Creative and Original Thinking

Transcription

1 Creative and Original Thinking Suitable for whole-class discussion or as a writing exercise. The Wise Crow (a fable of Aesop) It was a very hot day. A crow wanting to quench his thirst searched the forest but he could not find water anywhere. I m going to die of thirst if I don t find some water soon, he thought. At last, he came across a pitcher at the edge of the forest. There was a little water in the bottom of the pitcher. But the neck of the pitcher was very narrow. The crow could not reach the water. The crow being very clever soon had a plan. He went about collecting small stones and started to drop the stones inside the pitcher one by one. Slowly the water in the pitcher started to rise, till it came up to the brim. The crow was delighted. At last I can quench my thirst, thought the clever crow. He drank the water from the pitcher and flew away happily. Moral: Every problem has a solution. Do you agree with the story s moral that every problem has a solution or do you think there are some problems that don t? Back up your view with one or more examples. - Science and Technology Inventors and Inventions: Ideas and Methods If you want to invent, look at what is wrong with things you use now. It is often said that every inventor dreams of making a better mousetrap. The US Patent Office alone has more than mouse-catching devices on file and patent offices around the world continue to report the improved mousetrap as the most commonly registered entry. Many inventors lack the skills they need to let people know what they have created and why their invention is better than previous inventions. You may be able to invent without understanding reading, writing, maths, history and science. However you are not likely to profit from inventing without sound skills in most of these areas.

2 You need to be able to read well to learn new skills. A good idea is useless if you do not have the writing skills to be able to tell other people how and why your invention is valuable. You often need maths to figure out how to make your invention and you always need maths to figure out the cost to make and sell the invention. You almost always need science to make the invention at the lowest cost; it is important to be able to make the invention at a price that people can afford. Before creating something you should meet with different people. Talk with them about how they would use your invention. What do they like about it? What don t they like about it? This will help you decide if your invention is worth pursuing or not. Talk about or Write about (justify your responses with explanations and examples wherever possible) 1. Why might mousetraps be such a popular invention? 2. Apart from the mousetrap, can you think of another simple invention that inventors try to continually improve? 3. If you were interested in inventing a machine that could clear city streets of litter more effectively than current methods say which people you would need to speak with about your proposed invention. Include those whose permission you may need as well as those whose opinions you would seek regarding the positive and negative attributes of your device. 4. What could an inventor do if he/she was not skilled in marketing their invention? 5. If someone is planning on inventing a new type of golf club whose advice should they seek prior to redesigning the current model? Citizenship and Ethics Can of Oil Wherever he went, the old man carried it with him. If he found a door that was squeaking, he would put a spot of oil on the hinges; if a neighbour s sewing machine wasn t running smoothly, he was always ready with his oil can; and all the boys in the neighbourhood knew whereto go if their bikes were needing attention. As the old man went through life, he and his oil can were always there to make life pleasanter and easier for those with whom he came into contact. Perhaps some of the people we meet have problems that make their life difficult. And perhaps, like that old man, we can lubricate it with the oil of kindness, gentleness and thoughtfulness. If we have our own can of oil ready for such occasions, what a difference it can make! Talk about or Write about

3 1. What adjectives can you think of to describe the character of the old man with the can of oil? 2. The old man made others lives better by carrying around a can of oil. A person with a special talent (drawing, singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument,.) can enrich others lives and lift their spirits by putting their talent on show willingly and freely, expecting nothing in return. Do you know anyone -child or adult- who has done this? (if you don t know of anyone personally you may be able to think of a celebrity who has brought pleasure and joy to others). 3. The can of oil in this passage is used firstly in a literal sense and, at the end, in a metaphorical way. What is the difference between literal and metaphorical? 4. Smiles, nice manners and random acts of kindness are three ways we can lubricate the lives of others. What are random acts of kindness? English and Literacy Acrostic Poem An acrostic poem is a special kind of poem. The fist line begins with the first letter of the title, the second line with the second letter of the title, the third line with the third letter of the title, and so on. Here is an example of an acrostic poem: Storms Skimming the sky The clouds build up Over the mountains Rain, thunder and lightning Make people stay inside See them listening and waiting Now write your own acrostic poem, with a subject of your choice. Society and Environment Europe

