Author - Amy Stults

The kitchen is normally the hub and the heart of the home. Families spend more time in this special room than any other room in the house. It is used for food preparation, arts and crafts, get-togethers, Bible studies, and much more. So why not add one more function?  Turn your kitchen into a science lab.

Most of us cringe at the thought of a science lab, as we are instantly taken back to a time when science labs were sterile, boring classrooms filled with goggles, beakers, microscopes and long white coats. Well, that was HIGH school, this is HOME school.

The incredible thing about science is that it isn’t all about microscopes and beakers. You do not need expensive equipment and dangerous chemicals. Just grab two apples, some lettuce, popcorn, and an onion, and let’s do some experimenting.

Have your kids ever asked you the following questions?

• Why does an apple turn brown after you cut it?
• Why do we have to dry foods, like fruits and pasta, to store them?
• How does popcorn pop?
• Why does lettuce wilt after you cut it?
• Why do onions make people cry?

Experiment #1: Why does an apple turn brown after you cut it?

Peel and slice an apple onto a plate and leave it out on the counter. Within a few minutes, the white will begin to turn brown. Why? Fruit contains a chemical enzyme that reacts with the oxygen in our air creating a rust-like effect on the surface of the apple. The same goes with potatoes.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. ~ Genesis 1:11

Who wants to eat a brown apple? Not me. To stop the discoloration, place the apple slices in a bowl of water so the enzymes do not have access to oxygen. Another way is to sprinkle them with an acidic liquid like lemon juice.

Apple Fun Facts

• The apple tree originated in an area between the Caspian and the Black Sea.
• The pilgrims planted the first United States apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• 25 percent of an apple’s volume is air. That is why they float.
• In colonial time apples were called winter banana or melt-in-the-mouth.
• The world’s largest apple peel was created by 16 year old Kathy Wafler Madison on October 16, 1976, in Rochester, NY. It was 172 feet, 4 inches long.
• One of George Washington’s hobbies was pruning his apple trees.
• The first apple nursery was opened in Flushing, New York in 1730.

Experiment #2: Why do we have to dry foods, like fruits and pasta, to store them?

Most foods, especially fruits, contain a lot of water. This sweet water is a prime environment for the growth of bacteria and mold. To preserve the food, we need to remove the water through dehydration. To preserve an apple: Cut your apples into ¼-inch thick slices. Lay flat on cookie sheets, do not overlap. Dry at 115 degrees for 6 to 8 hours. Turn the slices over after 4 hours.

Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. ~ Proverbs 31:31

More Apple Fun Facts

• Apples were the favorite fruit of ancient Greeks and Romans.
• America’s longest-lived apple tree was reportedly planted in 1647 by Peter Stuyvesant in his Manhattan orchard and was still bearing fruit when a derailed train struck it in 1866.
• The largest apple picked weighed three pounds.
• It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.
• Apples are the second most valuable fruit grown in the United States. Oranges are first.
• 2500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.
• 7500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.

Experiment #3: How does popcorn pop?

The secret to popcorn is a tiny drop of water contained in the starch-filled kernel. Heat turns that water drop into steam, which expands and breaks the kernel’s shell open.

For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. ~ Psalm 86:10

Popcorn Fun Facts

• By the time Europeans began settling in the New World, popcorn and other corn types had spread to all Native American tribes in North and South America. More than 700 types of popcorn were being grown, many extravagant poppers had been invented, and popcorn was worn in the hair and around the neck.
• The English colonists were introduced to popcorn at the first Thanksgiving feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where one of the chief’s brothers arrived with a goodwill gift of popped corn in a deerskin bag.
• Colonial housewives served popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast — the first breakfast cereal!
• Popping popcorn is one of the number one uses for microwave ovens. Most microwave ovens have a popcorn control button.
• Popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the air.
• On September 29, 2006 a new record was set for the World’s Largest Popcorn Ball, as measured by the Guinness Book of World Records. Eight feet in diameter and nearly 24.5 feet in circumference, this creation weighed in at a whopping 3,423 pounds.

Experiment #4: Why does lettuce wilt after you cut it?

Uncut lettuce is very firm and crispy. This is because lettuce is 90% water! Once the lettuce is chopped, it becomes wilted because there are more edges for the water to escape. To freshen wilted lettuce, simply soak it in a bowl of ice cold water.

Lettuce Fun Facts

• The ancient Greeks served lettuce at the end of a meal because they believed it made people sleepy.
• Christopher Columbus was believed to have brought lettuce with him to the New World.
• In terms of production, lettuce is the top vegetable crop in the United States
• Thomas Jefferson grew 19 varieties of lettuce in his garden at Monticello.

