Table
of Contents

Lesson 1

Introduction

Lesson 2

What is astronomy?

Lesson 3

How big is the universe?

Lesson 4

The origin of the universe

Lesson 5

Watching the sky

Lesson 6

Why did God create the heavenly bodies?

Lesson 7

Space exploration

Lesson 8

A Tour of the Solar System

Lesson 9

A Tour of the Solar System—The Sun and the Moon

Lesson 10

Stars and galaxies

Lesson 11

Cosmic Catastrophes

Lesson 12

Catastrophes in the Solar System

Lesson 13

Are there other planets in the Solar System?

The Astronomy Book
by Dr Jonathan Henry

Lesson 1

Introduction

Textbook:

The Astronomy Book

Text:

Introduction, page 5

Scripture:

Genesis 1:1-19
Psalms 147:4

Vocabulary Words:

• nebula
• light-year
• constellation

Questions:

1. Use the glossary (pp. 77-78) to define the vocabulary words.
2. On which Creation day did God create the sun, moon, and stars?
3. In Astronomical Insights the author describes the Pleiades and Orion. Have the student write a brief research paper on these constellations. Younger students may draw these constellations.
4. What is a ‘constellation’?
5. In How can we see distant starlight?, we read about stars being many light years away. What is a light year?
6. In Moving with the planets, the author discusses several astronomers. Have the student write a short essay on the contribution of each astronomer (Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Brahe, Einstein).
7. In Are stars forming today? three types of nebulae are discussed. What are they? Give a short description of each one.

Activities:

1. Use the glossary (pp. 77-78) to define the vocabulary words.
2. Have student draw a picture of Day 4 of creation.
3. Visit a planetarium to get an overall view of the stars, planets, constellations. (Caution: We know of no planetarium that presents the development of the lights in the heavens as recent, i.e., less than 10,000 years ago.)