4 Europe is one of the seven traditional continents. Though it s the second-smallest continent in area (Australia is smaller) it is the third-largest (after Asia and Africa) in population. Europe gets its name from Europa who was a princess in Greek mythology. OriginallyEuropa stood for mainland Greece but by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north. Eighty to ninety per cent of Europe was once covered by forests, which stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Though over half of Europe s original forests disappeared through the centuries of deforestation, it still has over one quarter of its land area as forest. Talk about or Write about (suggested solutions in grey) 1. What do you think might be a reason(s) why Europe, a small continent in area, has a large population? suitable lands to cultivate and inhabit; (others) 2. What might have been the reason that the name Europa came to extend northwards from Greece? Greek influence may have spread north 3. What do you think could have been reasons for Europe losing so much of its forests? people needed more land for farming and settlement 4. What kind of animal and plant species may have been affected by Europe s loss of forest? birds, tree-dwelling mammals, plants needing shade, etc

5 5. a) Perhaps you have a European heritage. Would you care to share that with us? b) Have you visited Europe? If so, where did you go and what were some highlights? Creative and Original Thinking Two Famous People Thomas Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in history, produced more than inventions in his workshop in New Jersey, USA. Edison s desire was to create devices that could be useful to a majority of people. He is credited with developing the phonograph, used to record and play back music. Another invention attributed to Edison is the motion picture camera. Probably Edison s most famous invention is the light bulb, used all over the world in homes, businesses, factories and towns. Walt Disney, cartoonist, animator and film producer, created many unforgettable characters, loved by children in lands near and far. Probably the most famous Disney characters are Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy. Walt Disney also made many outstanding films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Treasure Island, The Shaggy Dog and Pollyanna. Disneyland theme parks, another initiative of Walt Disney, have given pleasure to millions of families. In your opinion which of these two men have made the most difference to humans lives? How would the world be different without Edison s inventions? How important to people are Disney s characters, films and theme parks? Who do you think, Edison or Disney, would be more satisfied with their contribution to humanity? Whose work would you have liked doing the most, Edison s or Disney s? English and Literacy Poetry: Tarantella (Hilaire Belloc) Do you remember an Inn, Miranda? Do you remember an Inn?

6 And the tedding and the spreading Of the straw for a bedding, And the fleas that tease in the High Pyrenees, And the wine that tasted of tar? And the cheers and the jeers of the young muleteers (Under the vine of the dark verandah)? Do you remember an Inn, Miranda, Do you remember an Inn? And the cheers and the jeers of the young muleteeers Who hadn t got a penny, And who weren t paying any, And the hammer at the doors and the Din? And the Hip! Hop! Hap! Of the clap Of the hands to the twirl and the swirl Of the girl gone chancing, Glancing, Dancing, Backing and advancing, Snapping of a clapper to the spin Out and in And the Ting, Tong, Tang, of the Guitar. Do you remember an Inn, Miranda? Do you remember an Inn? Never more; Miranda, Never more. Only the high peaks hoar: And Aragon a torrent at the door. No sound In the walls of the Halls where falls The tread Of the feet of the dead to the ground No sound: But the boom Of the far Waterfall like Doom. Talk about or Write about

7 -What is Tarantella about? -How is the poem similar to other poems? -How is it different? -Both rhyme and rhythm are strong features of Tarantella. What is the difference between rhyme and rhythm? -Choosing two or three lines from the poem show by finger-tapping or hand-clapping how Hillaire Belloc varies the rhythm. Teachers may wish to ask their students about any techniques used by the poet (metaphors, similes, etc). Some may like students to make up their own poem where the rhythm varies. Mathematics and Numeracy Famous Mathematicians: Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was born in England in on Christmas Day, His father (also Isaac) was a farmer whose property and animals made him quite a wealthy man. Isaac senior was completely uneducated and could not sign his own name.

