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David and Jonathan

Science Workshop

 

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Use the concept of molecules that bond to explain the loyalty and friendship that bound David and Jonathan together. The students will explore the gift of human friendship, and especially the gift of friendship with God.

 

Scripture Reference:

1 Samuel 18:1-12, 20:1-42

Memory Verse:

Proverbs 18:24 (CEV), “Some friends don't help, but a true friend is closer than your own family.” [B]


Science experiments to illustrate the bond of friendship through molecule bonds:

  1. Float a needle.
  2. Drive a marble into a bubble.
  3. Saucer slime.
  4. Optical Illusion Art (What is your perspective?)

Supplies List:

  • Needle Experiment: Water and paper towels; one bowl, needle, 1 ½ sq. Paper per student, liquid dish detergent.
  • Bubble Experiment: Plastic liter soda bottle, small wet toy or marble, a clean jar with a lid containing one recipe of Bubble Base. (This recipe will slow down the drying time. When bubbles dry, they break.)
  • Bubble Base: ¼ c. Bubble mix, ¾ c. Water, 1 Tbsp. sugar or 1 package unflavored gelatin or 1 Tbsp. glycerin.
  • Saucer slime: (One recipe per student) 2 Tbsp. clear gel glue (but not Super glue) 2 Tbsp. purified water 2 tsp. Borax solution
  • One per student: Glass cup, measuring spoons, plastic spoon (for stirring), zip-lock plastic baggy.
  • Borax Solution: Add one Tbsp. Borax to one cup of warm water. Stir until dissolved and store the liquid in a jar. Label it: Borax Solution: Do Not Drink! (Borax is poisonous and harmful if ingested.)

Leader Preparation:

  • Practice the needle and bubble experiments ahead of time. If class time is short, select just one of them to do. It is important for the square of paper under the needle to be small—otherwise it takes awhile for the paper to get wet enough to sink. We used a small square of absorbent paper towel, and it worked well. Don’t give students the liquid dish detergent out until the needle is safely floating—contamination would ruin the bond and the experiment.
  • Read the scripture ahead of time. 
  • Gather the materials.


 

Presentation

 

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Warmly welcome the students. Start with a prayer such as this: “Loving Father, thank you for these friends who are here together this morning. Be with us as we learn more about friendship with each other and with You. In Jesus name, Amen.


Ask a student(s) to read aloud I Samuel 18:1-5: TEV David and Saul become friends.
Ask: What is a good friend like? (Accept all answers: e.g. loyal, honest, fun to be with, similar interests, understanding, etc.)

Say: God’s creation can help us learn more about friendship. All the stuff in the universe is made out of atoms, little building blocks called elements, that are too small too see. Scientists have discovered 115 different kinds of elements. Sometimes atoms stick to each other, and become a molecule. Scientists call this process “bonding.” Let’s do some experiments to demonstrate this fascinating process.

 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Float a Needle:

  1. The teacher can drop a needle into a clear glass bowl of water, to demonstrate that a needle does not normally float on water.
  2. Each student can fill their own small bowl or pan with water.
  3. Next, float a small square of paper (no bigger than 1 ½ inches) on the water.
  4. Place a sewing needle in the middle of the paper.
  5. Carefully push the edges of the paper down into the water. (This takes a little patience.) As the paper gets wet, it will sink and leave the needle floating.


How does this work? Surface tension makes it possible to float the needle on the water. The molecules on the surface of water stick close enough together that, under the right conditions, they can make something float that ordinarily would not do so.

Ask: How was David’s friendship with Jonathan like this floating needle? (The friendship of a shepherd boy and a king’s son was something that was highly unlikely to happen, but it did, just like this needle, which you would not expect to float!)

Say: But then, something happened that could have ended their friendship, just like that. (Place a drop of dishwasher detergent into the water—the needle will sink like a stone.)

Read or ask a student to read I Samuel 18: 6-12 TEV, Saul becomes jealous of David.

