Have you ever wondered why some sibling are extremely close while others are so distant from each other? It is almost as if these two brothers are made out of different material. One is made out of iron and the other wood. In Proverbs 27:17 it says that “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” To sharpen one another these two brothers have to be in fellowship with one another and that means they have to be made out of the same material. They have to have the same goal and the same heart towards God. The brother who is iron only for a season can become distant when troubles or difficulties come his way. He may even become bitter towards his brother.
The biblical story about two brothers who bring God a different offering, one that was pleasing to the Lord and the other which was not, has a very sad outcome. Cain kills his younger brother Abel because he was angry and jealous of his brother. Adam and Eve did not know that since they had sinned that their children would be more like them than like God. Sin is in this world and the sad truth is that too often we choose to do wrong instead of what is right.
For this unit study we learned about chromosomes, becoming pregnant, dissected a sheep uterus specimen (pregnant with embryo), discussed a woman’s cervix during labor, looked at our local newspaper and saw how there is so much sin, and played a game showing how with our own might we can never be pure.
In Genesis 4:1 we read that Adam was intimate with his wife Eve and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. Eve was the first woman to conceive and give birth so I saw that it would be appropriate to learn about conceiving, carrying the child, and giving birth to a child. We used sour worm candy to show that each person has 22 chromosomes pairs called autosomes. Humans also have an additional pair known as the sex chromosomes. There is a total of 46 chromosomes. The sex chromosomes are known as X and Y. A female has two X chromosomes and a male has an XY pairing. Since the male has one of each his sperm determines the sex of the baby.
We talked about what a cervix does during labor and how it dilates from 1cm to 10cm. We used different fruits to show the process and so that we could visually see the difference between 1cm to 10cm. Contractions help a woman’s cervix to thin, shorten, and open.
We used the following fruits…
1cm: sliced blueberry
2cm: sliced grape
3cm: sliced strawberry
4cm: sliced banana
5cm: sliced lemon
6cm: sliced kiwi
7cm: sliced smaller apple
8cm: sliced larger red apple
9cm: sliced orange
10cm: sliced melon
We have dissected many things in the past and even though we find that we are able to understand things better when we do, still I had never gotten emotional over dissecting anything like I did this time. We received a sheep uterus specimen, pregnant with embryo, from Home Science Tools. We were so surprised by how much embryotic fluid there is. The sheep embryo was very precious and it actually broke our heart to dissect the uterus. The features of this sweet sheep embryo were so distinctive and this had us talking about miscarriages since I have had five. A mama sheep is pregnant for 5 months. We talked about how when a sheep is slaughtered for meat a few of them might be pregnant so the sheep’s embryo is shipped and sold for educational purposes. We gave this sweet embryo a burial.
The next day we read Genesis 4: 1-16. We talked about how the first account of sacrifice can be found here. We talked about why God did not accepted Cain’s sacrifice but accepted Abel’s. It is difficult to understand why God accepted one but rejected the other. Many bible scholars believe that it was a heart condition and that Abel offered his sacrifice by faith while Cain did not. It is also believed that Cain brought poor quality while Abel brought his best. Some believe it was because Abel’s was a blood sacrifice but Cain’s was not.
God warns Cain about sin crouching at the door in Genesis 4: 7, ” If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desires is for you, but you must rule over it.” I love this passage because God is giving Cain a chance. God tells us that we have to rule over sin. This is why we have to be in fellowship with other believers who are made out of iron and not wood so that we can ask them to pray for us.
To be honest with you I don’t like reading the newspaper or watching the news because it is so negative. However, I felt is was a great opportunity to do a current event and explain an article better. I had Peter choose an article and present it to us.
We played a game showing how we all have sin and how alone we can’t get rid of our sin. All you need is a string and lots of paper made into balls. Two of my kids were on one side of the line and the other two on the other. The goal is to not have any sin on your side. It was clearly not possible. We need God daily and all day so that we can always make the right decisions.
My kids love playing jeopardy. It is so much fun and better than test taking. We played jeopardy for the first time a few months ago and Eve reminded me when we finished our bible study on Cain and Abel that we hadn’t played jeopardy in awhile. She said, “Mom you said that we were going to play jeopardy after every unit study and we haven’t.” She meant business and was pretty upset with me for not keeping my word.
I’m so glad we started playing jeopardy. It is so neat to see how much kids remember. Eve remembered so much from the story about Cain and Abel. It is so sweet to see seeds planted in little hearts. We did five questions for four different categories : bible, dissecting the uterus, science, and current event.
To see how we do our jeopardy game watch the video below.
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May God bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance and give you peace my sweet friend.
robin rue
My boys are super close, but looking back to my own siblings – I was close to my brother, who is 7 years younger than I am and never really got along with my sister – who is 4 years younger than me.
Angela Tolsma
That’s super crazy that you got a baby sheep like that. How sad. It’s good that you gave it a proper burial.
Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh
Wow…I can totally say that I could not have dissected that. 🙁 So sweet to have a proper burial. I love how you taught this whole lesson to your kids.
Maria Katsulos
Love all these interesting ways of learning more about science!
Krystal Butherus
I think it is such a neat way of teaching your children. I like how you used fruit to show the different sizes also. You definitely show what I think homeschooling should be all about.
kim
I still wonder to this day if my sister had other parents…b/c we are nothing alike and we disagree …a lot!! Just weird.
Di
I love that you got an opportunity to show kids the truth of the meat industry. Yes, the animals are sometimes pregnant, actually it’s pretty common.
Amber Nelson
Right now my two youngest don’t get along very well, but I think one day they will.
Cindy Ingalls
I’m glad you did a burial for the sheep. Very good lesson for kids.
Shandy Kaye
My brother and I were not close, we keep on fighting but we still love and protect each other no matter what.
Shoshana Sue
It is pretty interesting that you received a specimen for the lesson and dissected it. By the way, I chuckled a bit when I read that you used a melon to illustrate 10cm dilation. I will never look at the melon the same way lol.
Kimberly Lewis
my two youngest daughters don’t get along and that is the hardest thing for a parent to watch. You look like your such a great mom
Jessica Joachim
I am pretty close with my step siblings ( there are 6 of them) but I have no biological ones. I wish I did, or that the age gap wasn’t so large between the others and me ( I am 10 or more years younger than all of them)
Rachel
That is a creative way to show chromosomes. I liked the visual. It is so interesting how people can be so different when raised the same way.
Toughcookiemommy
Yes, I have actually often wondered that. I think the sibling relationship can be a complex one, especially when siblings become adults.
Christina
Wow, what an interesting way to really show your children rather than just tell them.
Molly Kumar
I’ve heard kids are more of visual learners and you made such great examples to learn the different stages. It not only makes it much easier to understand but fun too.
StylishGeek
I come from a really big family and our age is all spread apart. I recall us having more conflicts when we were young and squabbling a lot more. I do believe we are closer now and have bonded even more now that we are all grown up.
Melissa
I love your way of teaching your children. I am very close with all three of my sisters even though there is a 10 yr. gap between my oldest sister and myself.
Lynnette Joselly
This is an interesting way to teach the young ones about human anatomy. Very hands on!