little dwarf planet). I'm such a sucker for cute books that rhyme.

This book is the inspiration for the Sugar Cookie Solar System. I missed doing that this year, so I'll have to put it back in next year.

"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth...And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." Genesis 1: 20,23

Today we snacked on Swedish Fish and Adam's dessert creation - The Bird Head. The kids particularly liked the soft, white bird brains.

This afternoon we went to the aquarium. On the way there I quizzed Kate and Adam to see if they could each come up with ten different kinds of birds. It took a few minutes to think up so many, but once they got going Adam wanted to name ten fish too. 

At the aquarium we saw...

...birds...

 ...fish...

...and birds eating fish.