The Dragontree Garden

“A” reports from The Dragontree Garden:

Here at Dragontree we have been growing our own fruit and vegetables.

We have turnips, parsnips, blackcurrants, peas, broad beans, onions, garlic and apples, strawberries, radish, tomatoes and runner beans.

We also planted some potatoes but they didn’t grow very well. We covered them over each time they sprouted up above the surface, but since their last covering of soil, they appear quite weak.

I loved munching on our home-grown strawberries.

And I am watching over my very own enormous turnip!

Learning As We Go – The Roman Baths of Bath

We are always on the lookout for interesting places to visit and this was a real winner for us all.

The Roman Baths in the centre of Bath combine artefacts on display, 3D models, computer animations, audio tours and live shows with costumed characters to provide a fascinating insight into Roman Britain.

We used the audio tours which were available and enjoyed listening to both adult and children’s versions, including comments by author Bill Bryson.

“M” and “A” loved the actors, who wandered throughout the baths in role, allowing the visitors to observe the day to day life of Romans. Our favourite was the lady who gossiped while having her hair done!

For more information, visit:

http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/default.aspx

Street Pianos London

“M” reports:

The artist Luke Jerram is responsible for the placing of 30 pianos around London.

Every piano has laminated music sheets for those rainy days and each is painted with a theme relating to the part of London it is in, along with the invitation ”play me, I’m yours”.

For more info, check out these links:

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/street-pianos-london-feature-3079.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8114859.stm

You can find the pianos at popular locations around London such as Oxford street,  Carnaby Street, Portobello road and Leicester Square.

We found one at the British Library:

Street Pianos London lasted from the 19th June to 13th July 2009, so we just caught it!

Why we love home educating!

Just back from a great study visit to London.

Jumping across the meridian at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

Reading Magna Carta, the log book of HMS Victory & Scott’s final diary entry at The British Library.

Becoming part of the London Sings street art with M playing Vivaldi on a piano.

Drawing our pictures at the Turner Gallery at the Tate Britain!

How’s that for authentic learning?

The First Lunar Landing : A News Report by M

First Men on the Moon

Apollo 11 has landed on the moon and is coming home

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins will soon complete their mission to land safely on the moon, collect samples of lunar rock, set up scientific experiments and return home.

On the 16th July 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off into space from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, with mission commander Neil Armstrong, command module pilot Michael Collins and lunar landing module pilot Buzz Aldrin aboard.

The lunar landing module Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility on the surface of the moon on July 20th. Neil Armstrong was the first to leave the lunar landing module and, as he stepped off the final rung of the ladder, he spoke these momentous words: ” It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent two and a half hours walking on the moon before returning to the lunar landing module. After a total of twenty-one and a half  hours on the surface of the moon, they were connected back onto the command module, piloted by Michael Collins.

The command module Columbia then began its long journey home and is expected back later today.

Fun Ways to Remember Facts

Our science topic this term has involved learning sets of facts and data.

In an effort to help us remember facts about the planets in our solar system, “M” and “A” were set fact-finding activities as part of their personal project work.

We then explored different ways of recording information in ways which might help us to remember the facts and data involved.

For example, when learning the order of the planets in our solar system, “M” and “A” created fun sentences from the initial letters of the planet names:

“A” wrote:  “My Very Excitable Monkey Jumped over the S U N“

“M” added: “Many Vikings Eat Many Jumping S U N s “

The children also produced cartoon versions of their sentences, a nice visual way of remembering an idea or fact.

Next, we collected information about the different planets in our solar system. We then worked together as a team, incorporating a series of facts into a poem. We found that the process of thinking over the known facts and playing with the words in our efforts to create rhyming sentences helped us to remember the information and enabled us to create a visual memory of those facts that we had researched.

Here’s the poem (hope that you enjoy it!):

On Mercury there’s no change of season

and now I’m going to tell you the reason:

Mercury’s axis has no tilt – this really is no game

So as it travels round the sun, daytime stays the same.

With a scorching day and a frozen night

Covered in craters – its really quite a sight

Mercury’s a rock with an iron core

But now onto Venus to learn some more.

You might think Mercury’s the hottest of the hot

But actually, Mercury is really, really not.

Venus is the hottest; it has an atmosphere

The CO2 traps in the heat – its very hot, I fear.

A day on Venus is so very long

If you thought a year was longer, then I’m afraid you’re wrong.

Venus has no seasons, its volcanos create heat

So if you want to feel the sun, Venus is hard to beat.

Earth is our home planet

Home of our joys and strife.

Its water, land and atmosphere

Are just perfect for life.

Our tilting planet orbits the sun

Giving us seasons – now you know how it’s done.

We have our own satellite, we call the moon

We’ve walked there before but won’t again soon.

Mars orbits the sun an elliptical path

So you see, its climate does range

From winters so cold to a summer so mild

But that’s not the only change.

Sometimes Jupiter’s gravity causes a pull

Which tilts Mars over some more

This causes a change in the temperature range

Round the poles – Poor Mars! What a chore!

Phobos and Deimas are Mars’ moons

But now onwards and outwards we race

Through the asteroid belt to the gas giants we go

On this, our journey through space.

