Sample file. A Special Star. The Adventures of Rose and Bud: Christmas Special Written by: Teresa Clifford Illustrated by: Teresa Clifford

Transcription

1 Sources: This is the website where Rick Larson wrote all of his research down. I highly recommend the video! This is the Scobee planetarium it has free star charts each month This is where I found the coordinates for each of the cities. Britannica.com This is where I got all of the scriptures. I used this for checking things from wikipedia I used this for checking the latin translations. From Wikipedia I used this for checking things from wikipedia I used this to check the movement of the stars Books to supplement: Jupiter by Charnan Simon The Adventures of Rose and Bud: A Special Star Christmas Special Written by: Teresa Clifford Illustrated by: Teresa Clifford Published by: Copyright 2010 December 28

2 Note to parent or Reader: Please read before purchasing. This book mentions Astrology and discusses some Roman and Greek names of constellations. It does not go in depth, only a mention of these things the difference and what it means. Instructions on printing: Please read before printing. Please print all odd pages first then turn the set over and print the even pages. Be Careful if you print it backwards it will frustrate you, I suggest practicing on the second page. My printer prints to the top side of the page, so I have to put the paper back in with the black side to the top and the same way it printed. Then fold in half and staple; it should look like this. 1. The star must have appeared before King Herod died in 1 B.C. 2. The star indicated a birth 3. The star indicated a kingship 4. The star indicated a link to the Jewish Nation 5. It must have risen in the east 6. King Herod did not know when it appeared 7. The star went ahead of the Magi as they traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. 8. The star appeared at an exact time 9. The star stopped Answers: Vs. 7 Vs. 9 Vs. 1 Vs. 7 Vs. 9 Note: for younger or short attention span students you may need to act this out in a puppet show. 2 27

3 Glossary Ancient before the middle ages Associated to join together Celestial relating to the sky Conjunction coming together Constellation any of 88 groups of stars forming patterns, 12 ancient ones Constitution the structure or makeup of something Descended proceeding from an ancestor or source Divination the practice of using omens to foretell the future East The sun rises in the east and sets in the west Hindsight understanding an event after it has happened Indicated to point out; to show indirectly Literature the production of written works Magnitudes a number representing the brightness of a celestial body May be in some degree likely to Mediterranean sea a body of water to the south of European continent and north of the African continent. Motions instance of moving Mythology a body of myths and especially of those dealing with gods and heroes of a people People Group a group of people with something in common. Supplies needed: Dictionary Bible Dark blue umbrella Yellow or white puff paint 2 balls the size of golf balls Compass to draw a circle Two 1/8 x 12 dowels Two bamboo skewers Nylon String Clay that dries in the air Craft paint blue, red, orange, and white. Computer w/ internet Precise highly accurate Prisoner a person deprived of his liberty Refused to decline to accept Retrograde motion moving backward Solution an action or process of solving a problem Understanding knowledge and ability to apply judgment Unique being the only one of its kind Virgin free from stain: pure; not having been with a man in a way to make a baby Wisdom accumulated philosophic or scientific learning; insight 26 3

4 Legend: Notes, Pictures, Ideas or questions! = easy challenge if you choose to accept it; really straight forward not much thinking required. ~ age 4-6 = a bit more challenging if you choose to accept it; requires more attention and thinking. ~ age 7-8 = a lot more challenging if you choose to accept it; requires a lengthy attention span and some deductive reasoning. ~ age 9-12 Everything in a box of dots like this one is the curriculum or show the family is watching; parent reads this part for younger students. Everything with this box your student can read to you. It is the dialog between the characters. 2nd grade and up, you know best! Word or phrase = an underlined word or phrase needs to be looked up in a dictionary or tell the student the meaning of the phrase usually noted at the bottom of the page. 4 25

5 Notes, Pictures, Ideas or questions! pg2-5 Table of Contents: Explanation of how this book works Pg 6 Writing a hypothesis Pg 7 Story Begins Pg 8 Then and Now Mediterranean Sea Pg 9 Astrology & Astronomy and the difference Pg 11 Rose invites a friend Pg 12 The story of the Magi Pg 13 What the star did Pg 17 a secret meeting Pg 20 Making a reminder Pg 25 Sources 24 5

6 Notes, Pictures, Ideas or questions! Notes, Pictures, Ideas or questions! Draw and color the star. Write a hypothesis of what the star is. A hypothesis is a best guess of what something is before the guess is tested. 6 23

7 Notes, Pictures, Ideas or questions! Hi, My name is Rose, I m 11. Every year my family has a tradition to count down to Christmas and each day we tell a bit of the Christmas story and do something fun. Today we are learning about the star of Bethlehem, by watching a documentary about it. Is everyone ready? Mom asked. Almost, can I make some popcorn, Mom? I asked. Sure I ll get some blankets, She said. When we were all ready, mom pressed play. And the T.V. began... A long time ago in a land by the Mediterranean Sea the heavens told a story of the birth of a Savior. = draw a family in the living room and trace one or both of the maps of the Mediterranean Sea then and now on the next page. 22 7

