The Bible Meets Pop Bottle Science

I have just begun to write another series of Children's lessons, "The Bible Meets Pop Bottle Science"

I believe that there is a lesson about Christ, God and the ways of the Kingdom in every thing ever created or invented. I love taking everyday items and turning them into lessons to help people understand the love of Christ and the truth of the Bible.

When I heard about The Potato Chip Science book, I knew I had to find a way to use it to help the kids at our church see Christ in those fun experiments. It was only natural that when my daughter found "Pop Bottle Science," I'd get equally excited.

So, today, February 11, 2012, I'm attempting to create my very first Soda Pop Science Sunday School Lesson. Hopefully, I'll have one a week very soon. There are 79 experiments in this little book, so it will take me quite a while to get them finished. Stop back often to get the latest addition!

On November 15 I created a lesson to use for Thanksgiving - I thought some of you might like to have it as a sample. I've included some of the information from the Pop Bottle Science book so you can use it; however, this information does not appear in any other lessons - this is material that is owned by Lynn Brunnelle - You may download the Thanksgiving lesson Here.-

7 Sections - 79 Lessons

WOW! 79 lessons! I'm going to be at this for a while!

The seven sections include

- Mysterious Molecules

- Pushes and Pulls

- Blasts Bangs, Twists and Other Reactions

- Secrets of Earth and Space

- Bottled Water

- Plants and Other Living Things

- Light, Sight, Hearing and Breathing

I'll eventually create one page for each section. Meanwhile, bookmark this one because all will be anchored to this page. And don't forget to stop back often!

You'll find all the lessons here, but you'll need this kit. Lynn Brunelle's science projects are under copyright, so I encourage you to grab up this cute little kit to find the book with the experiments as well as the "official" Pop Bottle Science Pop Bottle.

I hope to add as many lessons here as I have for the "Potato Chip Science" experiments. So stop back and leave me a note! Hopefully it won't take me too long to get them completed!

Do water Molecules Move or stay still?

Move it! - Page 1
(answers are in italics)

You Will Need

• Pop Bottle from Kit
• Water
• Food Coloring (each child could have a clear plastic water bottle and do this experiment themselves along with you if you like)

Science Lesson
- See page 2 - Save "What's Going On" for the middle off your Bible Lesson today

Bible Lesson - Use this lesson while the experiment is "sitting" -

Read Matthew 6:1-18

1. What are "acts of righteousness" (or whatever your translation uses to describe good works)? Anything good we do that makes us look like we are following God
2. What did Jesus mean when He said, "Don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing? Keep your 'acts of righteousness' between you and God - don't brag about how good you are
3. What's the difference between praying out loud with our Sunday School class and praying like the "hypocrites" that Jesus tells us not to do? We should never say a prayer to impress those who are listening. We are talking to God and God alone. We pray out loud so that everyone is praying the same thing, but we should be careful that we aren't trying to make ourselves look good.
4. Jesus said, "when you fast" . . . What is fasting? Fasting is giving up food and or water for a meal or a day or even weeks.
5. Why did Jesus tell us not to do our 'acts of righteousness' and fasting and praying in front of people? God doesn't want us to worry about what other people think. He doesn't want us to give or to pray to impress others. He wants us to do the good things just because we love Him.
6. Does that mean we shouldn't do anything good? No, we should always be looking for ways to honor God
7. What happens when we do our "good stuff" so that everyone can see it? It means we're arrogant and we don't care what God thinks, only what other humans think. Jesus said we wouldn't get a reward in heaven for things we do to impress people on earth
   
   Draw the kids attention to your Pop Bottle (don't move it) and read the "What's Going On?" on Page 2 of the Pop Bottle Science Book
   
   
8. How did the food coloring get all swirled around like that? The molecules were moving (diffusion)
9. What do you think it will look like in a few hours? a. In just a while all of the water will be the same color as the food coloring, we won't even know it was ever clear water.
10. Do you see anything moving it? We can't see the molecules moving, but they are!
    
    That's what our good deeds should be like. People should see the outcome, but never really know how or why the good things happened unless they really study it (like we did today with our Pop Bottle experiment). When we do good things, but don't try to get attention or expect a thank you, that makes God happy. Jesus tells us that God sees everything we do, and He will reward us.
    
    
11. What does vs. 2 say again? (allow someone to read verse 2) That means that if we expect someone to thank us here on earth, that's all the reward we will get. However, if we don't worry about what good things will happen to us on earth when we help others, God will give us HIS reward, a much better one!

How does that paper stay dry?

Paper Magic - page 2
Answers are in italics

Materials

• Wadded up paper (lots)
• Bottle from kit
• Bucket or large bowl of water

Science Lesson - See page 3

Bible Lesson

Read 2 Chronicles 14
you might opt to summarize it for the kids or read these verses: 1-6, 9-12 & 14

