The First Great Lesson: The Beginning of the Universe and Earth

Students enjoy a special picnic lunch; the candle represents the sun!

An integral and unique part of the Lower Elementary curriculum is the Great Lessons. These exciting lessons are designed to ignite a child's imagination and curiosity about the world around them. There are five Great Lessons that are presented every year so that students are exposed to them more than one time. The Great Lessons are used to paint a broad picture of large concepts. Then, students can be shown how smaller ideas fit into the larger framework.

Lower Elementary students were thrilled by the First Great Lesson, the story of the coming of the universe and the beginnings of Earth. The story was told in the loft. As students climbed the ladder to the loft, cosmic music welcomed them to a dark space, representing an empty space before existence. The bursting of a black balloon filled with gold stars and other demonstrations helped tell the story of the coming of the universe.

The lesson continues with the beginning of our planet, Earth. Oil, water, and honey poured into a jar helped demonstrate how particles of different weight settled into layers of Earth. Over million of years, as the surface cooled, a crust formed over Earth. However, under this crust was red, hot, molten rock. A baking soda and vinegar volcano demonstrated the eruptions that occurred on early Earth. Volcanoes on Earth erupted not only molten rock but invisible matter called gas. Slowly, slowly, slowly, the molten rock cooled and turned into solid matter. Ice, water, and air in glass containers helped students see the three types of matter and start our experiment of water evaporation and condensation.   The First Great Lesson ends with the idea of the water cycle on Earth without life.

 

Students were excited by each demonstration and awed by the grand ideas. Students were able to illustrate their understanding of the lesson with black paper and colored pencils. Some of our older students included their version of the story of the Beginning of the Universe.

This awesome lesson leads to the study of:

*Astronomy: solar system, stars, galaxies, comets, constellations

 

*Meteorology: wind, weather, erosion, water cycle, clouds, glaciers

*Chemistry: states of matter, changes, mixtures, reactions

*Physics: gravity, energy, light, sound, heat, friction, motion, magnetism

*Geology: types of rocks, minerals, land forms, volcanoes, earthquakes, eras of the Earth

*Geography: maps, globes, latitude/longitude, climates, land/water form names, continent and country research