Justin

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

January 10, 2017 by Justin

“The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” You might recognize this text from Isaiah 40:5. Some might also recognize it from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech, which he delivered more than fifty years ago.

Dr. King quoted God’s Word as he sought unity among the races. He reminded the people of his day that they all had a single unifying bond that connected them regardless of race, culture, and wealth—the idea that “all men are created equal”—which is fundamentally a biblical concept. La Shawn Barber, a columnist at World magazine, has said, “As the church grapples with racial issues today, King’s life may serve as an example of someone who challenged the church to live up to biblical ideals and invoked Christ in the name of racial justice. . . . He infused the civil rights movement with Christian principles.”

Today race relations in our nation have improved and basic civil rights are extended to all Americans. And Martin Luther King Jr.’s words are now most commonly seen in history books—except Isaiah 40:5.

Like the rest of the Bible, this piece of God’s Word is timeless. It’s just as relevant today as it was in 1963 and in Old Testament times. “Black only” drinking fountains or “white only” lunch counters are artifacts of the past, but our nation remains divided. Today there are more lines: black, white, brown, tan, red, and blue. Even Bible-believing Christians are divided and often distracted from what really matters.

While it is true that Dr. King was a man with flaws, we find in his speech an acknowledgement that God’s Word speaks to mankind’s problem of division. He also had the courage to say it in front of the world. Today, few public figures or leaders would make such a bold statement. Few would risk the backlash from the media in a culture that is becoming increasingly hostile to the Truth. It’s critical that we train the next generation of leaders to understand and correctly apply the truths of the Bible. God’s Word transcends all debate and must be the foundation on which Christians base our relationships with one another (Philippians 2:1–4).

Image Source: The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

A Look Inside Algebra 2

January 5, 2017 by Justin

If you’re like me, you like to get a good look at a product before you buy it and certainly before you trust it to help educate your children. To make that easier for you, we recently filmed a video in which I review some of the features of the latest edition of our Algebra 2 Student Text.

Algebra 2 is new, and as someone who spends a lot of time working in math textbooks, I was really impressed with these materials. Even if you don’t have a high school math student, you should take five minutes to watch this video. It gives a good overview of how we structure our math program and how the BJU Press curriculum as a whole can help you build your student’s biblical worldview.

Check out the video below!

Watch this video on YouTube

Turn your science student into a student scientist (lab)

December 8, 2016 by Justin

Like most subjects (including reading, spelling, and math) science is a subject that is best learned by actually practicing it. For Science this is through labs where children can experiment. Being able to memorize and recite encyclopedic knowledge isn’t enough because it doesn’t build true understanding. For that, you need to turn your student into a scientist who knows how to use the scientific process as a road map that leads to making discoveries on his own.

You might be wondering how to guide your children through re-creating a nuclear reaction at home. Of course, that’s not the best approach for a number of reasons—the least of which is that it would get you in trouble with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Your child doesn’t have to reenact every major scientific experiment ever conducted to learn how to use and apply science. The secret is mastering science process skills. Exercises and experiments should be geared toward not only understanding certain concepts but also learning the scientific process.

What does a student scientist lesson look like?

Chapter 4 of the BJU Press Science 5 Student Text is hot! It’s all about heat and energy. The chapter starts out by introducing some concepts such as conduction, convection, and radiation. It then goes on to explain how insulation works. Next, it presents the following fun, easy-to-do experiment that is designed to build science process skills:

Lab: Keeping Warm

What you’ll need

5 plastic cups
cotton batting
rubber bands
craft foam
bubble wrap
aluminum foil
hot water
thermometer
plastic wrap

Problem

Which kind of insulation will keep hot water warm the best?

