Science - Magnets

You can check out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/science/energy_electricity_forces/magnets_electric_effects/revise1.shtml and go through the notes and revise sessions.

Here is an educational series of 4 parts on magnetism:








I also read something really interesting in my KS3 textbook about this "magnetic" train  in Birmingham that uses the effect of magnets to levitate and this reduces friction and results in higher speeds.   Its called Maglev (Magnetic Leviation).

It works like this "It uses magnetic forces to make the vehicles hover above the track rather than running along them, thus reducing the friction between the two and allowing much higher speeds to be attained than are safely achievable on any other form of ground based public transport".

In the article I noticed that this train "operated between 1985 and 1995, but this low-speed service suffered so many problems that it has now been replaced with a regular shuttle train service".

They go on to say this "Maglev railway systems have been successfully demonstrated in both testing phases and commercial use, and they have proved to be much faster and just as reliable as conventional railways. However, since maglev systems are unable to use conventional railway infrastructures they have to be designed as entire transport systems. This means that a new maglev railway link will have a phenomenal set up cost encompassing the building of terminals, locomotives and guideways. It is this initial cost that has thus far held back the widespread implementation of maglev technology. However, with so many companies competing to adapt this technology, in the future it is highly likely that Magnetic Levitation will see much greater use all over the world and will become part of everyday transport."

You can read more about it here 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev_(transport)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A21605663

If you want to have a laugh about how magnets work listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmvxAcT_Yc

Hurricane Katia heading towards the UK ?

Read the full story here:  http://www.earth-issues.com/2011/09/hurricane-katia%E2%80%99s-bizarre-turn-sends-it-careening-towards-united-kingdom/

This image below from their site, clearly shows the hurricane heading straight for us.  We have been aware of this from last week as we watch a website called windfinder.com.

It was due to hit today with winds of 70mph but the weather forecast now shows it for tomorrow and lower winds.  Its always really windy here and winter has almost constant high winds - a lot of which are hurricane force but in the form of gusts not an actual hurricanes.

The after effects of a hurricane hit here in 2005 and caused a lot of damage, as well as a couple of people who died, when their car was washed off a causeway.


Source:   http://www.earth-issues.com/2011/09/hurricane-katia%E2%80%99s-bizarre-turn-sends-it-careening-towards-united-kingdom/

Wonder if this will hit us / UK or wear itself out...  The weather has been grim this weekend so far.  Will be keeping a watch on this.

There were some funny light-hearted comments on a yahoo article that highlighted this Hurricane Katia:  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-braced-katias-dying-gasps-054404697.html

A couple of the comments were:

"Stop Moaning about the weather We've had a wonderful summer, I can distinctly remember those three sunny days in June, ................................ (Or was it July?)"


"Good excuse for a bad hair day :)"


"In America they call it a hurricane; over here in Britain we call it "a bit breezy."


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This is what windfinder.com is showing at the mo. which is nothing really. 

Source:  http://www.windfinder.com/forecasts/wind_british_isles_akt.htm

Did you know?

Facts about the UK

The total land area is 244820km squared.

The UK has over 12000 miles of coastline.

There are 5000 rivers.

The highest point is Ben Nevis @ 1344m.

The lowest point = Fens @ -4m.

There are 874 miles between John o'Groats to Land's End.

and

Did you know that your body is made up of between 50 trillion and 100 trillion cells?


Ref:
The world of Geography (Revision) - Letts
The world of Science (Revision) - Letts

Some other homeschoolers blogs

These home-schooling blogs are worldwide as there is no need to restrict homeschoolers to their own countries education system.

Other blogs are useful for seeing other peoples experiences be they better or worse than our own. Its also useful to see the links that other homeschooling families have posted and maybe you find something interesting.

If you find just one interesting link or post then thats a good thing for the day :)

Basically all children, worldwide should be learning the same types of things at certain ages, based also on their capability.

A good tip is to look through the older posts on blogs, as they have a lot of info on. (Don't just look at the first page and then close the window) :

http://handmadehomeschool.wordpress.com/

http://www.sarahsellers.co.uk/blog/

http://guiltfreehomeschooling.org/

http://www.squidoo.com/uk_home_education

http://icky.blogspot.com/

http://www.timsellers.net/homeschool/index.html

http://homeschool4us.blogspot.com/

http://ahomeschooljourney.blogspot.com/

http://cinc-house.blogspot.com/

http://homeeducator.blogspot.com/

So by the end of this excerice you may find that you are doing better than other homeschoolers or that you have a lot to do.

You might have heard the term un-schooling and need to look into what that means and if you think it will work for you.

Personally I really enjoy homeschooling and like the mix of my books, the internet and then a little un-schooling. By our un-schooling I mean that there might be something I want to learn about thats not part of what we are doing. Sometimes we put what we are doing on hold and go for what I want to learn about and sometimes we put what I want to learn about on the list for later. Its a good mix.

I do know some families that "unschool" everyday, totally....... and the kids just dont get around to any learning ever, (they just goof off all the time and misbehave).

I also know some families who obsessively work to a schedule. Either way either parents or kids or both get bored. So a good mix works well.

Variety is the spice of life and keeps the interest going.

Home schooling is a journey, enjoy the ride, not just the destination.