The Astronomy Book, Lesson 1

Introduction:

These lessons are geared for younger students. Many lessons will, however, include activities for the older student. Parents/teachers will easily find the answers to questions in the text, and should prepare themselves by reading the stated pages prior to having the student read the weekly assignment. If a child is not able to read yet, parents may wish to read the text to the student.

Read:

• Introduction, page 5
• Glossary, pages 77–78
• How can we see distant stars in a young universe?
• Moving with the Planets
• Are stars forming today?

Scripture:

• Genesis 1:1–19
• Psalms 147:4

Questions to answer:

1. On which Creation day did God create the sun, moon, and stars?
2. In Astronomical Insights the author describes the Pleiades and Orion. Have the student write a brief research paper on these constellations. Younger students may draw these constellations.
3. What is a “constellation”?
4. In “How can we see distant starlight?” we read about stars being many light years away. What is a light year?
5. In Moving with the Planets, the author discusses several astronomers. Have the student write a short essay on the contribution of each astronomer (Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Brahe, Einstein).
6. In Are stars forming today? three types of nebulae are discussed. What are they? Give a short description of each one.

Words/phrases to know:

• Nebula
• Light-year
• Constellation

Activities:

• Have student draw a picture of Day 4 of creation.
• You might want to take your child/student to a planetarium to get an overall view of the stars, planets, constellations. Caution: We know of no planetarium that presents the development of the lights in the heavens as recent (less than 10,000 years ago).

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