8 two 1/8 x 12 inch dowels Two bamboo skewers Nylon string Clay that dries in the air Glitter Craft Paint blue, red, orange and white Map of then Map of now e l p file Soak two dowels in water for a few hours then weave them in between chair slats for them to dry. Do not remove until dry, they will dry bent. Take a very long piece of string and tie the two dowels together crossing over between each stick until the sticks do not move. Hang the dowels on a temporary hanger to balance the clay on each side. The dowels do not have to be even on every side. You want a large lump for Jupiter, and half as large lump for Venus, a smaller lump for Regulus and on the forth end I ll let you decide or you can use the bamboo skewers to make a constellation of Leo. Or you can do it like me with things you have around the house. Thank you for purchasing my book and I wish you many joys and blessings in your journey! m a S The story was told by the stars and the stars were created to be mathematically precise. People can depend on the stars to know the seasons and how to get home, by giving groups of the stars names. Doing this is called constellations. Different people groups came up with their own constellations & their own names. Can you find different names and what they mean for these constellations? Virgo and Leo For example: my name is Teresa and it means harvester. 8 21

9 See if you can watch the stars movement from these coordinates Bethlehem: Latitude N; E Jerusalem: Latitude N; E Babylon known today as Al Hilla in Iraq: Latitude N; E So there you have it! The star that announced the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ! Wow, amazing! I encourage you to check out the sources for this show and, hope that it will encourage you to look more closely at the Bible. Mom turned off the show and said, So what did ya think? I said, I had no idea all that happened in the sky. That is amazing and God did it in so many languages! Bud said, Yeah, I ve heard the song We Three Kings, but I didn't take much notice of the star. That is impressive. There is something I don t understand; why hasn't it been found before? Oh good question! Mom said. People who were looking, were looking in the wrong place! The man who figured out the math for the stars started looking for it around the time when Herod died, however somewhere along the way it was printed wrong in a book. And was continued to print wrong for many many years, until it was recently corrected. God likes us to remind ourselves of things he does so we don't forget. So lets make a reminder to ourselves of what the star was! I have a few items here to make a mobile. In the US we adopted the names mostly from Greek & Roman constellations. In Genesis 1 God said: 14 Then God said, Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth. And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day. Genesis 1: NLT Is this talking about astrology? No, astrology says that stars impact man, they determine what happens in a life. The official definition in Merriam-Webster's dictionary is: Astrology n: divination based on the supposed influence of the stars upon human events Astronomy n:the science of the celestial bodies and of their magnitudes, motions, and constitution These signs in the sky, or clues, that the bible uses to describe past or present events are noted in the bible. Pay attention to the verbs in Psalm 19:1-4 NIV: 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth their words to the ends of the world. God had his calendar marked in the stars from day 4! AMAZING! 20 9

10 And even more amazing that God used the names chosen by people before Christ was born to tell us the story in the sky! This does not mean that stars can predict future events, like the return of Christ, but you can do research just like Rick Larson 1 of past events. After all, hindsight is 20/20! For example 60 years before Jesus birth, there was another incident where the magi presented a sign in the sky that a ruler had been born. And another incident in 7B.C., that could be construed as the birth of a ruler as well, there are so many things that happen in the stars that it is not wise to guess what is what. The bible tells us that no one knows the day or time of his return, so this part of the story is either not in the stars or well hidden. Also it is important to note that people of this time knew the stars well. They watched them from their roof tops. Since we don t do that anymore, not many of us know the stars well. God may choose to communicate in another way. Matthew 24:36 NIV 36 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. With two small balls the size of golf balls, put them at the end of a long hallway or by your back fence in your yard about 2 inches apart, Then back up until they are indistinguishable, then look at them through some binoculars. In your astronomy software be sure your far enough away to get the full effect of the star. The closer you are the farther the objects from one another, but the farther you are the closer the objects look to one another. This is called perspective, an art term. Try starting at B.C. So now we have the king planet crowning the prince in the constellation of Judah. Then stacking together with the mother planet or hope of a new day to make a bright object. Then Venus pulled away from Jupiter and went around the sun again, while Jupiter travelled on to Virgo. In Roman and Greek mythology Virgo was associated with a virgin. Venus and Jupiter come together again about 14 months later. Now, if you will, some imagination with meanings. The crowned king (Jupiter) with the hope of a new day (Venus) with his virgin mother (Virgo). The king planet then moved on and stopped or turned around over Bethlehem (retrograde motion) in the constellation of the virgin. 1. Rick Larson is a Lawyer, who did a whole lot of research and put it on his website. Hind sight is 20/20 is a saying that means you can see clearly every thing that happened after it has already happened

