Ben Franklin’s Birthday is January 17th! For science lovers, here’s a way to tie in God’s wondrous creation to the great inventor. This demonstration will show that everything isn’t always what it seems to be. We can remind the class that when tempted to do something that is questionable to remember there is always another way.
Materials
- Tall drinking glass
- Ice cubes
- Salt
- String
Introduction
Ask the class if anyone thinks it is possible to pick up an ice-cube with only a piece of string. Of course, that’s impossible. In this experiment we’ll show how this can be done.
Instructions
- Place an ice cube in a glass of cold water.
- Cut a piece of string about six inches long
- Try to pick up the ice-cube by laying the string across the top of it without your hands touching the ice-cube.
- Now wet the string and lay it across the ice-cube.
- Sprinkle salt on top of the ice-cube and the string.
- Wait a few minutes and then try again to pick up the ice-cube with the string. This time it works.
Explanation
The salt will have melted the ice slightly and the water will have refrozen around the string making it adhere to the ice.
Teacher’s discussion
Let’s pretend that we are like the ice, God is the string, and the salt is like God’s Word. When we “sprinkle our lives” with God’s word, it draws us closer to him and he is able to “pick us up.” But when we sprinkle our lives with bad thoughts and evil deeds we are pulling away from God instead of reaching towards him. The Bible encourages us to draw close to God and allow our hearts and bodies to be cleansed of sin. Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”