Experiment #5: Why do onions make people cry?

The layers of an onion contain an irritant called sulfuric acid. Cutting releases the strong aroma of the acid. Tears are produced to wash the gaseous chemical from our eyes.

Onion Fun Facts

• Originated from area around Iran.
• Egyptians believed onions had strength-producing powers; therefore, they fed them to labors who built the pyramids.
• Onions have been found in pyramids in Egypt where they were buried along with the Pharaohs.
• The name onion stems from the Latin word unus meaning oneness or unity.
• Alexander the Great ordered his troops to eat onions to improve their vitality.
• An average American consumes around 21 pounds of fresh and processed onion every year.
• The largest onion ever grown weighed 10 pounds 14 ounces.

Welcome to part four in my series for learning about Christian scientists. You’ve been introduced to eight brilliant minds who specialized in biology and natural sciences, another set of eight astronomers who combed the stars for evidence of a creator, and yet another set of eight accomplished men who specialized in the area of geology and the study of the Great Flood. All of these great men strongly believed in a Creator and those born after Darwin’s time were outspoken opponents of evolution.

Because our planet, with its many layers, speaks very evidently to our creator, another post is befitting to cover the number of great scientists who were geologist and Christians. Thus, in this edition of my Christian scientists series, I will share seven more scientists who specialized in the area of geology and the study of the Great Flood.

In addition to reading this post, you can download a free pdf with timeline figures of all seven Christian geologists.

William Buckland was born in England in 1784 and went on to become Dean of Westminster, a very prominent position in the Church of England. He was the author of the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he personally named Megalosaurus. He also won the prestigious Copley Medal for his ground-breaking work with using scientific analysis to reconstruct events. He passed away in 1856 at the age of 72.

Adam Sedgwick was born in England in 1785 and became a long-time professor of geology at Cambridge University. As a friend and mentor of Charles Darwin, he was a staunch opponent of Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection. He has a scholarship prize and a museum named after him. He passed away in 1873 at the age of 87.

Edward Hitchcock was born in Massachusetts in 1793. He was a Congregationalist pastor, but left the ministry to teach chemistry at Amherst College. He eventually moved on to teach geology and became president of the college in 1845. He became a very well-known and esteemed geologist and was appointed state geologist of Massachusetts and then of Vermont. He amassed a remarkable collection of fossil footmarks, collected from the Connecticut Valley. He passed away in 1864 at the age of 70.

Louis Agassiz was born in Switzerland in 1807. While still living in Europe, he studied at the universities of Zürich, Heidelberg and Munich, before moving for a time to Paris, France for work.  His work with fossils gained him wide notoriety and in 1837-38 he was elected a foreign member of both the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the British Royal Society.  He traveled to the United States in 1846 to study the geology of North America and stayed until his death in 1873.

Henry Rogers was born in Pennsylvania in 1808. After being educated by his father, who was a professor at William and Mary College in Virginia, Rogers went on to become a professor himself, in Maryland and Pennsylvania. During the 1830’s – 40’s, he completed active field work and surveys in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before realizing that he could complete this work less expensively in Scotland. He passed away in Glasgow, Scotland at the age of 58.

James Dana was born in Utica, New York in 1813. After graduating from Yale University, he taught mathematics to US Navy shipmen and even traveled to the Mediterranean. Afterwards,  he traveled throughout the Pacific Ocean as a geologist with the United States Exploring Expedition. For 42 years he remained the professor of Natural History and Geology at Yale College.  At almost 70 years old, he led the first geological study of the volcanoes of Hawaii. He passed away in 1895 at the age of 82.

Sir John Dawson was born in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1820.  He was Nova Scotia’s first superintendent of education and is also known as the greatest Canadian geologist of all time. During his travels as superintendent, he was able to complete many geological studies throughout Canada. He became the first president of  the Royal Society of Canada and was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1884. The mineral Dawsonite was named in his honor. He passed away in 1899 at the age of 79. 

In a previous post, I introduced you to eight brilliant minds who specialized in biology and natural sciences. These men strongly believed in a Creator and those born after Darwin’s time were outspoken opponents of evolution.

In this edition of my christian scientists series, I will share scientists who specialized in the area of geology and the study of the Great Flood. In addition to reading this post, you can download a printable PDF with timeline figures of all eight Christian geologists.

Athanasius Kircher was born in what is modern day Germany in 1601. He was a member of the Catholic Society of Jesus, and in addition to publishing numerous studies on geology, he deciphered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, diagnosed the plague as being caused by an infectious microorganism, and invented several devices still in use today.