Galileo spotted four of Jupiter’s moons

More than sixty are now known to reside

Its huge bands of gas (mainly hydrogen)

Would fit 1300 Earth’s inside!

Saturn is the least dense of planets

It could float on a sea, don’t you know.

Hydrogen, Helium (liquid and gas)

With a liquid metal core down below.

With its cold clouds of gas and thunderstorms

Saturn is icy and cold.

But its rings – first seen by Galileo

Are the best in the system, I’m told.

Methane ice clouds which absorb red light

Make Uranus seem blue.

And the planet is tipped on its side, so its rings

and its moons go top to bottom – it’s true!

Made mostly from water and methane

With a helping of ammonia ice

Uranus has Shakespearean moons

Titania, Puck, Oberon – how nice!

And , finally, Neptune – the blue one!

An ice ball you’d not want to bite on

Made of water, ammonia and methane

With faint rings, 13 moons – main one Triton.

A hundred and sixty-five Earth years

Sees Neptune only older by one

Neptune’s strong winds and storm clouds

Appear for a while, then they’re gone.

We hope you enjoyed your journey

Travelling with us into space

We wish that we could stay longer

But realise that we’re in a race.

There’s so much to learn and so much to do

Things to puzzle – the where-for and why

But we can’t go with no mention of Pluto

It’s a planetoid now – but don’t cry!

We hope that this Dragontree poem

Shows you just some of the wealth

That space has to offer – so off you go now

And go and learn more for yourself.

For us it has helped us remember

Some facts that we needed to learn

If it inspires you, then great, we’re delighted

Now it’s over to you – it’s your turn!

Reporting the First lunar Landing

During personal project time this week, “A” has been researching the story of the first lunar landing.

Here she has written a news article as though she was a journalist at the time of the Apollo 11 mission:

FROM EARTH TO THE MOON

“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”

These are the words spoken by Commander Neil Armstrong as he took his first step on the moon.

On July 16th, 1969, the Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Centre. Inside were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Their mission was to land on the moon and collect moon rock samples before returning to Earth.

Buzz Aldrin piloted the Eagle lunar landing module onto the moon’s surface on July 20th, 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stayed on the moon for 2 1/2  hours, collecting samples, carrying out experiments and leaving the flag of The United States of America.

21 1/2 hours after landing on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were collected by Michael Collins in the command module Columbia. They landed safely back on Earth on July 24th, 1969.

Man has gone to the moon and back. What else is possible for mankind?

Water Aid at Work

“M” writes:

For our latest work on our topic on water management A and I went on the Water Aid website to collect information about one place where Water Aid are working -  I picked Madagascar.

Water Aid have put wells close to homes, so women don’t have to walk so far for water, and the water that they collect is cleaner than it was before.

Because Water Aid put many wells around Madagascar many people have made kitchen gardens, which are gardens that they can use to grow food.

Water Aid have also installed large numbers of toilet blocks in Madagascar, reducing health problems due to contaminated water.

“A” continues:

Water Aid is doing many projects in India.

For example, at Marachipatti primary school in Tamil Nabu, India, Water Aid built a toilet for the children, who are taught to wash their hands with soap and water, keep the water pump clean, cut their nails and wear clean clothes. This will help them stay healthy.

Did you know that only 33% of the people in India have access to a toilet?

Before Water Aid the children had to go behind a thorny bush when they needed the toilet. Not only was this unclean, but the children had to watch out for snakes.

Can you imagine needing to do this every time you needed the toilet?

The Water Aid website has many stories of people around the world in trouble because of water shortages:

http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what_we_do/default.asp

They also have some fun games! My favourite game was water family, which teaches you how to save water.

http://www.wateraid.org/splash_out/fun_and_games/default.asp

Moon Watching

“M” and “A” report:

In our topic on space, we are learning about the moon and its phases.

We had noticed that the moon can sometimes be seen in the sky during the day and we wanted to find out why this is.

We already knew that the moon takes twenty eight days to orbit the earth. We also knew that the moon can be seen only because we see the sun light reflected off it.

This means that when the moon is between the sun and the earth, we will not be able to see it because the side of the moon which is reflecting sun light is facing away from us (we call this phase a New Moon).

Next, we searched on the internet for some simulations which could help us really understand why the moon appears as it does.

This simulation from Moon Giant can show you how the moon will appear at certain times of day and night as we move through the days, months and years:

http://www.moongiant.com/

We found a great clip on You Tube which has an astronomer explaining phases of the moon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdI1aDjWLlY&feature=related

Learning About Waste Water

As part of our topic on water management we explored the local water treatment works.

Photos and article by M

First the waste water travels down the main pipe line and then enters the waste water treatment works.

Then it enters the screening process where the large objects are separated from the waste water.

After that, the waste water enters the Grit and Sand channels where sand and grit settles at the bottom.

Next comes the sediment tanks where other solid particles in the waste water settle at the bottom of the tank and form a thick sludge.

Soon after, the waste water arrives at the Biological filters which is where the water is sprinkled on to a large circular bed about two metres deep. The beds are filled with small rocks covered in bacteria that literally eat the harmful waste.

Finally the waste ends up in the final settling tank where small particles settle leaving the cleaned water to flow down to rivers or streams.