← Nat Theo Nature Lessons Rooted in the Bible
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Have you downloaded the free coloring sheet for this lesson? Click the link in our Show Notes to print and color along as you listen. And join the Nat Theo Club at the link in our Show Notes to receive a full lesson and activity guide and a bonus video of content every single week so you can dive deeper into every lesson. Explore God's wild and wonderful world in the Nat Theo club@aaron lyneum.com club or at the link in our Show Notes. Hello world. Wake me up to another good Good morning. Time to go. Are you ready to explore God's wild and wonderful world? Welcome to the naptheo Podcast. I'm your host Erin Lyneum. I'm a certified Master naturalist, Bible teacher and author and I am so excited to dive into God's written word, the Bible, and His created world with. Have you ever found sea glass on a beach? Sea glass is very fun to find. One time, my family and I visited North beach park in Townsend, Washington, a beach famous for sea glass. As we walked along the shore and took in the beautiful sights of the ocean, we spotted and collected bits of sea glass in many different colors. Looking for sea glass on a beach is a bit like a treasure hunt, but what is this mysterious treasure and where did it come from? That is what we are exploring today. Here is our trail map. Are you ready? We are going to learn how is sea glass made? How does sand make glass? How does sea glass tell stories? And how does God write our stories? Before we hit the trail, let's thank our sponsors who help make this lesson possible, including Master Books. I love reading and looking at pictures in science and nature books, don't you? But unfortunately a lot of science books leave God out of the picture. And while we can sometimes still learn things from those books, I definitely prefer books that showcase God's designs and give him all the credit. That's why our family loves nature and science. Books by Master Books if you are interested in rocks, fossils, minerals, gemstones or caves, you will love their Wonders of Creation series with full color books diving into God's designs in geology and archaeology. Find the Wonders of Creation Geology set at the link in our Show Notes and explore Master Book's full library of books and curriculum from a biblical worldview@masterbooks.com have you ever noticed how much math is in nature? God wrote the rules of math, then used math to create a snail's spiraled shell, the curve of ocean waves, patterns in flower petals, and the orbits of planets. As we grow in math skills, we can better marvel at what God has made my kids, along with over 217,000 students, are growing in math skills and confidence using CTC Math. CTC Math is an online math platform offering easy to understand video lessons and practice questions that help kids catch up, keep up and excel in math. They believe so much in their lessons, they offer a free trial and a 12 month money back guarantee. No questions asked. Try it for free at ctcmath.com or at the link in our show Notes it's time for our trivia question how old is the oldest sea glass people have found? A 50 to 70 years B 90 to 100 years, C 200 to 300 years or D 500 to 600 years. Again, how old is the oldest sea glass people have found? A 50 to 70 years B 90 to 100 years, C 200 to 300 years or D 500 to 600 years? Take a guess and we will find out at the end of today's lesson and at the Oak Club members after this lesson, click over to the bonus video. I'm going to show you videos I took of my family's trip to a sea glass beach and the treasures that we found, as well as some tips for going out and finding sea glass yourself. You can find that bonus video in your Nat Theo Club dashboard or at the link in our show Notes alright, let's hit the trail. If you have ever been walking along a beach and found a small piece of smooth glass without sharp edges, you might have wondered, where did this come from? When we find cool rocks or seashells on a beach, we know that they are a part of nature. These are marvelous things that God has made. But what about a piece of smooth glass? Did God make sea glass? The answer is kind of Sea glass are bits of broken glass that have been tumbled by ocean waves over many years. Waves and sand smooth the glass and give it a frosty look. But how does so much glass get into the ocean in the first place? Sea glass is often from glass bottles, tableware and other items that have either been thrown into the ocean or lost in the sea from shipwrecks. A ship goes down in the ocean. On that ship were many glass items like bottles or drinking glasses. Glass is fragile, so these bottles or other glass items break. Pieces of glass are jostled and tumbled about in the ocean for many years, usually 20 to 40 years. As the glass tumbles, it breaks into smaller pieces. Think about all of those small pieces of glass tumbling around in the ocean. The ocean acts a bit like a rock tumbler. Have you ever seen or used a rock tumble tumbler. My family owns a rock tumbler and we have enjoyed placing ordinary looking rocks inside. And then weeks later, after much tumbling, we open it and find the rocks transformed. They are smoothed and polished. This is what the ocean does to sea glass. Sea glass goes through a process called weathering. Weathering is when rocks or minerals are slowly worn down by nature, like through water, wind, or chemicals. As the glass tumbles in ocean waves and rubs up against coarse sand and rough rocks, the glass becomes smooth. It also turns a foggy color. It's easy to understand how rubbing up against sand and rocks would remove sharp edges. But what exactly makes sea glass look frosty? All that tumbling may smooth the sea glass overall, but it can also cause a rougher surface at the microscopic level. So, like little tiny bumps on the surface, those tiny bumps scatter light and make the sea glass look foggy or frosted. The frosted look also comes from chemical breakdown, like salt and minerals in the ocean water changing the glass. The result is beautiful, frosty, smooth gems that are one of a kind. They truly are a treasure to find. And you don't have to go to the ocean to find sea glass. You can also find it around some large lakes. My family has enjoyed finding a lot of sea glass at Lake Superior in Michigan. But sea glass from the ocean will