Experiment Procedure

Wrap cotton batting around one of the cups. Be sure to cover the bottom and the sides of the cup. Use a rubber band to keep the batting in place.
Prepare three more cups: one wrapped with craft foam, one with bubble wrap, and one with a double thickness of aluminum foil. Use rubber bands to secure each material. Do not wrap anything around the fifth cup.
Predict which cup will best keep the hot water warm. Write down your hypothesis.
Fill the cups with hot water and put a thermometer in each.
Cover the top of each cup with plastic wrap, leaving the top of the thermometer sticking out.
Measure and record the starting temperature for each cup.
Leave the cups undisturbed for five minutes. Then measure and record the water temperature in each cup. Measure and record the temperatures again after another five minutes.
Calculate the difference between the starting and ending temperatures for each cup.

Conclusions

Did your results support your hypothesis?
Which cup had the greatest change in temperature? Why?
Which type of insulated cup would you choose to hold hot chocolate? Why?

Follow-up

Use ice cubes instead of hot water to determine which insulation is best for keeping ice cubes from melting.

Labs like this one help build the skills that can turn your science student into a student scientist. Check out this lab and many other great skill-building ones in BJU Press Science 5.

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Election Terms Explained

November 3, 2016 by Justin

Election Day is just around the corner, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered about some of the language the candidates have been using. To find out more, I looked though the BJU Press vocabulary curriculum. I came back with some rather interesting information.

Red Tape

Candidates often talk about “cutting the red tape” that slows down anything the government gets involved in. But have you ever wondered where the phrase “red tape” came from?

As early as the mid 1800s, Charles Dickens and Thomas Carlyle wrote about the annoying red tape of their day. In English government offices it was customary to use strips of red fabric for tying legal papers in bundles. Red tape became a symbol for needless forms and regulations issued by the government. Government business is now largely computerized, but red tape is still with us.

Casting a Ballot

It’s almost time to cast our ballots, but we aren’t really going to cast anything. We’re going to write our vote on paper or press a button on a machine. So why do we call it casting a ballot?

Originally voters did literally cast their ballots. To cast means “to throw,” and the ballots that were tossed into a ballot box were pebbles or small balls. In Italian, ballotta means “little ball.” A black ball indicated a negative vote. Today, to blackball a person means “to vote against or to exclude a person from a social group.” Paper ballots and voting machines might have replaced the pebbles, but we still speak of casting ballots at election time.

Budget

We hear a lot of talk about “balancing the budget,” but where exactly did the term budget come from?

In Old French the word bougette referred to a little leather bag. A merchant could tell how much money he had by opening his bougette. In Middle English bouget  meant “a small sack for money.” It would be wise for those who are trying to balance a budget to follow the example of those medieval merchants by looking in the bag and spending only the money they actually have.

All these examples and more can be found in the BJU Press language arts curriculum, which you can preview on bjupresshomeschool.com.

Activity: Learning with a Pumpkin

October 6, 2016 by Justin

One thing many children look forward to about fall is getting to carve or decorate a pumpkin. As a parent, you can capitalize on that excitement by squeezing some learning in with all of the fun. Here are some ways to practice science and math skills with your child while pumpkin carving.

Before carving the pumpkin, start off by weighing it. A normal household scale will do. If the pumpkin is not too heavy, have your child pick it up and guess the weight. Then he can weigh it. This activity will help build his ability to associate perceived weight with an actual measurement. Our pumpkin weighed in at a whopping 14.5 pounds!

Next, your child can measure the pumpkin’s circumference using a piece of string or yarn along with a yardstick or tape measure. Once he has determined the circumference, take the calculations to the next level (if age appropriate) and have your child use the following geometric formulas to find the diameter and radius.

C = πd (circumference = 3.14 × diameter)

d = 2r (diameter = 2 × radius)

After you or your child cut the pumpkin open (we recommend providing supervision), have your children count the total number of pumpkin seeds by separating them into rows of five or ten. This practice is great for helping younger children understand multiplication.

Once the inside of the pumpkin is cleaned out, have your child fill it with water using a measuring cup to determine how much liquid it can hold. Ask him to estimate beforehand how much he thinks it will hold and then compare that with his findings. Subtract to see how far off the estimate was. Our pumpkin held just over 5 liters of water.

I hope you enjoy using this learning activity with your child. Be sure to subscribe to our homeschool email for more fun homeschooling ideas!