Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Noah's Ark & the World Wide Flood ~ History of the World Study


"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."
~ Genesis 6:8

Our "History of the World" timeline study has now brought us to Noah and the amazing ark. We are sharing a peek into the activities we did and resources we used (we will put the subjects taught in parenthesis so you can see how a variety is taught through one study) in case you are interested in doing something like this in your homeschool.


To begin, we read from Genesis, chapters 6-10 (Bible, language arts, world history, character building). We chose some key verses and used them as copywork (language arts, penmanship). We also discussed the character of Noah. What traits were necessary to build the ark (faith, perseverance, patience)?



{Here is some clip art to copy and paste into your "Timeline Binder".}


We also pasted down an entry into our timeline at approx. 4500 B.C. (you will find more information on our binder timeline notebooks here) (world history, Bible).  You could either type in a description of Noah and the flood and paste it underneath your timeline picture or simply write in "Noah's Ark and the World Wide Flood" underneath the illustration.


We chose to place a small summary (typing practice) underneath each one of our timeline entries (as shared in first picture) so that we could go back in time and remember each event more vividly (see our timeline entry above).

             

Timna by Lucille Travis was our chapter book (read aloud title) for this study. It is a historical fiction story which depicted Noah's family on the ark (8-12 years but suitable for younger children) and was very "light" reading (and geared more toward girls). We also really enjoyed Noah's Ark, Noah's Flood: Lots of Water, Lots of Mud by John Morris (ages 6 and up) and the True Story of Noah's Ark with audio CD by Tom Dooley which has some beautiful, life-like illustrations. Younger children will love the character building book called Not Too Small at All: A Mouse Tale about a little mouse on the ark that finds he is just as important as the "big" animals (ages 4-8).


Our favorite book and highly recommended was In the Days of Noah by Gloria Clanin. This could also be your read aloud title. Though it is a "picture book", it has a lot of text and is loaded with information. It brought a whole new perspective on the flood history. It showed Ham, Shem and Japheth finding godly women to marry and had Noah's wife being a "teacher to the younger women". The story made history come alive in a sweet but savage way since the author also depicted the wicked world and what you would find in it at that time (an interesting parallel to today's society)The book also gives a fictional account of how things may have happened using biblical history and creation science support. The second half of the book focuses on questions and answers regarding why the author wrote the things she did in the story and the historical and scientific reasons for the scenarios. Included are many creation science facts discussed to give the readers information about flood geology in an easy to understand format. 


We placed all our paperwork behind the "World Wide Flood" section in our History of the World Student Work Binder. Using the Draw and Write Through History Series, we drew a picture of Noah's Ark and did the corresponding copywork (art, Bible, language arts).


Using the information in Genesis, we wrote down specific information about the ark and labeled our picture (math, basic skills, Bible). This was a real vessel and we wanted to bring it into reality!


We also did some mathematical work based off of the assumption of what a cubit stands for (math). This was a perfect time to put our new skill of multiplication into practice!

I was so busy checking the math, I forgot to check the spelling. This is the real "stuff" I am showing here today ;)


We also measured out how long a cubit was onto construction paper using a ruler. We pasted this measurement down onto our "cubit" page to make a measuring stick of our own (math). I love bringing practical forms of arithmetic into our studies. Constant uses of rulers and such will make your children more relaxed and proficient.

Note: A cubit is supposedly 18 inches or the length of a man's fingertips to his elbow.


We had some dinosaur stencils (arts/crafts) and made a point to show how they were included in the ark. God did say two of each kind (but He certainly would have been wise enough to bring smaller and younger ones)! We also added some appropriate copywork (language arts, Bible).

If this information seems far fetched to you, consider reading here for some scientific and Scriptural insight.

Note: If your children are interested in dinosaurs, you may want to do a Dinosaur Unit Study before this study like we did.


Where could the ark be? Genesis writes the "mountains of Ararat" so we used a blank outline map and found where Ararat was located and marked it (geography, Bible). We added the appropriate verse to this page too (language arts).


We also watched a very interesting video that sheds a different light on the location of the ark titled, "In Search of Noah's Ark". This added some spark into our study. I highly recommend this video as a geography and world history source. It also opens up the brain waves to see all this Bible information in a "real" light with this modern day, true-Indiana-Jones-type documentary (geography, Bible, world history). Though I am not "sold" on the location of the ark, I really enjoyed watching the hunt!

                                                           

Other videos we enjoyed was the "Flood Geology" from the Creation Museum series (the cinematography was gorgeous in this) and "Noah's Ark: Thinking Outside the Box". We also watched the "Jurassic Ark Mystery" that is geared for little children (though a bit on the cheesy side for adults).


We chose a painting to do a picture study on (art, Bible). There are many on Noah's Ark if you do a Google search. Older children can write an art review while the younger children can share their opinions orally (language arts).


The final assignment was to pretend you were Noah or his wife. What would you say to try and change the hearts of the people (Bible, language arts). This was a rather dramatic exhortation to say the least!

Field Trip Ideas: If you live near Kentucky, you can visit the Creation Museum. If you live in California, you can visit the Cabazon Dinosaurs which is creation based as well.

If this information is new to you, you may be interested in reading the article, "Was There Really a Noah's Ark and Flood". You will be very blessed!



Next in our "History of the World Timeline/Notebook" Series:

The Tower of Babel and The Ice Age

3 comments:

  1. You always put together the best study! So fun!

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  2. We won't be studying this unit of history until next year but I am excited for this unit study! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  3. Thanks for putting this together. It is such a good study.

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