LOVE CONNECTS US
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 11: SCIENCE AND RELIGION
BY MICHELLE RICHARDS AND LYNN UNGAR
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/7/2014 8:21:54 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Pleasure lies not in discovering truth, but in seeking it. — Leo Tolstoy
This session explores the Blake covenant phrase to "seek the truth in love." Through the story of Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), participants discover our Unitarian heritage of seeking truth and our calling to act on our understanding of what is true and right.
Priestley, a scientist and a Unitarian minister, actively combined his theological beliefs with scientific inquiry. He made scientific breakthroughs we recognize today, such as proving the existence of oxygen. Yet, Priestley was ostracized during his time for his freethinking ideas and determined inquiry. Priestley refused to back down from his discoveries even when he and his family were threatened with bodily harm. His story reminds us of the dual importance of seeking the truth in love and following our conscience in standing up for our beliefs.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 10 |
Activity 1: Wondering Ritual and Meditation | 10 |
Activity 2: Story — Joseph Priestley: Discovering Truth through Science and Religion | 15 |
Activity 3: Potato Puncture | 5 |
Activity 4: Incredible Marshmallow | 5 |
Activity 5: Religion or Science? | 10 |
Faith in Action: Planting a Tree | |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Blowing It Out | 5 |
Alternate Activity 2: Yarn Scavenger Hunt | 15 |
Alternate Activity 3: Graffiti Wall of Wonder | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Find a place where you can be quiet with your thoughts. Close your eyes and breathe deeply for about five minutes, perhaps repeating a word or phrase to separate yourself from the activities of the day. When you feel settled and relaxed, think about a time when you made a discovery which caused you to question previously held assumptions. Reflect:
Keep your own experiences and feelings in your mind as you lead participants to explore our heritage of seeking truth in love.
SESSION PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As participants arrive, invite them to make question mark ornaments. Tell the children that later they will hang the ornaments on the Rainbow Wall Hanging.
Including All Participants
If any participants have difficulty with small motor control, encourage them to choose a sheet of card stock and hold a template on it for another child to trace a question mark. Children who have trouble tracing and cutting may be able to decorate ornaments with markers. Make sure they leave room on the ornament to write.
OPENING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Love is the spirit of this church,
and service its law.
This is our great covenant:
To dwell together in peace,
To seek the truth in love,
And to help one another. — James Vila Blake
Description of Activity
Invite a participant to light the chalice. Lead the group to read aloud the Blake covenant. Say something like:
Today we will explore the part of our covenant that talks about "seek[ing] the truth in love".
Invite everyone to select a question mark ornament and a marker, pen, or pencil. Encourage them to write on their ornament a way in which people can seek truth. Allow participants a few minutes to write. Then, invite them, one at a time, to tie their ornaments to the wall hanging, and as they do so, if they feel like sharing what they have written, read or say it aloud to the group.
After everyone has had a chance to attach an ornament, gather around the chalice and extinguish it together.
Including All Participants
Invite participants who may be unable to write on an ornament to share verbally while you or another participant serves as "scribe." If you know some participants may feel uncomfortable sharing in a group, let them know as they enter the room that later they will be invited to share about ways people can seek truth. This may help them prepare an idea before the sharing time; they can also pass if they choose.
ACTIVITY 1: WONDERING RITUAL AND MEDITATION (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
A brief guided meditation sparks participants’ thoughts about big questions and establishes an atmosphere conducive to the sharing ritual which follows.
Gather the group and ask them to sit comfortably, not touching anyone else, for a guided meditation. Ring the gong or bell. Then, read aloud in a calm, clear voice:
I invite you to close your eyes if you feel comfortable. Or, find a space on the wall or a special object to focus upon.
Now take a deep breath in, (pause) now let it out. Deep breath in(pause), deep breath out.