Nicolaus Steno was born in Denmark in 1638. His investigations with rocks and fossils were so groundbreaking that he is credited as the founder of modern stratigraphy (the study of rock layers) and geology. However, unlike modern geologists, he was the first of many to attribute the layers to Noah’s flood. He believed that fossils were the remains of the plants and animals that were living and buried rapidly at the time of the flood.

Scripture and Nature agree in this, that all things were covered with water; how and when this aspect began, and how long it lasted, Nature says not, Scripture relates. – Nicolaus Steno

Thomas Burnet was born in England in 1635. Burnet was author of The Sacred Theory of the Earth. His theory was a unique one that suggested that prior to Noah’s flood, the earth was hollow and all of the water from the flood was contained within. He speculated that the mountains and oceans formed after the flood. The Moon’s ridge Dorsa Burnet was named after him.

John Woodward was born in England in 1665. He is best known for his founding of the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology at Cambridge University. He had an enormous personal collection of fossils and also founded a great paleontology museum at Cambridge University.

William Whiston was born in England in 1667. He was a mathematician, historian, and geologist, as well as the successor to Sir Isaac Newton at Cambridge University. He was greatly attacked for his beliefs in Biblical literalism.

Jean-André Deluc was born in Switzerland in 1727. He was a well known geologist and published a series of books on his geological travels in various parts of the Europe between 1810 – 1813. He is credited with coining the term geology. Deluc, a crater on the Moon, was named after him. He invented a portable barometer and argued for the use of mercury in thermometers.

According to the conclusion of Dr. Hutton, and of many other geologists, our continents are of definite antiquity, they have been peopled we know not how, and mankind are wholly unacquainted with their origin. According to my conclusions drawn from the same source, that of facts, our continents are of such small antiquity, that the memory of the revolution which gave them birth must still be preserved among men; and thus we are led to seek in the book of Genesis the record of the history of the human race from its origin. Can any object of importance superior to this be found throughout the circle of natural science? – Jean-André Deluc

Jedidiah Morse was born in the state of Connecticut in 1761. The father of telegraph inventor Samuel Morse, he was later credited as the father of American geography. He influenced our educational system by creating the first American geography textbook. He was a devout believer in Noah’s ark and the great flood and included mention of them in his textbook.

Benjamin Silliman was born in the Connecticut in 1779. He was one of American’s first and foremost geologist, mineralogists, and chemists. In addition, he was one of the first American university professors of science. He founded the American Journal of Science and was the Association of American Geologists’ first president.

In a previous post, I shared a list of well-renowned scientists who specialized in astronomy and were vocal about their Christianity. In this post, I am going to introduce you to eight brilliant minds who specialized in biology and natural science.

These men strongly believed in a Creator and those born after Darwin’s time were outspoken opponents of evolution.

Download the images you see below.

Christian Scientists Timeline Figures Part 2

This free PDF contains timeline figures of these eight Christian biologists.

John Ray was born in Essex, England in the year 1627. Studying at Cambridge University, he eventually went on to become a professor of various studies, including Greek and mathematics. He developed an intense interest in botany, publishing papers and completing ingenious experiments such as the one that produced formic acid from red ants. He is most known for being the first person to produce the definition of a species. He passed away in 1705 at the age of 77.

“And I believe there are many Species in Nature, which were never yet taken notice of by Man, and consequently of no use to him, which yet we are not to think were created in vain; but it’s likely…to partake of the overflowing Goodness of the Creator, and enjoy their own Beings.” ~John Ray

James Parkinson was born in London, England in 1755. As the son of an apothecary and surgeon, the physical sciences were in his blood. He eventually took over his father’s practice and after diving into politics for a time, returned to his career in medicine. He studied diseases such as gout, appendicitis, and peritonitis. Due to his studies, Parkinson’s Disease bears his name. He passed away in 1824 at the age of 69.

William Kirby was born in 1759 in Suffolk, England. An avid naturalist, he is considered to be the father of entomology. He wrote the first scientific paper on English bees and wrote a very comprehensive introduction to entomology which was expanded to four volumes. He collected insect specimens for over forty years. After living a very long and fruitful life, he passed away in 1850 at the age of 91.

Benjamin Barton was born in Pennsylvania in 1766 to Irish immigrants. His uncle was noted astronomer David Rittenhouse. He was keenly interested in anatomy and published numerous scientific papers on the topic. In addition to becoming a professor at the College of Philadelphia, he was a physician at Pennsylvania Hospital until his untimely death. He passed away at the young age of only 49 in 1815.

