Articles » Children

When we walk outside, putter about the garden, or even splash in waves at the beach, we are making observations of nature whether we realize it or not.

In our backyard during the summer, for example, plump saucy robins take up residence and the male fights off all invader robins. The resident pair is displaying territoriality or the determination to defend their property against all other robins. Other bird species come and go, but our resident robins don’t care. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favourite ways to spend a cold winter day is sitting on the couch with one child on each side and possibly a third on my lap while reading stories.  But with a daughter (5) who loves princess stories, and a son (3) who rates stories based on the quality of trucks in them, it can be difficult to find a story that we will all enjoy over and over.  However, since we first read “The Adventures of Arkie the Archaeopteryx” by Ryan Jaroncyk and “The Oxpecker and the Giraffe: I Need You and You Need Me” by Patrick Fitzpatrick, they both have asked for these stories again and again… much to my own delight. Read the rest of this entry »

October 24 & 25, 2014  in Edmonton

Ever since Dr. Steve Austin earned his Ph.D. in coal geology from Pennsylvania State University, he has shared his expertise with Christians eager to understand how nature expresses what the Bible tells us happened in the past. Indeed, when it comes to geological research, Dr. Austin’s resume goes on and on, all of it exciting! Read the rest of this entry »

Several years ago I tried my hand at bird’s nest building. It wasn’t actually my idea to do this. As mother helper of the day, it was my job to assist the kindergarten class in their various projects. One of these was the nest building. We were provided with grass, feathers, wet mud and so one. What we didn’t have was know-how. One person held grass in a rough circle while another tried to daub on wet mud. What a mess we made! One thing we did learn was a profound respect for birds. How do they manage with only beaks, feet and wings? The birds obviously know what they are doing. Who told the birds how, what, where and when to build their nests? This is a very good question. Read the rest of this entry »

Even in Alberta, there are many crops which we could choose to grow in our gardens. Do you like perennial flowers? Lots of people grow a wide variety of such plants, but  maintaining them involves a constant battle with weeds. Others choose edible plants to grow. These may also be artistic, as in some cabbages or large areas planted with lettuce, or string beans. Humming birds love the bright red string bean flowers, so the garden can serve several uses. Other people choose plants that taste good but are not particularly attractive to look at (potatoes for example). Read the rest of this entry »

Book Review by Alisha Bain

Did you know that Johannes Kepler’s incredible achievements in science were influenced by his Christian faith? I learned this fact from a new book called Johannes Kepler: Exploring the Mysteries of God’s Universe by Michael Stamp and Christy Hardy. This book is in the Heroes of Creation Series and it is produced by ICR (Institute for Creation Research). This title has lots of information about space discoveries made from 1560-1630, and shares about faith and God’s creation.

This book is interesting for many different ages. I would suggest this book is especially good for anyone 9-12 years old. It has some more challenging words, but it also breaks things down and explains words or what something means with definitions throughout the book. Younger kids can read and enjoy this book too, but might need help from a parent or older sibling to understand the big or more difficult words and concepts. As well, older children can enjoy this book because it has lots of facts and cool topics such as optics findings that Kepler made that are important for us today, what Kepler discovered about ice crystals, Kepler’s 3 laws of planetary motion and more!

Do you like to watch your favourite team show off their talents? Are you happy when they win? Sometimes it’s fun to be a spectator. All you have to do is cheer. Let’s be spectators in temperature races featuring that special competitor, the yeast cell.

Yeast is a tiny mold made up of a single cell. Yeast has the remarkable ability to turn sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. If there are more yeast cells, naturally, sugar is turned into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas at a faster rate. The happier the yeast is kept, the faster it grows and the more product it produces. Let’s see if temperature has any effect on how happy the yeast is and thus on how fast it grows and how much product it produces. Read the rest of this entry »

New Uses for Old Patents

Our uses for good bonding agents are almost endless. We glue craft items, chipped china, broken toys, furniture which has come apart, and so on. The list seems endless. There are industrial uses and medical uses for glue too. During the Vietnam war, for example, the American army developed a medical superglue for treating wounds. This product was less than ideal however because it required dry surfaces in order to set. But, as everyone knows, wounds tend to be wet and yucky. Certainly there would be no dry surfaces inside the body. Now English scientists are getting into the act. Actually they are working with a glue which was invented long ago. They are just learning how to make use of this special product. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone likes to communicate, to share what we have learned. And there is so much to learn!! While we all enjoy sharing our latest news with friends, sometimes this news involves events or objects observed in nature. Did you hear about the bear that so and so saw in their back yard?! Naturally you want to be the first to report this interesting piece of information. But as we get a little older, sometimes it is fun to make a study of an issue and be the first to report our findings to our friends.  Nature is so full of interesting features and processes and events. Have you ever asked yourself, what is happening here and why is it happening? Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes it seems so challenging to keep up to date with new titles which present the creation in an interesting fashion. This was not always the case. Thirty years ago, there were few such books. Read the rest of this entry »

A place where families can play and learn!

This summer during our annual family camping trip on a gloomy definitely-not-beach-weather kind of day, we discovered the DINOS (Discovery Institute of Nature, Origins and Science) Centre.  When someone suggested going to a new facility with a unique combination of indoor mini-golf, laser tag, and a café, as well as a Bible History Museum and an outdoor driving range, everybody agreed! Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever noticed that everybody seems to place a high value on problem solving? I can well imagine one’s mother saying “This room is way too messy! How are you going to manage your clothes, toys, electronic gadgets (or whatever) so that this does not happen again?” She clearly expects you to come up with a plan and to follow it! Possibly you may come up with some way to organize your treasures in order to keep mum happy. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine a dinosaur being swept far out to sea. It might seem like a crazy idea, but it appears that such an event happened in many places. The story however becomes even more amazing when we learn that these victims were unusually heavy creatures for their size, the kind that would be expected to sink like a stone once they were in water over their heads.  To some, the story may not come as a complete surprise however. Way back in the dark ages, for example in the spring of 1995, an item appeared in Dialogue. In part, it ran as follows…… Read the rest of this entry »

When I think about gardens, a happy little ditty comes into my mind.

You can learn a lot of things from the flowers
Especially in the month of June
You can learn a lot of things from the flowers
All on a golden afternoon. Read the rest of this entry »

Can you name an animal that is dainty as silk but devious besides? Probably not. From their pictures, we might imagine that octopuses are solid, scary and, like the majority of marine creatures, not too intelligent. The scary part of the picture is correct, especially if one is a crab or shrimp or abalone. Nevertheless octopuses are typically as insubstantial as a lady’s negligee and smart, smart, smart. Read the rest of this entry »