As you continue to breathe slowly in and out, imagine you are growing larger and larger so your whole being fills this room. (Pause) Growing larger still, you are now part of this whole building, with all its people and furniture and carpet and walls. (Pause) Growing even larger, you expand even more to include all the surrounding area, this neighborhood, the city, and as you grow and grow and grow, you are now as large as our state and country and now as big as the entire planet. (Pause) But still you grow and grow until you expand outward throughout the entire universe, growing larger and larger forever. (Long pause) Now feel yourself shrinking, slowly getting smaller … smaller … smaller … smaller … so small you are once again back in this building, here in this room with us.
Ring the gong or bell to invite participants to slowly exit the meditation. Then tell them, in these words, or your own:
The meditation you just experienced was similar to what our universe experienced during the Big Bang, a cosmic event some scientists believe started our existence. But no one knows for sure. Much of science is exploring truth starting with the unknown we wonder about.
Invite participants to call out “popcorn” style some things they wonder about. Sound the gong after each person offers a wonder statement.
Ring the gong to signal the end of sharing their wonderings. Invite reflection with questions such as:
Including All Participants
Some participants will be more eager than others to share their wonderings in the group. Using the meditation to set a mood before the sharing time may encourage some participants who might otherwise hold back. Mention before the meditation that after the meditation the group will be sharing some of the amazing things we wonder about. This gives participants more time to consider what they will say. You might also remind the group that sharing is voluntary.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — DISCOVERING TRUTH THROUGH SCIENCE AND RELIGION (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell or read the story to participants.
After the story, invite the group to be silent for a moment to think about it.
Begin a discussion by asking the children to recap the story in their own words. What they recall indicates what they found most meaningful or memorable.
Lead a discussion using questions such as:
Including All Participants
Provide a hard copy of the story for hearing impaired participants so they can read along as you tell the story.
ACTIVITY 3: POTATO PUNCTURE (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Form teams of two or three participants at work tables. Give each team a raw potato. Ask a participant on each team to select a straw and try to stab the potato with it. (The straw should buckle and bend, barely piercing the potato skin.)
Then, encourage another participant on the team to take a straw, hold it so their thumb seals the top hole, and try to stab the other end into the potato.
Participants will probably find it fun to try the experiment a few more times.
Ask participants to reflect with questions such as:
Including All Participants
Instead of stabbing the potato with a straw, an individual with limited motor coordination may be able to hold the potato still while a teammate stabs it with the straw.
ACTIVITY 4: INCREDIBLE MARSHMALLOW (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Ask for a volunteer to draw all of the air out of the jar using the straw. Under normal conditions, molecules of air from the atmosphere (called atmospheric pressure) are pushing on the outside of the marshmallow. When the air that was once pushing on the outside of the marshmallow is removed, the air trapped inside the marshmallow pushes out (expands) causing it to get larger. The marshmallows shrink when the vacuum seal is broken and air rushes back into the container.
Then invite the participant to blow into the straw. As the air in the jar increases, the marshmallow will shrink.
If you have time, allow others to try the experiment. Use a new straw and a new marshmallow each time.
Process observations with questions such as:
Including All Participants
If any participants are unable to see the experiment, have a co-leader or a participant verbally describe the activity as it happens.
ACTIVITY 5: RELIGION OR SCIENCE? (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Indicate the newsprint signs that say "SCIENCE," "RELIGION," and "BOTH." Tell the group you have a series of statements that some or all people consider to be true. Say they will decide which way can better test each statement: science, or religion, or both. Tell them some statements might be matters that both science and religion can test.
Invite a participant to select a slip of paper from Leader Resource 1. Read the statement aloud or invite a volunteer to do it. Lead the group to decide where the statement belongs and encourage a participant to use tape to post the statement on the sheet of newsprint the group selects.
Classify all the statements. Then, invite reflection with questions such as:
Including All Participants
Do not put any participants on the spot to read a statement aloud. Separate the task of choosing a statement from the task of reading it to the group. You may wish to ask for one or two volunteers to share what is written on the slips of paper.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Bring the group to the circle. Ask everyone to cross their arms in front of their body and then take the hands of the people next to them. Say "We are tied together by seeking the truth in love when we... " Ask anyone who wishes to fill in a word or phrase about how we are tied together in a search for truth, in love. When everyone who wants to share has done so, open the circle by having everyone, while still holding hands, turn to their right, so that everyone is facing out and no longer has their arms crossed in front of their body.