William Prout was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1785. He became a practicing physician, but had a passion for research in the field of biological chemistry. One of his important discoveries was the fact that the stomach contains hydrochloric acid. He passed away in London in 1850 at the age of 65.

Sir Richard Owen was born in England in 1804. He is credited with the invention of the word dinosaur, to describe the terrible reptile species he was studying. His other most notable accomplishments include helping to found the British Natural History Museum and his work with the skeletons of extinct reptiles and mammals. He died in 1892 at the age of 88.

“But, as we have before been led to remark, most of Mr Darwin’s statements elude, by their vagueness and incompleteness, the test of Natural History facts.” ~ Sir Richard Owen

Philip Gosse was born in England in 1810. As a naturalist with a passion for marine biology, he was considered a great innovator within the scientific community. His career began at age 17 when he sailed to Newfoundland, Canada to study entomology. After returning to England, he began studying flora, fauna, reptiles, and birds. He passed away in 1888 at the age of 78.

“I assume that each organism which the Creator educed was stamped with an indelible specific character, which made it what it was, and distinguished it from everything else, however near or like.” ~ Philip Gosse

Jean-Henri Fabre was born in France in 1823. He was a self-taught, well-rounded scientist with interest in many fields. However, his most noted accomplishments are in the field of entomology. His vast insect collection is still on display in a museum in France. After living a very long and fruitful life, he passed away in 1915 at the age of 91.

In my next post in this Christian Scientist series, I will share  scientists who specialized in the area of geology and the study of the great flood.

Amid the modern, Darwinian scientific world, Christian scientists often have to hide their beliefs or risk being ostracized by their peers. Therefore, it is difficult to find books, articles, and resources written by prominent Christian scientists.

This article will spotlight several well known, but long-deceased scientists who specialized in astronomy and were vocal about their Christianity. While the denominations and doctrinal beliefs of these men vary, one thing is for sure —they were believers of Jesus Christ. Each sought diligently to apply the Bible to their scientific studies.

Download a printable containing timeline figures of all

eight Christian scientists pictured in this post.

Johannes Kepler was born in 1571 in the Stuttgart Region of Germany. Best known for his contributions in astronomy, he was very outspoken over his defense of the ideas brought forth by Copernicus. In addition to being recognized as the founder of celestial mechanics (planetary motion), he discovered that the tides were caused by the moon, used stellar parallax to measure our distance to the stars, and derived what is now accepted as the birth year of Jesus Christ.

“The ways by which men arrive at knowledge of the celestial things are hardly less wonderful than the nature of these things themselves” – Johannes Kepler

Increase Mather was born in 1639 in the colony of Massachusetts. He was most well known for being one of the early Presidents of Harvard University. In his writings and speeches, he cautioned his readers not to mistake the purely natural for the supernatural, and he had a strong role in the Salem Witch trials. He was a avid astronomer in his free time and encouraged the study throughout his colony. He wrote a number of papers on comets.

Sir Isaac Newton was born in 1642 in Lincolnshire, England and is one of the most recognizable names in the scientific field. He was a mathematician and physicist who discovered the laws of motion, the law of gravitation, and the field of calculus. His contributions to astronomy were vast, including discovering the colors of sunlight, and inventing a reflecting telescope.

“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.” – Sir Isaac Newton

Sir William Herschel was born in Hanover Germany in 1738, but spent his adult life in Berkshire, England. He is most famous as the discoverer of the planet Uranus, two of its moons and two more moons of Saturn. He is also known for his work in categorizing galaxies and nebulae, using a very impressive homemade 40-foot telescope.

“The undevoted astronomer must be mad.” – Sir William Herschel

John Flamsteed was born in 1646 and was the very first Astronomer Royal of England. Astronomer Royal is a very elite position in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. Astronomer Royal was Director of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. In his life, Flamsteed cataloged over 3000 stars, calculated solar eclipses, and even has an asteroid and a moon crater named after him.

1st Baronet John Herschel, was the son of Sir William Herschel. Born in England, in 1792, John was an all around master scientist. He dabbled in mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, photography, and botany. His contributions to astronomy include the discovery of over 500 new nebulae, originating the Julian day system, and naming eleven moons.

“To the natural philosopher there is no natural object unimportant or trifling.” – John Herschel

Charles Piazzi Smyth was Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Born in 1819 in Italy, he was raised in England. He became a professor of astronomy at the university of Edinburgh and published a number of important scientific papers on astronomy and meteorology.

Sir William Huggins was born in 1824 in London, England. Through his own privately built observatory, he made a number of important discoveries, including the fact that stars are made of hydrogen. He also made the distinctions between nebulae and galaxies.