1. Asa had about 300,000 men in his army. Zerah probably had closer to one million. How would you have felt if an army that was twice the size of your army tried to attack you? No wrong answers, but they'd probably be afraid
2. What did Asa do when he realized the other army was so powerful? He cried out to God for help
3. What does the beginning of this story tell us about Asa? He did what was good and right in the eyes of God - You might share that the high places and foreign altars were places people worshiped other God. An Asherah pole was much like a totem pole used to worship Asherah. Asa took all of those down.
4. What did God do for Asa when he cried out? God won the war for the Israelites. They were able to chase the Cushites back to their own land
5. Why do you think God did that for Asa and the Israelites? Because they were faithful to God, they worshiped Him and followed His ways.
6. What happened when we turned the pop bottle upside down in the bucket? The paper didn't get wet, the air around it protected it
7. What did we have to do to keep the paper dry? Just follow the directions, the air did everything else. If we had tilted it just a bit, the air would have leaked out and the paper would have gotten wet. Following the directions is important.
8. What did Asa have to do for God to help him? Follow God's directions to worship Him only and cry out to him
9. What do we need to do so that God will always be with us? Follow God's directions (expand on what that means - especially concentrate on worshipping God rather than following all the rules) Asa worshipped God and God alone. We should do the same.
10. How is God like the air molecules in our pop bottle? God protects us and fights our battles for us. We must always remember to worship God.
11. Let's read two more verses to help us remember Asa's secret in always having God protect him: Read 2 Chronicles 15:1-2 - Let's try to remember that "God is with us when we are with Him. If we look for Him, we will always find Him." (You might want to have each child copy that part of verse 2 on an index card or a bookmark as a memory verse.)

Why Doesn't Oil Mix with Water?

Materials

• A pop bottle with lid (you could have one for each child)
• Vegetable oil
• Food coloring
• Water

Science Lesson - See page 4

Bible Lesson
Dare to Be Different

Read Daniel 1

1. What did Daniel do that was kind of strange?
   Daniel wouldn't eat the king's food or drink the king's wine. He only had vegetables and water
2. Why did Daniel do that?
   The kids might not know this, the scripture doesn't tell us for sure, except that he didn't want to "defile" himself. The food may have been sacrificed to other gods or it may have been unclean. Daniel may have been worried it wasn't prepared in a way that would be pleasing to God. Those dedicating their lives in service to God often would not drink wine or other fermented drink.
3. What did everyone else do at first?
   Everyone except Daniel and his friends ate Veggies and drank water for 10 days until their caretakers saw that they were very healthy because of their eating.
4. Daniel and his friends were slaves. Do you know what slaves are?
   Slaves were like property. Their owners were allowed to beat on them and make them do anything they wanted.
5. How would it feel to be a slave and not want to do what your owner told you to do?
   It would be very scary. The person in charge could have beat them, but the Bible says that God made the overseer see the good in Daniel and his friends and made him treat them well.
6. What do you do when someone wants to do something that sounds fun but you know you shouldn't do it?
   Allow for answers. Talk about the kinds of things that other people do that they shouldn't do because they are Christians. Friend s may ask them to lie for them, help them to cheat on homework, go places they shouldn't, eat things that their parents have told them not to and more.
   
   Read Romans 12:2
   
   
7. How does this verse show us what Daniel did?
   Daniel had to live among people who didn't worship God, but He always did what was right. He didn't "conform" to the things of the world. You might remind them that Daniel's friends were the ones thrown in a fire because they wouldn't do things that everyone else did and Daniel was thrown in with the lions because he wouldn't pray to a false God. God was with them. The friends didn't burn and Daniel didn't get eaten!
8. In our experiment today we used some water and some oil. What did you notice about them?
   No matter how much you move them, the water and oil will not mix.
9. We are like the water in our mixture. When we ask Jesus to be our Savior, He makes us pure and clean. The world needs us to be "refreshing." But the world is like the oil. No matter how much we get mixed in with it, we should never become a part of it. People should be able to see that we are different. This week every time you move your water/oil mixture remember that we will have to live with people who don't do the things that God asks us to do, but we have to be different, like Daniel, and follow God in all things. Even something as simple as eating.

Page 7

Materials

• A plastic pop bottle (you could have one for each child)
• Balloon
• Water
• Two pans

Science Lesson - See page 7

Bible Lesson
When you stay close to God, you can win the battle

Do the experiment and read "What's Going On?

Read Exodus 17:8-15

1. What did Moses send Joshua to do?
   Take an army and fight the Amalekites who had attacked them.
2. What did Moses do while Joshua and the men were fighting?
   Moses went to the top of the hill and held his hands up
3. Why did Moses lift up his hands?
   Verse 16 tells us that Moses lifted his hands up to the Lord.
4. Why do people lift up their hands to the Lord?
   It's a sign of praise and love to God.
5. What happened when Moses' arms would get tired?
   He would lower them and the Amalekites would start winning. (Have the kids repeat Amalekites after you so they can learn how to say it)
6. What did Aaron and Hur do to help out?
   They got a big rock for Moses to sit on and they held his arms in the air.
7. Do you think you could hold your arms up all day like that? How long do you think you could do it all by yourself?
8. No wrong answers
9. 8. Would it be easier with help of friends?
   No wrong answers
10. Today in our experiment, what happened when we put our bottle in the hot water? (Why?)
    The balloon inflated, it got air in it because the hot water made the molecules move faster. The hot water gave the air energy to fill up the bottle.
11. What happened when we put the bottle in cold water?
    The balloon sank. The cold water slowed it down.
12. We're like our bottle. Sometimes we have a lot of energy, we are good at being like Jesus and we feel like we can win every battle just like Joshua. Other times we don't feel very close to God and we feel deflated like our balloon in cold water. How can Moses' story help us to be more like the bottle in hot water?
    When Moses praised God, Israel had more energy and could win the battle.
    When Moses got tired, he had friends who believed in God who helped him with his job.
13. What do you need to do when you don't feel like you are winning anything?
14. Praise God more. Get help from other people who love Jesus

Close in Prayer