Have you ever been to the Southern Hemisphere? Maybe you’ve visited relatives in Australia or been on holidays in Thailand?
Did you see that the water spins down the drain differently to home?
No?
Well it does! In the Northern Hemisphere water goes down the drain counter clockwise, but in the Southern Hemisphere water washes down clockwise. Next time you’re near a sink watch the water swirl down the drain hole and see if you can tell which direction the water is going!
Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere toilets!
Why Does it Do This?
It is because of the Coriolis Effect, an effect French scientist Gaspard Gustav de Coriolis discovered. He found out that the earth’s rotation around the sun will make water go in different directions
Did you know?
It’s not just water that goes in opposite directions! If you were in outer space and looked at the earth from the Northern Hemisphere the world would be spinning counter clockwise, but if you looked at the world from the Southern Hemisphere it would be spinning clockwise! Wow!
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Chinese lanterns are made of paper and are used to decorate a home during Chinese New Year.
What’s Chinese New Year?
Chinese new year celebrates the end of the lunar cycle. The lunar cycle is the oldest calender in the world but it’s not too reliable because the day for Chinese New Year changes every year!
Why do people light lanterns?
People light lanterns on Chinese New Year as a way to celebrate family members coming home for the lunar festival. It is believed that lighting the lanterns will help people know how to get home, because if it was dark they could get lost!
The lanterns are lit when the first full moon occurs, this makes sure everyone knows the new year has begun!
Did you know?
That the Chinese lanterns are a symbol of harmony and unity, a value the Chinese hope will stay in the hearts of everyone for the whole year ahead!
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What you’ll need:
- Light material that you can cut, like a handkerchief or scrap material
- Scissors
- 8 equal lengths of string
- A small object to act as a weight, like a little action man figure
How to make it:
1) Cut out a large square from your material
2) Trim the edges so it looks like an octagon which is an 8 sided shape (make sure your parents are helping you)
3) Cut small holes near the edge of each side
Bombs away!
4) Take your 8 pieces of string and attach them to each of the holes
5) Attach the other side of the string to your action man
6) Stand on a chair and drop the parachute man to see how he falls
Did it work?
Your parachute man should of fallen slowly to the ground because of the resistance caused by the air against the parachute. The bigger the parachute the slower your parachute man will fall.
If he’s not falling in a straight line cut a whole in the middle of the parachute which will allow air through the hole to help him float down straight!
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mmm yummy cheese
Then along came a spider, who sat down beside her
and frightened miss muffet away!
Did you know that curds are what we need to make yummy cheese?
How is cheese made?
It all starts with milking a cow.
The milk is then sent to the dairy factory where it is loaded into big containers. The cheese makers add rennet to the milk to make it curdle.
Afterwards the milk is heated up to get any nasty bacteria out of the cheese. Afterwards the cheese maker separates the curds and whey. The curd is then pressed into cheese. Finally it’s weighed, wrapped and put on a truck.
That’s how it ends up in the supermarket and finally in your tummy!
Did you know?
If you want to be healthy and strong you should eat three servings of dairy a day? All it takes is a piece of cheese, a glass of milk and a tub of yoghurt, then you’ll be the strongest kid in school!
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Cheese and butter are Elva's speciality!
Did you know you can make your own butter at home and all it takes is a little bit of shaking?
What you’ll need:
- a glass jar with a lid
- heavy whipping cream
- a strainer
- a pinch of salt
- some bread to try your butter with!
Method:
1) Fill your glass jar half way with cream and screw the lid on
shake, shake, shake!
2) Shake the jar really hard, this will take about 20 minutes so you might want to take turns with your parents or friends!
3) Once a lump has formed pour the mixture into a strainer to get rid of the buttermilk
4) Rinse your butter lump under cold water and place back into the jar, add a little salt and mix gently
5) Spread your butter on the bread
6) Eat!
Did you know?
That butter is made from milk, but do you know where milk comes from?
From a cow!
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Everyday we use pencils.
We use lead pencils for our school work and coloured pencils for drawing awesome pictures!
But who invented the pencil?
Well the truth is no-one really knows. What they think happened is in 1500′s England, there was a big storm that blew over a tree. When the storm cleared, the villagers inspected the tree to discover a black substance known as graphite.
The graphite was perfect for marking everything, including sheep!
Pencils have come along way since then and now are made in factories.
The pencils begin as a big block of wood that is cut into lots of smaller lengths. The graphite is then inserted into the wood and the pencil ends up in your pencil case!
Did you know?
That the lead pencil isn’t made of lead? Before graphite was discovered people would use lead to mark different objects and the name has stuck to this day!
bent or straight?
What you’ll need:
- a pencil
- water
- a clear glass jar (like an empty pasta jar)
How to do it:
1) Fill half your glass jar with water
2) Place the pencil in the water
3) Look at the pencil from the top
4) Look at the pencil from the side
When you look at it from the top it looks straight but when you look at it from the side its bent!
Why does it do this?
Its the light playing tricks on your eyes! You see light travels through water slower than it travels through air. When the light hits the water it slows down making the pencil look bent, but when the light travels through air it speeds up making the pencil look straight!
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Have you been in an aeroplane?
Did you know that if the jet engine wasn’t invented we’d be keeping our feet on the ground?
Jet engines move the aeroplane forward with a force that is produced by a tremendous thrust!
What is a Thrust?
Thrust is the force that pushes the aeroplane engine forward.
Sir Isaac Newton discovered that for “every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Check out the air flow!
An engine does this by taking in a large amount of air, the air is then heated, compressed and slowed down.
The air is then forced through spinning blades and mixes with jet fuel, making the temperature of the air as hot as three thousand degrees!
This hot air powers the turbine (a part of the engine). Finally, when the air leaves, it pushes backwards out of the engine, making the plane fly!
Did you know?
That the cry of a blue whale is louder then the sound of a jet engine? It can be heard hundreds of kilometers away! Looks like nature got there first!
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What you’ll need:
- Scotch tape
- A drinking straw
- a long balloon
- 3 metres of nylon string
- trees, poles or chairs to tie the string to
How to do it:
1) Take one end of the string and tie it to a tree or a post
2) Slide the straw onto the string
3) Tie the other end of the string onto another post or tree, making sure the string is tight
4) Blow up the balloon and hold the opening so the air won’t escape
5) Face the opening of the balloon towards the post you tied the other end of string to, rest the balloon on the string and tape the balloon to the string
Go Jet Balloon!
6) Release the balloon!
Why did that happen?
When you let go of the balloon all of the air inside rushes out! Which causes the balloon to speed across the string!
Skelly has challenged Morc to a boat race, but when everyone gets out to sea the oars are lost overboard and they can’t get back to shore!
Luckily Garth and Bev see a jellyfish propelling himself through the water and get the great idea to propel the boats back to shore. Grandfather Lir is so proud of his grandchildren he sends them through the time spiral to meet Frank Whittle who invented Jet propulsion. The invention that makes planes go really fast through the air!
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