Our World (Answers for Kids): Fifth Day and Entropy

The sea is a fascinating world of wonder and colour. Even in the dark depths of the sea some very strange and wonderful creatures have made their home.

Did they turn inside out?

Animals with backbones are called vertebrates; fish are vertebrates. Evolutionists believe that fish evolved from animals without backbones (invertebrates). There are some important differences between these two kinds of creature. Many invertebrates, such as lobsters and crabs, have their skeleton on the outside of their bodies, while fish have their skeleton on the inside.

Although many fossils of both kinds of sea creature have been found, no one has ever found any fossils showing supposed evolutionary changes needed for invertebrates to become bony fish. Evolutionists have to admit that they have no idea how fish evolved, or exactly what kind of invertebrate they evolved from. Some believe their ancestors were arthropods (the group which includes insects and spiders), while others have suggested they may have been worms or starfish.

What the facts really suggest is that true fish have always been fish! God created some sea creatures with skeletons on the outside and others with skeletons on the inside—and some with no skeleton at all, such as worms. But one kind has not evolved from the other—they have been there since the beginning.

Dragonflies

Dragonflies are probably the most beautiful of the flying insects. There are about 4,500 different varieties. They begin their life in water, where eggs hatch into rather ugly brown nymphs. The time spent living in water varies from a few weeks to several years, but for all the varieties the day comes when the nymph suddenly has the urge to climb out of the water. It sits for a while at the top of a piece of grass until its skin splits open and out comes a dragonfly! After waiting for its wings to become firm and dry, the dragonfly flies away, its lovely colours glinting in the sunshine.

Although they are very small, dragonflies are wonderfully designed for flying. Their two pairs of wings are very light, but strengthened by a network of tiny veins, which not only carry blood fluid to keep the wings stiff, but also nerves and oxygen. Some dragonflies beat their wings 40 times in one second! Dragonflies are like tiny helicopters—they can even fly backwards! In fact, Igor Sikorsky, who first designed helicopters, for the idea from watching dragonflies.

Another wonderful thing about dragonflies is their eyes. Each pair of eyes is actually made up of as many as 30,000 separate eyes, each with its own lens! This enables the insect to see what is happening over a wide area, and spot every tiny movement without moving its head.

The supposedly oldest fossil dragonflies are just like dragonflies are now, except that they were much larger—75 centimeters (2.5 feet) from wing-tip to wing-tip! So there is no evidence that they evolved from ancestors without wings. And surely those amazing eyes did not evolve? Dragonflies are another of the many wonders of God's creation!

The sea is His!

Most children enjoy a visit to the sea, to splash, paddle or swim. Some people love to sail, or ride the waves on surfboards. There is something attractive about the sea. The sea is very wonderful in many ways. Without the oceans, which cover almost three-quarters of our planet, we would not be able to live. Not only is the sea teeming with living things, but it is an important part of the ‘water cycle’. Rivers and streams flow into the sea, and the sun evaporates the water, forming clouds which later bring the water down to the earth as rain. It is not just the fish which depend on the sea for their survival—we do too!

The sea can be very powerful and frightening when it is whipped up by strong winds, and even experienced sailors are sometimes terrified. But God has power over the sea. ‘The sea is his because he made it’ (Psalm 95:5). When Jesus and His disciples were caught in a storm while sailing across the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27), the disciples were amazed when Jesus simply stood up and commanded the wind and waves to become calm—and they obeyed Him! But Jesus is the Creator, who is able to control what He had made. Those who put their faith in Him have a very powerful Friend!

His love for us is even more wonderful than His power over the wind and waves. He proved that love, and His power over evil, by dying on the cross and rising again. We have all done wrong things and deserve God‘s punishment, but if we are really sorry, God promises to ‘throw away all our sins into the deepest sea’ (Micah 7:19). Which means they are gone forever!

Tom and Jenny learn about entropy

by Esmé Geering

‘Tom,’ said Dad, ‘There’s a state of high entropy in your bedroom. Please go and put some ordered energy into the system!’ Tom knew very well what his father meant, because his room was in an awful mess, but he liked new words. ‘What‘s entropy, Dad?’ he asked. ‘You should learn all about it when you do physics, but go and tidy up, then I’ll try to explain it.’

Tom hated tidying, but it didn’t seem so bad if he was doing something scientific about entropy, so he used a lot of energy, went over the floor with the vacuum cleaner, and came back cheerfully.

Dad explained: ‘There is a scientific law which tells us that if things are left to themselves, they become more disorderly—entropy means disorder. So things don‘t build themselves up, everything is running down. Clocks run down, they don’t wind themselves up, cars rust away, buildings fall into ruins, but building materials don’t put themselves together. The sun and stars are burning away as they give out energy, but they can‘t put the energy back again. Can you think of some other examples of entropy?’

‘Tom’s bike will rust away if he doesn’t clean it soon,’ remarked Jenny.

‘You’d better do that next, then,’ said Dad.

‘You need to make another input of ordered energy!’

‘I’ll help you,’ volunteered Jenny, and they went to the shed. Half an hour later they came back, and said, ‘We’ve both cleaned our bikes, and there was high entropy in the shed, so we’ve tidied that, too.’

‘Well!’ Mum was amazed. ‘I hope this entropy thing lasts! You’d better replace your lost energy with some cookies!’ They did.

’Things running down only gives you a rough idea of what is happening in the universe,’ said Dad. ‘You can increase the order by adding energy, but it does matter how you do it. If we let a bull loose in your bedroom, it would put in a lot of energy, but it would make more disorder, wouldn’t it? To build things up the energy needs to be directed—you need information. Like when Tom tidied his room. Think about that model boat you are making over there. It’s in the sunshine, so it’s getting quite warm, isn’t it?’

Odd one out quiz

Which of the items in each list is the odd one out? (Answers below.)

1. Surfboard, jet ski, motorboat, speedboat.
   
2. Crab, lobster, starfish, salmon, sea anemone.
   
3. Yacht, canoe, submarine, raft, hovercraft.
   
4. Dolphin, shark, swordfish, sturgeon, dogfish.
   
5. Seal, sea cow, whale, penguin.
   
6. Frog, newt, eel, toad, salamander.

‘Odd one out’ answers

1. Surfboard (no engine).
   
2. Salmon (has a backbone).
   
3. Submarine (goes underwater).
   
4. Dolphin (not a fish).
   
5. Penguin (not a mammal).
   
6. Eel (not an amphibian).