8 Isaac was orphaned at a very young age and was brought up by his grandmother. His childhood was not at all a happy one. At school the young Newton was at first idle and inattentive and showed little interest. However, he soon developed a passion for making models of machines such as clocks and windmills. As a young adult he began studying mathematics seriously and by age 25 his work had revolutionised mathematics, optics and physics. For example, after passing a thin beam of sunlight through a glass prism, Newton saw that light can be broken down into a spectrum of colours; he argued that white light is really a mixture of many different types of rays, each producing a different colour when refracted. Newton s greatest achievements were in physics, in particular concerning laws on motion and gravity. He found that the gravity of the earth tends to pull the moon toward it but the centrifugal force (caused by the motion of the moon around the earth) keeps the moon in its orbit. Newton later asserted that the planets are attracted to the sun and, what s more, all matter attracts all other matter. It is the force of this attraction that we know as gravity. Newton found that the force of gravity between two objects gets bigger as their masses increase but smaller as the distance between them increases. A person s weight is the gravitational force between them and the planet they happen to be standing on. If your mass should double, the gravitational force would double. The same would be true if the mass of the planet you were standing on doubles. On the other hand, the further you are from the centre of the planet, the weaker the pull between the planet and your body, and this force gets weaker rapidly. If you double your distance from the planet, the force is one fourth. If you triple the distance, the force is one-ninth. Ten times the distance, one-hundredth the force. See the pattern? The force drops off with the square of the distance. Example 1: The force of gravity on the moon is 0.17 times the force of gravity on Earth. How much would a 40kg person weigh on the moon? 40 x 0.17 = 6.8. Solution: the person would weigh 6.8 kg on the moon. Example 2: If the gravitational pull exerted by the sun on the Earth is 100 units, what would the gravitational pull exerted by the sun on the earth be if the Earth suddenly moved twice as far away from the sun? 100 x ½ x ½ =25 Solution: the gravitational pull of the sun on Earth would be 25 units Challenge Questions: 1. The force of gravity on planet Jupiter is 2.5 times the force of gravity on Earth. How much would a 60 kg person weigh on Jupiter?

9 2. Jenny weighs 100 kg on Jupiter, which has 2.5 times the gravitational pull of Earth. How much does Jenny weigh on Earth? 3. How much does Jenny weigh on Pluto, with a gravitational force only 0.06 times that of Earth? 4. Jeremy s mother would weigh 10 kg on the moon which has a gravitational force 0.17 times that of Earth. How much does Jeremy s mother weigh on Earth? 5. On Earth Bob weighs twice as much as Bill. How many times Bill s weight would Bob be on Jupiter which has 2.5 times Earth s gravitational pull? 6. The gravitational pull of planet Jupiter on a huge asteroid is 90 units. How much would the gravitational pull of Jupiter on the asteroid be if the asteroid tripled its distance from Jupiter? 7. As a comet passes close to Earth the gravitational pull of Earth on the comet is 100 units. What is the gravitational pull of Earth on the comet when the comet is ten times further away? 8. An astronaut notices that his capsule is being pulled toward a planet with a gravitational force of 50 units. What will be the gravitational pull when the astronaut s distance from the planet is halved? 9. Two identical planets, P1 and P2, are discovered in another solar system. It is calculated that P1 is only one quarter of the distance from its sun than is P2. If the gravitational force of the planets sun upon P1 is 128 units what is the gravitational force of the sun upon P2? 10. In the space of a few days two giant meteors move ten times as close to one another. By how many times does their mutual gravitational attraction increase? Solutions: kg kg kg or 240 gm kg times Bill s weight units unit units units times. Society and Environment Famous People in History Quiz

