Nature Sun catchers

Nature Sun catchers

11150291_10153301780919525_3151990141009459977_nInspired by something on Facebook Annie Rose and I went off on a petal, leaf and flower hunt. We took a little bowl and went round the garden looking for interesting shaped leaves and petals which had dropped, we did pinch a few flowers too(but made sure there was plenty to still brighten the garden).11016816_10153301780989525_77535446753399171_n

 

 

 

 

I took a piece of card, an amazon packet which was perfect as it was already folded like a book, and I cut out a rectangle from one side then use it as a template to draw and cut out a matching template on the other side. I took some good old sticky back plastic blue Peter style and tapped it to the inside of one of the frames so it was like a sticky window. We then place leaves, petals and flowers all over it. I took another piece of sticky back plastic and stuck it to the other side so the sticky side was up,on the inside, again. I then closed the “book”frame up so the sticky sides met each other enclosing our flowery picture. I taped it shut.11150286_10153301780719525_7729638061028365520_n

It looks so pretty especially when held up to the window. So we hung it from the window handle in Annie Rose’s room.11133838_10153301780834525_4552202146044618573_n

 

Roller coaster physics, maths but mostly fun!

Roller coaster physics, maths but mostly fun!

IMG_20140830_153449Thanks to someone stealing my Tesco  club card points last year (and Nanny buying one too!) we have managed to afford Merlin passes for the whole family! So how does that link in with our home education journey? Well, after a visit to Chessington World of Adventures. I got thinking about the way a rollercoaster works and the k-nex coaster set the boys had sitting in a drawer. IMG_20140830_133208So I got googling and planning!

So the boys built the k-nex rollercoaster and we looked at books from the library and the internet to find out the physics of how rollercoasters work. We learnt about friction, magnetics, gravity, potential energy and kinetic energy. Shortly we will be making our own (marble) coaster which I will blog about afterwards!

We found a great maths book that used rollercoasters as a basis for lots of different maths applications. Including comparing numbers, converting measurements, finding information in a table, ordering numbers, working out areas and more.

IMG_20140830_140506The boys have been researching lots more about rollercoasters and theme parks and are going to be compiling a scrapbook/lapbook each to show what they have learnt and the facts they’ve found. This is including the history of rollercoasters themselves and a chosen theme park. I’m looking forward to reading these and will do a short blog post for you to see too!

Art has been exciting too. Have you seen the lovely photos people take with a sunset behind a rollercoaster track? Well we’ve been sketching track ideas and using different mediums to create a sunset back ground. A couple of weeks ago we had an impromptu art lesson on the pavement!

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So much learning … but so much fun!!

Check out the pinterest board i made to help us -http://uk.pinterest.com/james0389/rollercoaster-topic/