My Science School

How many ways can you say “Hello”? Some children speak more than one language, because the people they live with speak different languages. Children who live in places like Western Europe, where many countries and cultures are close together, often learn a second language.

Even people who speak the same language don’t always say words the same way. In the U.S.A., people in the northeastern states may say “dahg”. People in the southeastern states may say “dawg”. They are all saying the word dog, but they have different ways of saying it.

There are about 6,000 languages in the world, and most people speak and understand only one or two. People who know more than one language can become interpreters. Interpreters are people who translate words from one language into another. When world leaders meet, they often exchange ideas through an interpreter.

When people who do not speak the same language get together, they talk through interpreters.

Canada has two official languages, English and French. Many children there learn to speak both.

 

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Children need to know a lot besides how to read, write and do arithmetic. They also need to learn things that are important in their culture. Children everywhere learn skills that will be useful when they grow up.

In the U.S.A., many young people learn how to use the kitchen stove, so they can help prepare meals. They also learn how to read maps to find places and how to use a library to find out many things.

There is nothing better than knowing your students are inspired and connected to what they are learning and researching. When students feel emotionally connected to their coursework, they often times feel more inspired to be creative and put a great deal of effort into their work. When teaching the importance of cultural heritage, students can easily be inspired by thoughts of their own culture, where they come from; perhaps they are adopted and grew up in a home with a different culture from where they were born, then that student could explore into their birth culture and understand more about themselves in the process of researching. Cultural heritage is deeply personal, but it is also a connection we all share; through connecting with your culture you connect more with those around you. Many students find they share similar cultures with their peers, or they may find a peer who is from a place they want to know more about. This connected learning opens doors for sharing and exploring the world while never really leaving the classroom. Also, as a teacher it is important to allow students the opportunity to connect to their culture because at home they may not have the opportunity to connect with parents about this topic, offering information and research databases for students to dig into a culture is important because it allows a student to thrive and grow, while still learning something they are passionate about.

 

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Do you go to the same school every day? Some children don’t. They go to lots of different schools, and some days they don’t go school at all!

These children live their families on boats called barges. The barges are always on the move. They travel up and down rivers and canals in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium, carrying goods from one town to another.

In the Netherlands, barge children go to special schools in the towns where the barges stop. While the barges are tied up, the children attend classes. They are also given lessons to work on as they travel.

When the barge gets to the next stop, the children go to another school. They hand in their homework, go to classes, and get more homework to do. In this way, they can keep up with their schoolwork.

When these barge children finish their elementary schooling, they may go to a boarding school for high school.

 

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Do you go to school in a classroom with lots of desks and chairs at your kitchen table? In a temple or in a one-room schoolhouse? Do you go to school indoors or outdoors?

A school may be any kind of building, or it may not be a building at all! A school is simply a place where students come to learn with help from a teacher. All around the world, children go to schools of all kinds and all sizes to learn things they need to know.

Teachers play a key role in any student’s life. They are like the children’s second parents, adults who are there to supervise when they are not at home. They are knowledgeable on a lot of things, and they should be able to impart a wide array of information and wisdom on specific subject matters, as well as life in general.

School provides an environment where we can learn a lot of basic skills. Children as young as three years old are taught how to read and write at their preschools. They start to learn the alphabet, numbers, and even do some simple arithmetic problems. They also get the chance to practice their drawing, building, problem solving, and cognitive skills.

 

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Grown-ups – your parents, teachers, neighbours – teach you many things you need to know in life. They learned these things from the grown-ups they grew with. People who are even older than your parents, such as your grandparents, older neighbours, great-aunts, and great-uncles, have plenty to teach you, too!

Older grown-ups have a lifetime of experience to share. They have seen the world in many different ways. After all, they started out as children and have been every age between them and now. They were once your age, and they remember how it feels to get a new bike, have a baby brother or sister, or go to school. They may have helpful answers to your problems and funny stories to tell.

All older grown-ups have special skills. Their jobs and their skills are things they can teach you. Maybe your grandfather known all about fishing. Maybe an older neighbor knows a lot about gardening. Maybe they speak another language or once lived in another country. You can learn a lot from them.

The older grown-ups in your life were once exactly your age. Where did they live? What chores did they do? What games did they play? What books did they read? Ask them! Find out how their childhood was like your own, and how it was different.

 

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Little children learn while they play. Some play in groups at nursery school. Others visit the homes of their friends or play at home with brothers, sisters, and cousins.

As they play, children teach each other. They learn how to share and how to listen. They find out what their bodies can do. They learn about the world around them. And they learn how to have fun together.

