Weathering

“A” and Mum write:
Rocks are broken down by erosion and by physical, chemical or biological weathering.
Physical weathering can be due to freeze-thaw, which happens when water gets in cracks in rocks, then freezes and expands, putting pressure on the rock before it thaws and releases that pressure, eventually causing the rock to split.
Another form of [...]

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Metamorphic Rock

“M” writes

Metamorphic rock is formed by existing rock getting changed by heat and/or pressure.
Metamorphic rock may have small crystals, some have layers, like marble and slate.

Metamorphic means ‘changed form’
Examples (as found in CGP KS3 Geography and CGP KS3 Science)

sandstone becomes quartzite
limestone becomes marble
granite becomes gneiss
clays become slate
When [...]

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The Cocoon at the Natural History Museum

“M” writes:
The Cocoon is an interactive gallery in the Natural History Museum in London.
The Cocoon has more than 2km of display cases and has many interactive educational games.
I saw many different display cases with animals in, and some interactive tables where you can zoom in on different small animals that you can’t [...]

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TES Education Show Oct 2009

Last week we enjoyed taking part in the TES Education Show at Olympia in London. It was a great experience for both myself and the children, who enjoyed joining the “world of work” as they demonstrated a range of technical equipment for use in the classroom and beyond. They both enjoyed the chance to use [...]

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Medieval Gallery Visit – Museum of London

Today we visited the Museum of London, which is located at 150 London Wall, within sight of St Paul’s cathedral and in the City.
Our initial aim was to visit the Medieval London exhibit.
We took along our Fizzbook tablet PC, which allowed us to create some blog articles “in situ” using our Live Writer software and [...]

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Museum of London – The Great Fire of London

A poem by “A”, inspired by the Great Fire of London exhibit at The Museum of London and created on the museum’s magnetic wall using available word tiles:
 
A fire suddenly burned
The wind was hot
The night was red,yellow and orange
People ran
A scream
A frightened cry
Tumbling house
Blazing street
Choking
Scared
FIRE!

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Bank of England Museum

Today we visited the Bank of England Museum. The Museum, on Bartholomew Lane in the City of London, has free admission. It tells the story of the Bank of England from its foundation by Royal Charter in 1694 to its role in the present-day economy.

The children and I really enjoyed the exhibits, particularly the one [...]

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Visiting Ham House – National Trust

This week we have been enjoying a visit to London. We always love visiting the museums and welcome the opportunity and the challenge to live life at the pace of the city, if only for a few days!
However, we were happy to take time out for a “breather” over the weekend by making use of [...]

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Hydroelectric power in the Alps

This was the our first year camping in the Alps that we had electricity…. Imagine a fan heater in your tent when it is freezing outside!  Why it took us 20 years to discover this luxury I do not know!
M had a good look round on a 9 hour walk around the valley and found [...]

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Glacial Erosion in the Lauterbrunnen Valley

Our holidays often turn into extended fieldtrips as we explore in real life the topics and themes we study at our homeschool.  We are looking at Geology and Landscapes next term, so M made a video describing some of the key features of the fantastic, glacial landscape where we were camping.
Some of the key things [...]

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