Life Lessons
By Felice Gerwitz
When we study science, with a keen eye we see nuances that we may have otherwise missed. Nature sciences lend themselves to this type of process.
Recently we saw wood peckers on a tree. Woodpeckers in Florida are hard to miss. They are large, really large! Most woodpeckers grow to be no larger than 19 inches tall. It wasn’t that I heard the pecking sound; rather I saw the red, bobbing head. It caught my eye and when I looked, it was gone. I continued looking at the pine tree, asking my children if they saw anything unusual. After several minutes we were rewarded by seeing the large board searching for bugs in the bark of the dead tree. Science teaches patience. We had to wait and look, silently, in order to see the marvelous work of God.
The woodpecker is an example of how evolution can not work. Woodpeckers have adapted over time, just as many other creatures have. The most famous of the adaptation for woodpeckers is their tongues. In the bird, the tongue loops into the throat, under and around the back of the skull, beneath the skin, over the top of the skull between the eyes, and finishes right below the eye socket. One would think though that the tongue goes to the back of the throat, which is not the case with the woodpecker.
The tongue is long and slim and can project a great distance. The tip of the tongue is pointed and is covered with a secretion so that bugs and insects can stick to the tongue.
Also, when a woodpecker builds its nest, he pecks downward at an angle for about 5 to 6 inches and then pecks directly down for about another 10 inches. While he does this, the woodpecker will scatter the wood chips from the tree so other animals will not know exactly where the nest is being built. The next generation of woodpeckers will also do this, so it is evident that woodpeckers were made to dig their nests in trees – there is clear evidence that their beaks were designed for an intended purpose.
Other marvels of nature took place long ago. By this I mean thousands not millions of years ago. A jeweler, here in Fort Myers has an amazing array of fossilized minerals and artifacts for sale. None of them are in our price range, but they are interesting nonetheless! He had samples of quartz crystals, amethyst, and more. We walked around the store admiring the array. On the outside of the mammoth amethyst sample (around 2 feet wide and 3 feet long) the rock was ugly. My nine year old son commented on this phenomenon. Inside the crystal formation was beautiful with various shades of purple, both light and dark and everything in-between. How often we judge others by what we see on the outside without knowing what is within. Another life lesson to be learned!
We can turn daily outing into wondrous examples of God’s love and the life lessons we learn will be real to our children. They see in example, in work and in deed what is in store for them. Patience is rewarded by seeing things that might easily escape their eyes. Ugliness can not be judged because of what might be hidden inside. These are the things that make parenthood and those “educational-moments” more satisfying than anything the world might offer. Look around, and I’m sure you’ll find moments such as these.
Felice Gerwitz has lectured extensively on the topic of science fairs. She is an award winning author and her book “An Insider’s Guide to Successful Science Fair Projects” was chosen book of the month by God’s World Publishing.