Say: In this part of the story, something happened that was a threat to the friendship of David and Jonathan. Jonathan’s father, King Saul, became very jealous of David. He viewed him as an enemy to his throne. Let’s read about it. (or talk about it.)

(If it is the first week of the rotation read aloud: “David’s Best Friend” (p. 235-238) from The Book for Children. (or choose another retelling of the story based on I Samuel 20:1-30. During the 2nd-4th weeks of the rotation, talk about what they remember of the story from the previous weeks. Emphasize that Saul tried to turn David against Jonathan.

Say: Saul tried to talk Jonathan into turning his back on David. Would Jonathan and David’s friendship survive? Let’s do another experiment to illustrate how a bond can hold up, even when someone or something tries to break the bond.

Blow Bubbles With a Bottle and put a wet marble or small wet toy inside:

  1. Cut the bottom off of a plastic quart or liter soda bottle. All around the cut-off bottle, cut parallel slits about ½ inch apart, and ½ inch deep. Bend the edges back so that they fan out like a flower.
  2. Wet an area of the tabletop with the bubble solution.
  3. Dip the fanned-out end of the bottle into the bubble solution. Hold it near the wet tabletop, and blow a large bubble dome onto the table.
  4. Roll a wet marble through the bubble. Or try sliding in a small wet plastic toy.
    Note: This experiment can take a little practice to make it work!


Say: We did something that looks impossible! Molecules bonded to create a bubble. The marble/toy (which represents King Saul’s anger) was not able to destroy the powerful bond of friendship between David and Jonathan. These two friends stuck together with great love and loyalty. Let’s do one more experiment. We will create a product that sticks together, like good friends should.

Prepare Saucer Slime:

  1. Combine glue and water in the glass cup. Stir with a spoon until they are completely mixed.
  2. Add the borax solution to the glue solution and stir. The mixture will immediately start to form a blob. Keep stirring. If some of the glue-water liquid does not clump together with the rest of the blob, add a bit more borax solution and stir some more.
  3. Pour out the excess liquid, put the blob in the plastic baggie, and knead it for a while.
  4. Remove the blob and play with it!


How It Works: This combination of ingredients creates a chemical reaction. The atoms bond together and create an elastic mixture that doesn’t easily break.

David and Jonathan did not physically bond together, like the molecules in our chemistry experiment. But their bond of friendship proved to outlast Jonathan’s life.

Read II Samuel 9:1-7David and Mephibosheth.

Say: David kept his promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to Jonathan’s son.

Journal Time/Apply the Lesson: Pass out the students’ journals.

101 Amazing Optical IllusionsShow the students some of the art on pages 50-55. Let them discover how they can see two different things in the same picture, depending on their perspective.

Ask: Now what does “perspective” have to do with the story of David and Jonathan? (Accept all answers.)

Say:

  1. David and Jonathan chose to see each other as friends. If Jonathan had listened to his father, King Saul, he would have viewed David as a rival for the throne. Likewise, David could have seen Jonathan as the son of his enemy. Instead they remained very close friends. Let’s write in our journals about how to recognize a “true friend.”
  2. Sometimes a person may try to destroy other people’s friendships. David and Jonathan didn’t let that happen. Why? (They trusted each other, and remained loyal through great odds. They did not believe the lies of King Saul.) Let’s write in our journals about ways we can protect our friendships.

Closing:

 

End with a prayer.


Clean-up and Dismissal:
Let’s pray together before we leave today: Our Father in Heaven, thank you for being our friend. We also thank you for the good friends we have here on earth, and especially the ones who are here with us today. In Jesus name, AMEN.


Resources:

  • Mad Professor, Mark Frauenfelder ISBN 0-8118-3554-5, p. 10-13, 17-18
  • 101 Amazing Optical Illusions by Terry Jennings ISBN 0-8069-9463-0
  • Barron’s Science Wizardry for Kids, by Margaret Kenda and Phyllis S. Williams ISBN 0-590-69326-3 pp. 97, 110
  • The Book for Children, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-8423-2145-4

 

A lesson written by Kirsten from: Augustana Lutheran Church

St. James, MN

 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

 

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer
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