be a little bit different from sea glass found at freshwater lakes. Sea glass from a lake might be less frosty and polished because it doesn't tumble in big waves like it would in the ocean or go through the chemical processing from saltwater. So it might be a little bit rougher with sharper edges and more see through than frosty. Okay, back to our big question. Did God make sea glass? Do you remember what the answer was? Kind of. Of course, God did not make the glass bottles or jars that the sea glass comes from. But those glass bottles and jars are made from a natural material that God did make. Do you know what that natural material is? Sand. Glass is made from sand. But how? Glass is made from a specific type of sand. But that might make us ask, what exactly is sand? Sand is made from rocks and minerals. God designed many different kinds of rocks and minerals. Which means that sand can look and feel very different depending on which rocks and minerals it came from. So what exactly makes it sand? It's size. Sand is defined by size. A grain of sand measures from 0.0625 millimeters to 2 millimeters. But how tiny is that? It is around the same size as a sugar crystal. Sand is larger Than dust, but smaller than a pebble. We can see individual sand grains with our eyes without using a microscope. If you laid sand grains side by side, it could take 12 or more to make a 1 inch line of sand. So sand is bits of rocks or minerals that are 0.0625 millimeter to 2 millimeter in size. Sand displays God's creativity. It can be black when it's made from volcanic rock, or white when it's made from broken bits of coral or shells. There is tan sand that's made from a mineral called quartz. Quartz mixed with iron oxide can make yellow or brown sand. And there is even a rare pink sand made from tiny living organisms called foraminifera. God painted beaches in many colors with all the different types of sand. But what does this have to do with glass? Sand is a main ingredient in glass, Specifically sand with a lot of mineral called silica. The sand is mixed with melted soda ash and limestone. When it's super hot and melty, it moves around kind of like honey on a spoon. Glass makers can use tools to safely pull, push, and shape the glass. They can pour it into molds or roll it flat for things like windows. This is a dangerous process because the furnace glass makers use is extremely hot to get the job done. But when it's finished, the result is beautiful, polished, shiny glass. Have you ever visited a glass blowing shop? My family has visited several, and it is always amazing to watch glassblowing artists melting and shaping glass into useful things like bowls or beautiful things like animal figurines and Christmas ornaments, and think all of that from sand. God created incredible materials in nature like sand, and he made humans very smart to figure out how to use those materials in nature to make beautiful and useful items. So while God did not make the glass bottles that sea glass comes from, he made the sand, and he made the people that turned the sand into into glass bottles, which later became sea glass. It's kind of like how God did not make your house with his own hands, but he did create trees that we get wood from. And he made people to be smart and to turn that wood into the walls of your home. And think about this. Sand is melted into glass bottles or other glass items, Then those items might end up in the ocean. They are broken and tumbled for many years. They turn into frosty sea glass gems, and then they end up right back on the beach along with all the sand which glass is made from. That is a fun process to think about as you search for sea glass gems on the beach. Now, here Is something very interesting. Not all glass is made by humans. God also designed natural ways for glass to be made. Let's look at two ways glass can form naturally. The first is from volcanic activity. This is called volcanic glass or obsidian. Volcanic glass is a rock that forms when lava from a volcano cools very fast. So so fast that it doesn't have time to grow many or any crystals. That's why it looks shiny and smooth, Almost like glass. Volcanic glass, or obsidian, Is made mostly from a mineral called silica, which is the same mineral we learned about in sand that makes glass. Another way that glass is made in nature is when lightning strikes sand or or rocks. This natural glass is called fulgurite. Fulgurites are like glass tubes. They form when super hot lightning strikes sand or rock and melts the silica mineral inside the sand or rock. When this happens, it creates a hollow tube surrounded by natural glass. Not all the glass you find on the beach is sea glass. Sometimes, unfortunately, glass is just left at the beach. But sea glass is different. It has tumbled for years in the ocean and often traveled quite a long distance as it rides with the waves and lands on a beach. Because of this long journey, it looks different with its rounded edges and frosty appearance. This is one reason sea glass is such a treasure to find. It tells a story. Not out loud, of course, because glass is not alive and cannot speak. But when you spot and pick up a piece of sea glass, you can think about how far it might have traveled. Think about where it might have come from. Was it on a ship years ago that was voyaging across the ocean? Did someone keep something special in the jar it came from? Did it go down with a ship In a shipwreck? As it tumbled in the ocean, how many fish did it pass? Did the shiny glint of the glass catch the eye of an octopus or shark before the waves and salty water turned it frosty? Sea glass makes us think about time and stories. Sea glass is also becoming harder to find. Do you have any ideas as to why that might be? One reason is that a lot more items used to be held in glass containers. Nowadays, plastic or other materials are used more than glass. So less glass is ending up in the ocean. Also, thankfully, there are more rules in place against dumping trash into the oceans. This is great because. Because it's helping to protect God's ocean creatures and the special underwater habitats. So as people find and collect sea glass, it's not being replenished as quickly. And that is not so bad because less glass in the Ocean is overall good news. But while there is still sea glass to be found, we can enjoy walking beaches to