11 blessed his children. Genesis 49:9-10 tells us he compared Judah to a lion. The constellation is visible from both the northern and the southern hemisphere, because it is in the path of the sun. Leo was known as a lion in Babylonia, Persian, Turkish, Syrian, Hebrew, Greek and Roman cultures. King Herod did not notice the star and asked the magi, secretly, when it began. So, it had to be something ordinary and had to exist a long period for it not to be noticed. This is number 6 on our list. The king planet, Jupiter, crowned the prince star, regulus, over a nine month period. Finishing with Jupiter and Venus coming together for 2 nights or so to make the brightest object in the sky; also in the boarders of the constellation leo. Next coming together for another 2 nights in the constellation virgo in August of 1BC. So what is normal in this picture? Jupiter turns around quite often, pretty much every year; also every 12 years has a conjunction with regulus. What makes this unique is it turned around at regulus and had three conjunctions! The other thing that is normal is Jupiter and Venus do have close conjunctions; however not usually close enough to combine their brightness. It is unique that it happened in Leo after the triple conjunction in the same constellation. Venus is sometimes called morning star (hope of a new day) or the mother star. It may have been possible to see it in the morning because it was so bright. Mom, I interrupted, can we invite Bud over? Mom paused the show, Sure honey, we ll wait while you get him. I ran to Bud s house. Knock, knock, knock. Bud answered. Hi Rose, what's up? Hi Bud! We are watching a Christmas story. Do you want to come watch with us? Rose asked. Mom, can I go with Rose to watch a Christmas show? Bud asked Sure Bud. Be home by nine. Ok, thanks Mom, Bud replied Opening the door to my house, I said, Kay, Mom, he s here. Mom said, Hi, Bud, have a seat. Do you want some popcorn? Sure thanks, Bud said. After getting Bud some popcorn, Mom pressed play. Color Rose Track Jupiter over a one year period, like the magi did? If you choose to accept this challenge there are free star charts online from Scobee planetarium ( ce/scobee) and other planetariums. You might try your local planetarium website

12 There are nine things that made the star, THE star. The underlined parts of this Scripture are the key to the clues of the star. They are found in the New Testament, Matthew 2 NIV 2010 : a. (mā jī ) 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi a from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written: 6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him. 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose, went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. The Magi from the east may have descended from Daniel s day because Daniel never left Babylon, which is to the east of Jerusalem. These Magi had to be looking for Jewish signs to come and worship a Jewish king and were quite possibly Jewish themselves. So here we have the king planet crowning the prince. Again, I have to say it is amazing that God used our names for stars to communicate with us! And the story is the same in many cultures keeping records of the stars at the time! Another key player in this story is the constellation Leo. Leo is Latin for lion. The lion has long been associated with the Jewish nation, since Abraham (the father of the Jewish Nation) Bud interrupted, Mrs. Gallica, what is a magi? Mom paused the show. Magi (mā jī ) were people in ancient times who studied the stars. They were astronomers. Only one school in ancient times was a respected school. Some people think they may have descended from Daniel. Do you know the story of Daniel? Mom asked. Bud said, no. Well let me tell you a little bit about him. Daniel was a young man who was taken prisoner to Babylon, which is about 500 miles east of Jerusalem. Daniel was chosen for a special diet from the king, but refused. He offered a solution and the man in charge accepted. Daniel was chosen with others to be taught skills in all literature and wisdom and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 2 There is so much more to his story in the Bible. Look up Daniel, Mom said After Mom told him the story of Daniel, she concluded, Daniel never went back home. Let s go ahead and finish the show, Mom said, and pressed play. Check out different translations of verse 2. Not quite the same in some translations, this was recently corrected with the 2010 NIV Daniel 1:17 Look up the book of Daniel in a children's bible to read the whole story. 17

13 Check this out for yourself! There are several programs available for download. I downloaded Stellarium from It took me a bit to figure it out. In history, the years go from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D., but in the program it has a zero year. So 2 is actually 3 B.C. The conjunction occurred in the Middle East so put the location by the Mediterranean Sea and set the time to 2 if your program has a zero year. Here are the close approaches: September 14, 3 B.C. February 17, 2 B.C. and May 10, 2 B.C.. Watch the whole show from September 3, 3B.C. thru May 18, 2B.C. You will need to speed up the software quite a bit, and be sure to view from Earth. Color Bud 1. The star must have appeared before King Herod died in 1 B.C. 2. The star indicated a birth 3. The star indicated a kingship 4. The star indicated a link to the Jewish Nation 5. It must have risen in the east (vs. 2) 6. King Herod did not know when it appeared 7. The star went ahead of the Magi as they traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. 8. The star appeared at an exact time 9. The star stopped Vs. 7 Vs. 9 Vs. 1 Vs. 7 Vs. 9 Match the list of what the star did to the verse it references. You will need two people, one to walk slow and one to run. Have you ever been traveling in a car when another car is exiting or turning. When they hit their breaks it appears like they stopped & went backward. This is the effect we are looking for, to help you understand the effect of retrograde motion