singsurf.org - Geometry and the imagination

Home Ed Science Clubs and classes in Cornwall

I've been working with various groups of home educators and their children to run mathematics and science clubs and classes throughout Cornwall. The groups are all unique, ranging from a small group of three children doing the IGCSE double-science in one of their houses through to larger science groups withup to 20 students, in local halls.

Science club

Currently in 2020, I'm running a "Science Club" for kids age 5-15 and their parents in Shortlanesend near Truro. Here the focus is less on exams and grading and more on hands on activities.

Sample sessions

Evolution

To start we build a tree of life on the board with kids calling out names of animals. These can be grouped together and a tree formed, illustrating the central question which evolution tries to answer. They particularly liked this diagram of a Evolution of Vertebrate from the Cambrium which generated a lot of discussion with the kids and thier parents. Then it was time for a game. I used a copy of the Quirks board game where creatures with different traits could be assembled. We used this game to illustrate fitness to different environments; changes in traits due to mutation. Finally a video of bacteria evolving and the evolution game where you can evolve simple mechanism.

Gravity

Lots of scope for hands on activities here. A fun experiment would be to drop two identical tin cans, one full of coins and one empty. Before dropping ask to predict which one will fall first. Making the link between the gravity on Earth and gravity causing the orbits of planets is a key idea. Leasons feature a version of a Galileo Ramps which I've built. Kids have a lot of fun rolling marbles down in, more advanced version of the leason add gates which can measure the time between two points allowing measurement of speed and acceleration.

Electro magnatism

There lots of simple devices to try out such as a motor and a generator

Contact

For more details you can contact me at rich@singsurf.org, or by phone on 01208 872963.

Resources