to spot these special gems. And when we find one, considering the story it might tell, if it could, of years of tumbling in the ocean and being transformed by the journey. So sea glass is not alive and cannot tell stories of its voyage. But we are alive and we can tell stories. And oh listener, what an incredible story God is writing in your Life. Psalm chapter 107:2 says, Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. Those he redeemed from the hand of the foe. Do you know what that word redeemed means? To redeem means to buy something back. Because of our sins we were separated from God, but He redeemed us. He bought us back. Do you know what the price was to buy us back? It was the sacrifice of his perfect son, Jesus. Because Jesus paid the price for our sins. We can be forever with God when we choose to trust Jesus as our Savior. As we live for God, he is writing an amazing story in our lives. The psalm said, let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. We cannot keep this story to ourselves because as we share our stories, other people can hear about God's truth and power and love. God wants them to accept his gift of salvation and to write incredible stories in their lives too. Think about the story of sea glass. It's not actually an easy story. Some pieces of sea glass ended up in the ocean because because of a shipwreck. Then the glass spends years being tossed by waves and rubbing against sharp sand that smooths the glass's sharp edges. In a similar way, not every part of our stories will be easy. We might feel tossed by the waves of life and sanded down by rough circumstances. But as we go through these hard seasons and processes and we can trust that God is the author of our lives and he is using every season to transform us. Just like sea glass. Listen to Romans 5, 3, 5. We also have joy with our troubles because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character. And character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us. That verse said a lot. Let's look a little bit closer. It begins by saying we can have joy in our troubles. Does that mean we have to be happy and in hard times? Not exactly. Instead, when hard times come, we can stay steady and secure in God's joy and love. We don't have to sink deep into despair, but instead cling to our God who protects and helps us. It goes on to say that these hard times will produce things in us, things like patience, character, and hope. Just like sea glass being changed by hard conditions, God can use the difficulties of life to transform us and to make us more like Jesus. And I love this part near the end that says this hope will never disappoint us. Listener when we go through hard times, we can lean to ever more deeply into the hope of God, which does not change. He is writing our stories and even with some hard chapters scattered throughout, his hope sustains us and keeps us going. And that hope will never disappoint us. As you go through life, look for ways that God is writing your story and remember this not one chapter or sentence of your story is a surprise to Him. Even when unexpected things happen, God is not surprised and he is preparing you for every chapter ahead. Psalm chapter 139:16 says, you saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old. So if you are ever walking on a beach and spot a rounded, frosty gem of sea glass, pick it up and roll it around in your hand. Think about the voyage it took from sea to shore and the rough conditions it might have endured. And remember this, through good times and hard times, God is writing your story and he is a magnificent author. It's time to answer a question from one of our listeners. Here is today's question. Hello, my name is Jackson and I 6 years old and I live in Tennessee and I was to know how deep and why can tree roots go? That's a great question, Jackson. How deep and wide can tree roots grow? God created a tree's roots to serve two important roles in keeping the tree healthy and standing tall. The roots hold the tree steady in the ground, keeping its tall trunk upright. The roots also absorb or soak in water and nutrients from the ground, supplying the tree with what it needs to live and grow. Tree roots must be big enough to support the tree. Most studies show that tree roots are pretty shallow, normally only reaching depths of 6 inches or 2ft underground. Instead of growing deep, most tree roots grow wide. Most studies show that tree roots expand out beneath the tree about two to five times wider than the tree's crown or the leafy top of the tree. That means if a tree's crown is around 30ft across, its roots could be 60 to 100ft wide. God designed tree roots to be exactly the right size to keep a tree sturdy and and to soak up the nutrients that the tree needs. Thanks for your great question, Jackson. Stay curious about God's Wild and Wonderful world and Nat Theo Club members. Remember to click over to the bonus video where I will share videos of my family's trip to a sea glass beach and share tips for finding sea glass when you go out to explore. Find that bonus video in your Nat Theo Club dashboard or or at the link in our show Notes. It's time to answer our trivia question. How old is the oldest sea glass people have found? A 50 to 70 years, B 90 to 100 years, C 200 to 300 years or D 500 to 600 years? The answer is C 200 to 300 years old. This glass is often called black glass and looks black from iron oxide that was added when the glass was made. Much of this black glass is from the 1800s, possibly from Spanish supply ships that shipwrecked and it is a rare and special find today. Now it's your turn to explore. Go look for treasures on a beach. Maybe you live by the ocean or can visit a lake. Ask your parent or caregiver to plan a trip to look for neat things on the beach. Can you find cool shells, rocks, driftwood or creatures? What about sea glass? Just make sure to check the rules for the area before deciding to take anything home. And always be safe and with an adult around water. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this lesson on sea glass, please take a moment to send it to a friend and subscribe. Rate and review Nat Theo wherever you listen. Until next time, keep exploring God's wild and wonderful world. We are all looking for adventure. We are all looking for adventure. We are all looking for adventure.