Explorers

At our local group session this month, we looked at Explorers.
It was a lovely relaxed session with lots of playing out, despite the high winds.

Unfortunately, I only got one photo :/

Some of the activities were -
making a timeline of famous explorers;
designing a figurehead for a Viking longboat;
learning about different landforms and making them out of plasticine;
draw an explorer - what would they wear and what would they take with them;
learn about navigating by the stars and make star charts;
compass group games - indoors and out;
make your own compass :)

To make your own compass you need:
a real cork
a sewing needle
a bar magnet
a bowl of water
a pair of large scissors (much easier to use than a knife)
double sided tape

1. Cut a 5 - 10mm thick slice off the cork with the scissors.
2. Rub the sewing needle with one pole of the bar magnet, making sure that the strokes go in one direction and not backwards and forwards. The more strokes, the stronger the magnetism.
3. Put a small piece of double sided tape onto the cork.
4. Stick the needle on to the cork, keeping it as central as possible.
5. Place the cork into the shallow bowl of water.
6. Watch your needle point to the north :)

The needle in our picture was stroked from eye to point with the north pole of the bar magnet. This makes the eye point to magnetic north. You could try using the South pole of the magnet and see what happens :)

Magnetism Flashcards
Why a compass needle points north

Books about Explorers:

Boykin & Science Pt 1

OK. So I don't really have any other parts planned, but you never know. I think this could well be an ongoing theme for the next few years.

Here we are branching out into new territory. Boykin likes text books. Boykin likes Galore Park text books. We are currently using them for Latin on a daily basis and English on a bit of an ad hoc basis. (Most English work is done as part of a wider topic or unit study.)

I picked up the Galore Park So You Really Want To Learn Science (henceforth known as SYRWTL) Book 1 and found that we had pretty much covered it all with the different literature-based unit studies that we have used. We had already done the experiments, so we simply read the chapters and verbally answered the questions at the end of each one. It took us about 3 months all told.



Now we are set to tackle Book 2! *
This one book is written to cover the whole of KS3 and is geared towards the Common Entrance Exam. None of this is particularly relevant to us - there will be no testing or exams at the end of this book. I'm hoping that by studying the book together, Boykin will be better prepared to tackle the GCSEs. (He has already expressed an interest in taking physics.) And I will be better prepared to support him through that. (I did O Level physics back in the Dark Ages.) I'm also hoping that if any problems or challenges arise, I will be able to spot them early enough to know whether or not to get a tutor or sign him up to a science class.


As it is, I'm hoping to make his experience of Book 2 much more interesting, engaging and challenging than his experience of Book 1 (which was mostly covered whilst waiting for his sister to have her music theory lesson). I will be finding YouTube videos, making minibooks, suggesting online activities, setting up hands-on stuff and conducting experiments.
I'll upload my links and ideas as we go along and share them via the topics page. It will be slow, we're only in the first year and we have a couple more years to go before it's time to look at GCSE syllabi. I'd love to hear from you in the comments below if you wish to join us and can make use of the resources :)

So, for starters, to go along with the introductory section about scientific investigation, I have signed him up for his first Futurelearn course :)

*Galore Park have recently updated their books. Biology, Chemistry and Physics are now covered in three separate volumes. Additional material has been added to stay in line with the current exams.