Hi there, below will be the content we will be covering as well as any related resources. For foundation students, we will have smaller, weekly topics so we can explore even more in the time we have!
Hi there, below will be the content we will be covering as well as any related resources. For foundation students, we will have smaller, weekly topics so we can explore even more in the time we have!
It's a nice day, so let's go outside and look at the stars!.
Today we are going to talk about space, in particular, stars and constellations. However, it's the middle of the day right?, so how can we see them - that's the fun part. We are going to use an app called Night Sky, which uses the iPad's camera, GPS and gyroscope, as well as some AR tools to find out where we are in the world and overlay an accurate layout of the stars and planets. It's going to be epic!
We are going to keep looking at how the Internet works by looking at search engines.
Search engines work by crawling billions of pages using web crawlers. Also known as spiders or bots, crawlers navigate the web and follow links to find new pages. These pages are then added to an index that search engines pull results from.
We also learn how we could use keywords and more descriptive writing to narrow down those search results)
So, the Internet... I'm sure you have heard of it, in fact, we are using it right now and really, you probably use it for a lot of things.
But what is the internet and how does it work? - That is what we are going to look at today. We will see if we can 'find' the internet around our school by going for a walk and see what routers, wifi, ethernet and more are, and see if we can find where they are all connected.
We are then going to talk about how you use the internet and talk about what we old people did in the past without it, and how you think it might work in the future!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_LPdttKXPc
The future of the internet handout (if we get time)
https://hello-ruby-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/exercise_material/attachment/68/Task_27.pdf
You are nearly finished your first year of primary school and I am sure you are a master of your ABCs, but what about your QWERTYs, well, that is what we are going to look at today, keyboards and typing! this is a skill you will use more and more as you go through primary school, so no better time to start than now.
So, let's use some new toys (laptops!) and try and find those letters, why are they all in different spots?
We will finish up our exploration of motion by talking about chain reactions.
What is a chain reaction? (and no, we are not talking about the movie from the 90's with Keanu Reeves), it is a series of events, each caused by the previous one.
But, before we make our chain reactions, let's look at some great examples of them with a series of very cool (and kind of pointless) Rube Goldberg machines:
https://youtu.be/Kzz7eK86yO0?t=54
We talked a lot about motion last week, so let's take a closer look at it, but sadly, our simple human eyes can only see so many images a second, so we are going to use some cameras that can see a lot more!
We will also some experiments with motion, talk about our eyes and what they can do, and then learn how digital cameras can see so much more.
A couple of videos to get us up to speed!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3MtBE37wHY&t=519s
https://youtu.be/j_OyHUqIIOU?t=241
Today we are going to be Engineers (a person who designs, builds, or maintains engines, machines, or structures) and look at how bridges work and how they can hold so much weight.
Then we are going to get into groups and design and build our own bridges from a range of materials (lego, blocks, knetx, and more) and then the fun part (well, for me) is I am going to see how much weight they can hold until the break!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVOnRPefcno
Last week we built a robot, now, we are going to race one (as the weather is nice for a change)
As we talked about, robots are great for doing a lot of jobs, they are also very precise and great with numbers and maths.
Today we are going to race our robots outside, but first, we are going to use skills like estimation and measurement and work out the distance of our future races.
The Sphero robots we are using are great at keeping track of how they move and we will compare our measurements with theirs (and also learn about other forms of measurement like incline, decline, velocity, and more!)
Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (ACTDIK002)
Design your own robot and draw a picture of it. What does your robot do?
Today we’ll learn about robots, how computers learn… and how they might learn the wrong things. When computers learn to solve problems based on examples, it’s called machine learning. And the examples we use to teach them are called training data.
A robot may seem human, but its behaviour is based on sensors and machine learning. A robot can be a diving machine exploring the seabed, a drone flying in the air or even a washing machine taking care of the dishes.
Hello Ruby:
https://www.helloruby.com/play/54
The periodic table is a visual catalogue of all known chemical elements.
What is a 'chemical element?, well, think of them as the building blocks of stuff, or matter, the ingridient to make a thing in our world.
There are a lot of them (118), and today we are going to look at some of the most popular ones, and then, go on a hunt and see if we can find some of them around our school (but if you find gold, you have to give it to me!)
Let's start our lesson with a song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz4Dd1I_fX0
Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (VCDTDI014)
Today we are going to talk about how computers can send data (messages, pictures, anything really) in a secret way so they can only be read by the person they were meant to go to.
In computers, encoding is the process of putting a sequence of characters (letters, numbers, punctuation, and certain symbols) into a specialized format for efficient transmission or storage. Decoding is the opposite process -- the conversion of an encoded format back into the original sequence of characters.
These terms should not be confused with encryption and decryption, which focus on hiding and securing data. (We can encrypt data without changing the code or encode data without deliberately concealing the content.)
A very old way of encoding and decoding is called Morse Code, and this is where letters and numbers have been replaced with dots and dashes (and beeps).
We are gooing to look at how this works and how to write our name in Morse code, then, you are going to make up your very own decoder and encoder to write secret messages of your own.
Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (VCDTDI014)
Recognise different types of data and explore how the same data can be represented in different ways (VCDTDI020
We have talked a lot about computer hardware, but what about software? - I'm sure you use a range of applications on devices (programs and games) but how do people make those? - Well, you need to come up with an idea and design first - and that is what you are going to do today.
I will hand out some iPad templates and I what you to draw you app design in them.
