Today at School
Term 2 - Week 9
Brain Training
I sometimes call this first challenge 'The Casual Teacher's Dilemma', but don't be put off by the name. This activity can be a lot of fun and it helps us to learn a little about our brains and how we learn.
Here is your challenge:
Take 3 minutes to study the student faces below, along with each person's name. In class, we'll use a photo collage to guide us, but if you'd like to challenge your friends or family at home, you can find each students' name by rolling over their picture with your mouse.
* Hint: For an easier challenge, roll your mouse across each face from left to right in each row. For a more difficult challenge, try rolling your mouse over each face from top to bottom before moving to the next column.
When 3 minutes has passed, challenge yourself, a friend, or a loved one to see how many names you can each correctly associate with a face. Take 3 minutes to record your attempts, then when you're done, compare your findings.
What did you discover?
How many names could you correctly remember? How many did your partners remember?
Were there any faces that you both correctly identified? Why do you think this may have happened?
Did age influence the results? Who performed better, you or your older / younger partner?
What other factors might influence our results? Hobbies? Gender? Practice? Will teachers outperform students? How could we test our hypotheses?
What strategies did you use to try to aid your memory? What did the top performer do? What else could you try?
What do you think this might tell us about our memories? How might we be able to use our discoveries in our future learning?
You may even like to do a little more research to learn more how memory masters conquer these challenges.
Who knows, you may even find yourself at the World Memory Championships yourself one day.
Here is your challenge:
Take 3 minutes to study the student faces below, along with each person's name. In class, we'll use a photo collage to guide us, but if you'd like to challenge your friends or family at home, you can find each students' name by rolling over their picture with your mouse.
* Hint: For an easier challenge, roll your mouse across each face from left to right in each row. For a more difficult challenge, try rolling your mouse over each face from top to bottom before moving to the next column.
When 3 minutes has passed, challenge yourself, a friend, or a loved one to see how many names you can each correctly associate with a face. Take 3 minutes to record your attempts, then when you're done, compare your findings.
What did you discover?
How many names could you correctly remember? How many did your partners remember?
Were there any faces that you both correctly identified? Why do you think this may have happened?
Did age influence the results? Who performed better, you or your older / younger partner?
What other factors might influence our results? Hobbies? Gender? Practice? Will teachers outperform students? How could we test our hypotheses?
What strategies did you use to try to aid your memory? What did the top performer do? What else could you try?
What do you think this might tell us about our memories? How might we be able to use our discoveries in our future learning?
You may even like to do a little more research to learn more how memory masters conquer these challenges.
Who knows, you may even find yourself at the World Memory Championships yourself one day.
English
Today's English challenge is a fun one that combines your spelling, writing, vocabulary and grammar skills.
The task is simple. Imagine you are a dictionary creator. You have decided to add your own name to the dictionary. Your challenge is to create a suitable definition to capture your most wonderful qualities. Have a little fun with it. Exaggerate or keep it real. The choice is yours. Just be positive.
Will your name be a noun, a verb or an adjective?
What will it mean? What descriptive words will you use to describe your most important qualities?
If you're up for a challenge, consider adding a pronunciation guide using your phonics skills or your IPA knowledge, and don't forget to include a usage sentence showing the word in context.
I can't wait to see what you come up with.
Examples:
bruce / bru:s / n 1 a person possessing extreme intelligence and outstanding sporting ability, particularly in soccer and cricket: "Wow, did you see that bruce in action? He was incredible." (Usage)
or
bruce / bru:s / v 1 to perform on the sporting field with extreme prowess: He completely bruced the opposition in that game, he was a marvel. (Usage)
The task is simple. Imagine you are a dictionary creator. You have decided to add your own name to the dictionary. Your challenge is to create a suitable definition to capture your most wonderful qualities. Have a little fun with it. Exaggerate or keep it real. The choice is yours. Just be positive.
Will your name be a noun, a verb or an adjective?
What will it mean? What descriptive words will you use to describe your most important qualities?
If you're up for a challenge, consider adding a pronunciation guide using your phonics skills or your IPA knowledge, and don't forget to include a usage sentence showing the word in context.
I can't wait to see what you come up with.
Examples:
bruce / bru:s / n 1 a person possessing extreme intelligence and outstanding sporting ability, particularly in soccer and cricket: "Wow, did you see that bruce in action? He was incredible." (Usage)
or
bruce / bru:s / v 1 to perform on the sporting field with extreme prowess: He completely bruced the opposition in that game, he was a marvel. (Usage)
Maths & Logic
How did you go with this week's logic skills challenge? Looking for more? Keen to challenge your parents or a friend?
Try these bonus challenges. You may like to copy them onto grid paper, or take a screen shot and print them at home.
Will you be able to work out where to place each fish?
* Don't forget to explain the rules to your friends.
Try these bonus challenges. You may like to copy them onto grid paper, or take a screen shot and print them at home.
Will you be able to work out where to place each fish?
* Don't forget to explain the rules to your friends.
Art
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Today's Art Challenge is inspired by the absolutely stunning sunsets we've enjoyed all this week.
The guest artist is my niece. Using her artwork for inspiration, create your very own sunset scene. The technique is simple but effective. The scene itself is limited only by your imagination. |
Bonus Challenge for Language Lovers
If you enjoyed challenging yourself with today's crossword, you may like to explore the the link below for more.