Four-year-old Carlos lives in Spain. He plays with his friends, jumping and climbing in the village. Sometimes they play at one another’s homes.

Rohini, a 4-year-old in India, goes to nursery school with her friends. They play with toys, make things, and listen to stories together.

In the U.S.A., a 4-year-old Sarah lives on a farm in Iowa. She loves to run and explore in the fields and barn with her older brother.

All children enjoy playing with their friends. And while they play, they are learning from everyone and everything around them.

 

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The world is filled with interesting places to go and fascinating things to know and to do. So where should you go to start learning?

You’re already there – wherever you are. You learn at school, at home, at play. You learn from your family and friends and from your teachers. Books and newspapers, television, radio, telephones, and computers offer information from around the world to you.

We are all learning every day. We learn when we listen, we learn when we look, and we learn when we try new things. We’re learning when we ask questions and when we try to answer them.

Ketwago, a young boy in Botswana, a small country in Africa, was learning to hunt. Pulling his bowstring tighter, he moved slowly forward. “Stoop as low as you can,” said his father from behind him. “When we stoop over, the antelopes think we are animals and they don’t run from us. Then you can get close enough to shoot you arrow”.

Ketwago doesn’t go to school. He is taught by his father and the other grown-ups of his tribe. Children around the world learn different things in different ways.

Children learn from parents, friends, teachers, librarians, sports instructors, and brothers and sisters. Everywhere, families teach their children what they think will help them most in their lives.

 

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Mancala games have been popular in Africa for thousands of years. Two players move small stones or seeds around pits scooped out of a board. The goal is to get the most stones on your side of the board and in your Mancala cup. The trick is deciding which group of stones is best to move!

You will need:

• An empty egg carton


• 48 small stones, buttons, marbles, or beads


• 2 small cups (the Mancalas)

What to do:

• Use an egg carton and two shallow cups for the Mancala board and Mancalas. Each player owns the six pockets on one side of the egg carton and the Mancala cup placed to his or her right.


• Place four stones in each of the 12 pockets in the egg carton.


• Decide who will go first. The first player scoops up all the stones from one of his or her six pockets and drops them one by one in the pockets around the carton in an anticlockwise direction starting in the next pocket. If you reach your Mancala, drop a stone in it, but do not drop stones in your opponent’s Mancala.


• The players will take turns picking up all the stones from a pocket and moving them as described in step there, always taking from one of their own pockets. If the last stone in a turn is placed in the player’s own Mancla, the player gets another turn. If the last stone is placed in an empty cup on the player’s own side, he or she may take that stone and all the stones from the pocket directly opposite his or her own, if there are any, and put them in his or her own Mancala. The game ends when one player’s side is clear of stones.

You’re the winner if you have more stones in your pockets and Mancala than your opponent does.

 

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Derrah is a game like Noughts and Crosses and Go. It is a two-player game from North Africa and is easy to make and fun to play.

You will need:

• Card or paper


• Felt-tipped pen


• Small coin


• 12 matching seeds, stones, buttons, coins, paper, clips, or beads for each player

Be sure each players’ pieces are different. For example, use white seeds for one and black seeds for another, coins or different coloured buttons.

 

What to do:

• In Africa, Derrah is played on a wooden board with rows of little round holes, but you can make your own game board. Just trace around a small coin on the paper, drawing six rows of seven circles each. That’s 42 circles that form a rectangle.


• Decide who goes first. Then set all the pieces on the board, talking turns putting one piece at a time in any empty circle on the board. Only two pieces from the same player can be next to each other.


• Then take turns moving pieces one space left or right, up or down – but not diagonally. The object is to get three pieces in a row. Choose your moves carefully to try to prevent your opponent from getting three in a row.


• Each time you get three in a row, you can take one of your opponent’s pieces off the board.

The game ends when one player cannot make any more rows of three, or when all of a player’s pieces has been taken.

 

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As long as there’s a steady breeze – and you have a long string – nothing is more fun than a flying a kite.

More than 2,000 years ago, someone in China made the very first kite. According to an old story, Chinese soldiers once attached bamboo pipes to kites. As the kites flew  over the enemy, wind passed through the pipes. This caused a whistling sound. The enemies were scared by the noise and ran away.

Today children everywhere enjoy flying kites! Hang-glider kites let people soar through the air with a kite. People in India use special kites in the sport of kite fighting.

In Korea, kites severe a happy purpose. Children’s wishes for toys are written and tied to kite tails by their mothers. The children fly their kites to tell the gods what they want.

