Forces, maths, species, extinction.

The boys both worked independently through their maths course, whilst I ate my breakfast. Both were up since 6 am and rushing to get started. 

When I was ready, we looked at forces, using Infinity School. Today we studied friction.

The boys needed to work out how to build a ramp. Both had different ideas and a few failures to start off. Then Owen settles on one using a box lid, whilst Sam decide to use a column and some parts from marble run.

Owen practiced measuring various items around the room.

Then we decided which surfaces to roll our marbles on. The boys chose carpet and laminate flooring to compare. They also measured the height of their ramps to compare which worked better.

Sam's ramp was 17 cm tall and at a steeper angle.

We tried carpet first and measured the distance travelled. Then the laminate flooring....the marble travelled so much further, and we decided to move all the furniture out of the way, so the boys could have a clear run.

They were surprised at the fact that the lower ramp was more effective than Sam's steep one. They tested all the theories a few times to see how consistent the results were and wrote up their findings.

We then made boats.

Gurn for the camera!

These we tested on carpet, our table top and some water, to see which travelled furthest/had least friction. 

The boys wrote their findings for each, which were pretty similar, as both boats well almost identical.

Gurn child.

They both enjoyed the activity once we got started. The hardest bit for them is figuring out how to build the ramps and boats, so I have to offer suggestions and help out more during those parts of the work.

Before Blokey went back to work, Sam and I did a 2.5 mile walk before he left. Owen was still asleep when we said goodbye to Blokey. 

After looking at some maths problems, we carried on exploring forces, first gravity, Issac Newton and the Moon.

The boys researched how the Moon affects the Earth.

And why people on the other side of the Earth don't fall off. It was interesting to hear the boys say..'well that's silly, we know people don't fall off'

Me: but WHY don't they fall off?

Chins were rubbed.

We then looked at air resistance. We used different shapes of paper to see which had the greater resistance.

I helped the boys write out their findings.

Next we looked at water resistance and compared the similarities ( upward force) . Then tested some shapes to judge which had most resistance. 

They struggled to understand the direction of resistance, so I drew some examples.

Then, using the knowledge they had, the boys worked out which sail and base shape would travel fastest through water and designed a boat.

We chilled out doing our own stuff in the afternoon, then the boys went to jujitsu class in the evening.

It's their first class back after Christmas and they really enjoyed it.

After some maths work, Sam and I looked at different types of animals. He was asked to think of one animal that was a carnivore, omnivore and herbivore.

He came up with many examples and we checked some of the ones he wasn't sure about. For instance a Great White Shark and a Basking Shark eat very different diets. So not all animals of the same species are meat eaters or herbivores etc.

 

Next he was asked to make up an imaginary animal for each group. He panicked a bit because he was requested to draw it. So he thought up the animals , drew his own, then I did a version with him too.

He then found the whole thing hilarious.

Owen chose a topic on endangered Species.

He decided to research the Giant Panda.

We read about why it's was endangered and what, if anything, was being done to help Panda numbers increase.

Owen remembered he had seen an article stating that Pandas were off the endangered list now. He also was sure they were being released into the wild. I hadn't heard this, so he looked up information to show me.

He then wondered what, if any, predators the Panda had in the wild and did some research on this. He noticed that the Snow Leopard was one of the natural predators and then went on to tell me 'of course they are endangered too because they are hunted illegally for their beautiful coats'. So we discussed this further.

Owen was very frustrated with his writing, so he copied some of mine and was really pleased with how much neater he managed it. However, when he had a flurry of ideas and things to say , I acted as his scribe.nthis stops him from losing his thoughts and getting too anxious about getting his ideas down.

In the afternoon our friends, very kindly, offered us a lift to our regular home ed meet up. We have missed a few due to me being unable to drive, so it was good to get out and catch up.

The next day the boys wanted to wrap Blokeys presents. They both had saved up, looked for and ordered a present each. We then went for a walk around the village, as we did this we talked in depth about a variety of subjects. Nuclear bombs, global warming, Pandas, hedgehogs and bees...to mention a few.

After a while Owen needed some quiet and listened to his music through headphones. Sam was super chatty.

Back home we sorted out what they wanted to take to my parents. They are having a couple of evenings with their grandparents. I expect Blokey and I will have a meal out and slump exhausted in our chairs.