10 1) What was the first name of Bonaparte, the French military and political leader? 2) Polo walked from Italy to Asia where he had a series of adventures; he returned after 24 years. 3) Vice Admiral Horatio won several military victories for Britain, including the Battle of Trafalgar. 4) This ancient Greek philosopher was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. 5) Julius was a military and political leader in ancient Rome. 6) Louis invented a method of reading for blind people. Solutions: 1) Napoleon 2) Marco 3) Nelson 4) Plato 5) Caesar 6) Braille English and Literacy Writing Practice: Curious Combinations Use the table below to write a story based on the combination of birthday months particular to you. You may (but don t have to) use your combination as the title. Example 1: If your birthday is in June, your mother s is in January and your father s is in September, you would write a story about Mr Wilson s absolutely huge chess set (and your title -if you wanted- could be Mr Wilson s Absolutely Huge Chess Set ). Example 2: If your birthday is in December, your mother s is in April and your father s is in February, you would write a story about Sylvia Morris s gigantic red refrigerator (and your title -if you wanted- could be Sylvia Morris s Gigantic Red Refrigerator ). My Birthday Month Whose? My mother s Birthday Month Descriptor My father s Birthday Month Inanimate Object Jan Aunty May s Jan absolutely huge Jan boomerang

11 Feb The Benson Twins Feb magical pink Feb refrigerator Mar My Mar ugly-looking, useless Mar spoon Apr Old Mrs Hamilton s Apr gigantic red Apr letter box May Uncle Tony s May broken-down May table lamp Jun Mr Wilson s Jun brand new Jun chimney Jul Ned the Builder s Jul incredibly cool Jul bicycle Aug Professor Pumpernickle s Aug unbelievably shabby Aug shoes Sep The Alien invader s Sep prize-winning Sep chess set Oct Jimmy s Oct Nov Dr Smithers Nov mysterious silver Oct watch unpredictable purple Nov book Dec Sylvia Morris s Dec ever-so-tiny Dec computer Australian & American Spelling Here are the principal differences in spelling between Australian and American English. Final -l is always doubled after one vowel in stressed and unstressed syllables in Australian English but usually only in stressed syllables in American English, for example: Some words end in -tre in Australian English and -ter in American English, for example: Some words end in -ogue in Australian English and -og in American English, for example: Australian rebel> rebelled travel > travelled centre theatre analogue catalogue American rebel> rebelled travel > traveled center theater analog catalog

12 Some words end in -our in Australian English and -or in American English, for example: colour labour color labor Some verbs end in -ize or -ise in Australian English but only in -ize in American English, for example: realise, realize harmonise, harmonize realize harmonize Creative and Original Thinking Suitable for debate, class discussion or as a written exercise. The Traditional Indigenous Lifestyle is better than the Modern Western Lifestyle. Present a good argument saying why you agree or disagree with the above statement. Note to Teachers: Information, thoughts and ideas for this topic may be found at the Our First People page under the heading Dreamtime and Dreaming. Click here to go to that page. - Mathematics and Numeracy Child Prodigy: Zerah Colburn Zerah Colburn ( ) was a child prodigy of the 19th century who gained fame as a human calculator. Zerah Colburn was born in Cabot, Vermont (USA) in 1804 and educated at Westminster School in London. Apparently Zerah had six fingers on each hand and 12 toes on each foot.

13 He was thought to be mentally retarded as a very young child. However, after six weeks of schooling his father overheard him repeating his multiplication tables. His father wasn t sure whether or not he learned the tables from his older brothers and sisters but he decided to test him further on his mathematical abilities and discovered that there was something special about his son when Zerah correctly multiplied 97 by 13. When he was seven years old he took six seconds to give the number of hours in thirty-eight years, two months, and seven days. By age eight Zerah was able to carry out amazing feats of mental arithmetic. When asked the question, How many seconds in years? he replied, days which is minutes which is seconds. Zerah s abilities developed rapidly and he was soon able to solve such problems as the product of and 1 223, or the square root of Zerah could solve complex problems. For example, to find whether the number is prime or not Zerah calculated in his head that it was not because it can be divided by 641. (the other divisor is and can easily be found using a calculator). His father soon began to capitalize on his boy s talents by taking Zerah around the country and eventually abroad, demonstrating the boy s exceptional abilities. Although Zerah s schooling was rather irregular he also showed extreme talent in languages. Zerah Colburn died in 1839 aged just 35. English and Literacy Writing Practice: Creative Thinking Here are the beginnings of some stories. Choose one and finish it. Additional instructions..(1) have two main characters; (2) if you wish, you may make your story fun/humorous (3) include an animal of your choice in your story - Suddenly, the sky lit up - He limped toward the waiting train.. - There was a loud bang and then. - The young musician walked nervously on stage. - A huge black bear lumbered toward the highway