Distribute copies of Taking It Home that you have prepared. Thank and dismiss participants.
FAITH IN ACTION: PLANTING A TREE
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the group around the hole (or large pot) where the tree will be planted. Enlist their aid in transferring the seedling to the hole in the ground and removing any temporary pot or protective coverings from the seedling and its roots.
Holding the plant steady in the hole, invite each participant to shovel at least one portion of dirt or soil into the hole. Pass shovels around the group as necessary.
Once the tree is firmly planted, share any brief ritual you have prepared. Invite the participants to reflect on and share their hopes and wishes for the tree they just planted. You might model or prompt with suggestions such as "adding more oxygen to our atmosphere" or "offering a place for the younger children to play once it grows larger."
Including All Participants
Pair a participant who cannot grasp and manipulate a shovel with someone who can help them as needed to fill the shovel with dirt and add the dirt to the hole.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Reflect on and discuss with your co-leader(s):
Approach your religious educator for guidance as needed.
TAKING IT HOME
Pleasure lies not in discovering truth, but in seeking it. — Leo Tolstoy
IN TODAY'S SESSION... the participants learned about Unitarian minister and scientist Joseph Priestley whose story embodies our Unitarian heritage of "seeking the truth in love." We shared some of the things we wonder about and did simple experiments with air pressure to explore Priestley's discovery of the existence of oxygen.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... science facts you find amazing. You might share how exciting it was when you discovered that all matter is made out of atoms so tiny they cannot be seen by the eye, or how the light we see from the stars comes from billions of years ago. Let your children know how your ideas about theology and spirituality are tied to your understandings of science, not opposed to them.
Family Discovery. Visit a science museum that has hands-on exhibits and immersive activities for children, and explore the wonders of discovery. Conduct some scientific experiments of your own at home. Many websites suggest easy projects that foster curiosity and promote learning. Try Children's Science Experiment Ideas (at www.kids-science-experiments.com/cat_pressure.html), Steve Spangler Science (at www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiments/), Captain Curiosity Science Experiments (at www.captaincuriosity.net/science-experiments-air/science-experiments-air-02/air-science-experiment-A02.htm), and the How Stuff Works (at home.howstuffworks.com/science-projects-for-kids-air-pressure.htm) website.
Family Games. Games such as I Spy and Twenty Questions encourage questioning and wonder. To play I Spy, someone starts by saying "I spy with my little eye..." and describes an object visible to all by just its color. They may name a large object (such as a house, a tree, or a sofa) or a small one (an envelope, a pencil, or an earring), as long as everyone playing can see it. The player who guesses the object goes next. In Twenty Questions, one player thinks of a noun/object and the others ask yes/no questions to determine what that object is. Again, the player who guesses correctly goes next. Because they need no game boards, cards, or other paraphernalia, these games are great to play on the road, in an airport, or on a nature hike.
Find a crossword puzzle, word search, and other quizzes on Joseph Priestley on the State of Pennsylvania's history website (at www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_history/4276).
A Family Ritual. Bedtime is a natural time to share our wonder about the mysteries of the world. Consider creating a night-time ritual of asking "wonder" questions: "I wonder how old the light from those stars is" or "I wonder what people are doing on the other side of the Earth where it is daytime already." Your questions need not be answerable; in fact, it is probably best if they are not. Speaking them out loud in the darkness as you cuddle together or just before climbing into bed as you gaze out at the night can elevate wonder questions to a spiritual practice.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: BLOWING IT OUT (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Form teams of three or four participants. Give each team a tea light candle and a round container. Tell the teams to place the candle directly behind the container. Light the tea light candles. Then, ask the teams to have someone hold the container securely to the work table and then blow out their candle by blowing on the round container instead of the candle.
Use these questions to reflect:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: YARN SCAVENGER HUNT (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Form teams of two or three.
Tell the group they will work in teams to look for bundles of yarn you have hidden. Tell them each bundle is a different color; tell them how many bundles there are. Show them the parameters within which they should search.