American writer and scientist Benjamin Franklin did a dangerous experiment in which he attached a metal key to a kite string and flew the kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is electricity. (Don’t you do this!)

The Wright brothers (American inventors) used box kites to test their ideas about flight when they were making the first aeroplane.

Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell made by kites large enough to lift people off the ground.

 

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These toys have been pleasing children for centuries all around the world! Why? Because they are so much fun!

Puppet figures have been found in ancient tombs in Egypt. Shadow puppets are lighted from behind – an audience sees the shadows of the puppets on the screen. Marionettes are puppets controlled by strings. Hands make great puppets too. Slip a sock on your hand and you’re ready. Or just draw a face on your fingertip and wiggle it.

A yo-yo is merely two round, flat pieces of wood or plastic joined by a peg and spun on a string, but it has been a favourite for more than 3,000 years! The name yo-yo comes from a Filipino word meaning “come back”. Two tricks you can do with a yo-yo are “Walk the Dog,” and “Rock the Baby.”

In 1958, plastic Hula-hoops were first sold in the U.S.A. Ever since then people have been wiggling their hips to keep the hoops rolling around their waists. What other hoop games do you know?

A top can be made of wood, metal, or plastic. Some tops play music as they whirl. You start a top by using a key, by pumping, or with a twist of your fingers or a pull on a string. Children played with tops in ancient Greece.

Toy cars aren’t just to be played with. People of all ages collect and make models of cars. Do you have a favourite kind of car you’d like to build a model of?

It bounces higher than a rubber ball. It is very stretchy. It can copy newspaper and comic book words and images. What is it? It’s Silly Putty, and it has been a favourite toy of children since 1949.

Flying disks, more often called Frisbees, can be thrown a long way. They seem to hover in the air as they fly away from your hand. How far can you throw a Frisbee?

What is not a living thing but can walk down stairs and steep hills why, it’s Slinky. It seems simple, it looks like a coil of wire, but it has fascinated children for many years.

 

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A toymaker is a person who makes toys – a person like you.

Children like you are among the best toymaker in the world. You may know toys are as much fun to make as they are to play with. All you need is your imagination and a few odds and ends.

A big box can be an ocean liner sailing over the sea or a spaceship landing on the moon.

Bits of cloth and cardboard can be puppets in a play. Pieces of wood float like little boats or puddles and ponds. If you have an old tyre, a rope, and a tree, you can make a swing!

Everywhere, children make toys from things around them. In Bermuda, children make dolls from banana stalks and nuts. In the West African country of Ivory Coast, they make dolls from clumps of grass and roots. In the U.S.A., kids make dolls out of cornhusks.

Mexican children turn cornhusks into toy donkeys. In India, children mould elephants, water buffaloes, and tigers out of clay. In the Solomon Islands, boys use large nuts to make twirling tops.

 

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You’re on holiday! It’s a time to get out and explore. It’s a time to try new things and visit different places. It’s a time to have fun with your family!

Some families take trips to faraway places. Other families explore places close to home. City dwellers may go to the country. Farmers may head for a big city.

Many families take their holidays in summer. During the long summer break from school, some children spend time at overnight camps. Others attend day camps, sports camps, or computer camps.

Many French families take summer camping trips. They pitch their tents in camp sites operated by the government. These families enjoy the quiet beauty of the forests.

Winter holidays are fun, too. Japanese families enjoy skiing on the islands of Honshu or Hokkaido. There they race down the snow-covered mountain slopes in the crisp, cold air.

In the U.S.A. and Canada, some families take their holidays at Christmas time, when schools are closed. They often travel south to warm places, like Florida, to water ski, sail, or swim.

 

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Be prepared like the professionals! Take a look at the big, tough professional American football players. They always wear hard helmets and cover their bodies in safety padding. They are serious about playing it safe.

You should be, too.

Bicycle riding is fun for everyone, and everyone should wear a helmet when they ride.

On paved paths, people love to glide on in-line skates and surf on skateboards. Skates and skateboards require balance and speed. A sturdy helmet and a set of wrist, elbow, and knee-pads help keep you safe!

Hockey players of all ages know that helmets, mouth-guards, and padding are as important as skates and sticks.

The best surfers and divers have had many swimmers lessons. They know you have to be strong swimmer before you try anything fancy in the water.

In-line skating is a fun and active sport. Skaters should always wear protective clothes to keep safe.

Hockey is a fun, but fast, sport that should always be played wearing safety equipment.

 

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