14 - Out of the darkness and into the light of the campfire came - A piercing scream was heard - I didn t believe in magic spells, but.. - The huge crocodile opened its jaws wide - The express train roared on into the night - The tornado moved slowly toward the Jacksons house. - The tiny boat slowly pulled away from the shore - Under a blazing hot sun an empty road stretched far into the distance. - The army sergeant roared - There, right in my own backyard, was - His name was Ludwig. - A strange, unusual smell came from the swamp - I felt my body shrinking, shrinking Science and Technology Inventors and Inventions: Patents If someone has a good idea or invention, they may not want others to copy it. They need a patent so no one can copy their idea and make money from it. To stop someone from copying their invention, inventors apply for a patent from the government. The government gives them a patent if their invention is new and useful. When a patent is granted no one can copy that object, pattern or design. Anyone can apply for a patent, as long as the idea is new. A patent cannot be written material; books are protected by copyright not patents. The life of a patent depends on what kind it is, but it is usually at least ten years.

15 A lawyer can help an inventor find out if anything about their invention is already protected by another patent and can also assist by helping them to fill out the right papers for a patent. If an inventor has an idea for a new or improved product, he/she needs to know: (1) Is there a patent? (2) Can all or just part of it be claimed as new? (3) Which parts are new? Talk about or Write about (justify your responses with explanations and examples wherever possible) 1. What could happen if there were no such things as patents? 2. How likely do you think it is that two people might apply for a patent for exactly the same invention? 3. Why would someone want to copy another person s invention? 4. Why might governments welcome new inventions from their people? 5. What might be something that an inventor might wish to improve only a part of? Society and Environment World Cities Chloe and her little brother Jack are going on a world trip with their family next year and they ll be visiting 10 major cities.

16 The cities are: (1) England s capital (2) France s capital (3) Switzerland s largest (4) Poland s capital (5) India s largest (6) China s largest (7) Japan s capital (8) Canada s largest (9) Brazil s capital (10) New Zealand s largest Answer true or false: a) One city begins with A and one begins with Z. True (Auckland, Zurich) b) Two of the cities begin with vowels. False (Auckland) c) Two of the cities begin with T. True (Tokyo, Toronto) d) One city begins with the same letter as its country. True (Brazil/Brasilia) e) Three cities are in the southern hemisphere. False (Brasilia, Auckland) f) Four of the cities have 6 letters in their name. True (London, Zurich, Warsaw, Mumbai) g) Two of the cities have 4 syllables in their name. False (Brasilia) h) Seven of the cities have 2 syllables in their name. True (London, Paris, Zurich, Warsaw, Mumbai, Shanghai, Auckland) i) Three of the cities are in Asia. True (Mumbai, Shanghai, Tokyo) j) More than 7 of the cities are on the coast. False (Mumbai, Shanghai, Tokyo, Auckland) English and Literacy Conjunctions: Joining sentences with when Two sentences can be joined by using when at the beginning or in the middle. Example: The light turned green. The bus drove on. When the light turned green the bus drove on. The bus drove on when the light turned green. Activity: Join each pair of sentences in two ways: 1. The wind blew. The sea became rough. 2. The performance finished. We all applauded. 3. We collected wood. We lit a fire. 4. The dog came. Its owner called. Solutions: 1. When the wind blew the sea became rough. The sea became rough when the wind blew. 2. When the performance finished we all applauded. We all applauded when the performance finished. 3. When we collected wood we lit a fire. We lit a fire when we collected wood. 4. When its owner called the dog came. The dog came when its owner called.

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