Tell them each time they find a bundle of yarn, they should take just one strand of that color yarn for their team, replace the bundle where they found it. As they go, they should tie their strands of yarn together to make one, long chain.
When every team has completed their chain, invite participants to reflect with questions such as:
Including All Participants
If any participant has limited mobility, consider having them hide with a yarn bundle. If able, the participant might tie a strand of the yarn to the chain of each team that finds them.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: GRAFFITI WALL OF WONDER (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The group creates a Graffiti Wall of Wondering Questions.
Distribute markers and encourage participants to write their wondering questions on the blank paper. Invite them to forego neat lists and instead arrange their questions haphazardly.
Remind them that a "wondering question" is one that inspires investigation and discovery—"seeking truth in love". Such questions may not be readily answerable, and certainly not with a simple "yes" or "no".
If needed, prompt with questions of your own, questions you heard from the group in Activity 1, or some of these:
As the graffiti wall fills, invite reflection with questions such as:
Post the graffiti wall. If there is space left on it and participants can easily reach it, invite them to add more wondering questions as long as the graffiti wall remains posted.
Including All Participants
If any participants are physically unable to write their own questions on the graffiti wall, have some or all participants work in pairs: One generates questions, the other writes.
LOVE CONNECTS US: SESSION 11:
STORY: DISCOVERING TRUTH THROUGH SCIENCE AND RELIGION
We often hear that science and religion are two things that just do not go together. One relies on facts which can be proven. The other relies on faith and intuition. However, science and religion have a lot in common. They both inspire wonder, questioning, and seeking truth.
To at least one man about 250 years ago, the Unitarian Joseph Priestley, religion and science were two ways of exploring the world and seeking truth. To him, they were not polar opposites in conflict with one another but two complementary avenues of discovery.
Joseph Priestley is best known as the scientist who “discovered” the presence of oxygen. He discovered that plants and trees generate oxygen, and he determined that living creatures need oxygen to breathe. Today we take this idea for granted, and maybe you have already learned it in school. But back in his day, trying to prove the existence of something you could not see, smell, hear, touch, or taste was difficult indeed.
In those days, the Unitarian religion already was a home for people who believed we each can discover our own faith truth. And Joseph Priestley was a Unitarian minister. He saw no contradiction between seeking truth through faith and intuition and seeking truth using the methods of science. During the years he was using science to explore air, gases, electricity, and other physical matters in our world, Joseph Priestley also wrote about religious matters. In one, he proposed that the soul was a Divine substance, incomprehensible to human beings. He even taught the two subjects together at prestigious universities in England.
But lots of people disagreed with his ideas—particularly his religious beliefs. In 1791, an angry mob destroyed his family’s home, along with two places Joseph Priestley sought truth: his laboratory and his church. The buildings burned to the ground, along with many important papers, books, and experiment notes.
Joseph and his wife had no choice but to flee England and seek refuge across the ocean in the newly established United States of America. You might think having lost everything and being forced to start over in a new country would make Joseph less interested in pursuing his freethinking ideas. You would be wrong. Even as his family resettled, he continued his experiments in science and his explorations in faith. He discovered the poisonous gas carbon monoxide in 1799, and for this he is known as the father of modern chemistry. And, he continued to pursue his love of religion. The first Unitarian minister in the United States, he helped found the Unitarian Church in Philadelphia.
LOVE CONNECTS US: SESSION 11:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: SCIENCE, RELIGION, OR BOTH?
FIND OUT MORE
Learn more about Joseph Priestley online at The Joseph Priestley House website (at www.josephpriestleyhouse.org/index.php?page=about-joseph-priestley), the History Guide (at www.historyguide.org/intellect/priestley.html) website, or the State of Pennsylvania's history website (at www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_history/4276).
Discover more about oxygen and the other gases Joseph Priestley identified at the Scientific American website (at www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=10-climate-experiments) or the Jefferson Lab website (at education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele008.html).
Julian Rubin's website, Following the Path of Discovery (at www.juliantrubin.com/fairencyclopedia.html), explains how to replicate many famous science experiments, including some of Priestley's (at www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/oxygenexperiments.html).