We will do this over a couple of lessons and then, I will record your explaination of the app, why?, well, this is the fun part, I'm going to give your design to the Grade 5/6 classes and see if they can make them (or come close)
At the start of the school year, we pulled apart a computer to see how it worked, today, you will be making your own (out of paper at least). Do you remember all the parts we talked about all those months ago? - I hope so, as I want you to add them into your computer (as well as some other fun things because we can)
Do you know where you live? (well, I hope so), but do you know what is the next street over, or the town, or the state, or the country, or the.... well, you can see where I am going with this.
Today we are going to explore the world, I hear it's a big place, so let's go get lost using Google Earth.
We will talk about satellites, GPS, longitude and latitude and other big words that sound cool.
I'm sure you have read a book before, and I'm sure they had pictures and words in them (and maybe even a title and author right?), well, that's so 2021... today we are going to make our own books, but we will be able to add music, sound effects and videos.
We are going to try and make two books:
About myself.
About my school.
We used cameras last week that could take some pretty good pictures, now, we are going to use cameras that have one of the biggest zooms you can find, a Digital Microscope - this thing is designed to look VEEEEERY close at objects, some can even see tiny molecules in your blood (don't worry, we are not going that close)
First up we will look at a series of everyday things that have had their photo taken with a microscope (and see if you can guess what they are). Then, it's time to get outside again and find some natural objects we can bring back into the classroom and you can examine yourself under the microscope. It is gonna' get freaky!
Does it drive you crazy when your parents are always getting out their phones and say "oh, do that again, that was cute - let me take a picture" and then go on to take about 1254 photos?, well, it wasn't always that easy.
Today we are going to learn about how cameras used to work, and how digital cameras work today.
Oh, and to test out our photography skills, we will be going on a scavenger hunt, where you will need to take photos of things on my special list!
Printable List:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TT4_DJXMqGZKopx5pgs7ARVi4Jera-Cx/view?usp=sharing
Ok, bear with me here, what is ' me coding'?, well you won't be coding me (because let's face it, I'm sure you will code me to run into a wall), but you will be coding yourselves, or, a video game character version of yourself.
We will be using Scratch Jnr again this week and I will explain what a sprite is and how you can make your own (with your own face on it too of course!)
Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (VCDTDI014)
Collect, explore and sort data, and use digital systems to present the data creatively (VCDTDI015)
Last week we looked at a sequence (dance moves) and how putting them together we can create a bit of a dance program.
This week, it's time to get our gadgets on and do some real coding on iPad, and instead of dance moves, we will be coding a little cat in Scratch, a block coding program.
Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (VCDTDI014)
Collect, explore and sort data, and use digital systems to present the data creatively (VCDTDI015)
Code is a sequence of instructions written in a language that the computer understands. Computers need instructions that are precise, in the right order, and cover everything the user might try to do with it. We’ll practice these three things by writing a code for dancing!
Most programming languages are built around sequence, repetition and selection.
Sequence
Computers need a sequence, or order of instructions to follow. For example: lift your hands up, hands down, hands down, hands up.
Repetition
Computers can repeat the same task over and over again without getting bored like we do. They are very good at it and always do it perfectly. This is called repetition. For example: repeat three times.
Selection
Finally, computers need to be programmed to make a selection, or choice. This helps the computers make decisions and pick what thing to do next. Computers use words like IF, THEN and ELSE to help them make decisions. For example, IF boy is on the ground, turn around.
Printout for us today:
https://hello-ruby-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/exercise_material/attachment/50/Task_9.pdf
A video (if you are at home!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFtiTpvepNE&ab_channel=HelloRuby
Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (VCDTDI014)
Collect, explore and sort data, and use digital systems to present the data creatively (VCDTDI015)
http://www.helloruby.com/play/39
We have looked at a lot of computers and how they work, but, how do they think? - and can they think for themselves?, well, today we are going to put that to the test and see if computers are better artists than us (as well as big words like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning)
Quick Draw :
https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/
Auto Draw:
https://www.autodraw.com/
Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams (VCDTDI014)
Collect, explore and sort data, and use digital systems to present the data creatively (VCDTDI015)
Yes, I promised we would make something blow up, well, now is our chance (safely), but, before I do let us look at how Rockets work and design our own!
Science: Everyday materials can be physically changed or combined with other materials in a variety of ways for particular purposes (VCSSU045)
Today we are going to look at a recipe, not for pancakes, but for maths! and we are going to learn that this recipe is called a formula.
What will we be cooking with this formula? - Momentum (or, if you want to be really smart: P=mv)
We are going to learn all about formulas and what those letters stand for, go for a run outside and see momentum in action by using a slow-motion camera and then use a robot to do the same and collect sensor data.
Here is an example of it in action (Thanks Maggie from Foundation!)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A8aKxjDQm0g
Follow, describe and represent a sequence of steps and decisions (algorithms) needed to solve simple problems (VCDTCD017)
Last time we looked at what was in a computer, some of you said there might be a lot of wires, others said there might be some electricity (some of you even said there might be a bananna in there for some reason!)
But, how does electricity even work? How come when I flick a light switch the lights turn on? We are going to learn about that today when we look at circuits, current and what conducts! (and I will even use a banana and make it talk,,,, that last one will make sense later)
Identify and explore digital systems (hardware and software components) for a purpose (VCDTDS013)
So, what is a computer? I'm sure you have used them a bunch in the past, but what do they look like (My fridge has a computer) and how do they even look?
We will have a chat (and guess) about all of this before we find out first-hand.... by pulling one apart!
Today's activities :
I wonder: What is a computer and how does it work?
I think: Draw how you 'think' a computer works and what is inside.
I discover: Let's pull apart a working computer and see how close we were!
Identify and explore digital systems (hardware and software components) for a purpose (VCDTDS013)