Over the course of the last couple of months the kids built themselves a time machine in the upstairs studio. In fact it was more like a "Time Boat" than a time machine. We used big boxes, lots of colour and plenty of ingenuity and imagination to come up with our final contraption. There were all sorts of dials and calendars on the side and a whole range of levers, buttons and spinning gears on it's dashboard. The kids LOVED what they had created and each day they would enthusiastically climb inside and take off on a new weekly adventure!
The first week was spent going back to the time of the dinosaurs. They collected egg and poo samples and were attacked many times! There were some very narrow escapes!
The following week they went back in time and explored the entire saga of the Titanic from start to finish! We even did experimental sinking experiments which highlighted exactly how it had sunk. The kids ended up learning SO much from this piece of history!
The week after this we explored outer space and experienced the very first landing on the moon!
...here is some of what we did;
26/6/2018
Today we dusted off our time machine to go on another exciting adventure. This time we went to the first moon landing. Before we took off, we discussed and prepared everything we needed to take with us. First we took two sample bags each, to collect some samples from the moon. Next, we discussed what clothes we would need to wear. While some students put on space suits and space helmets, other students ate some magic gum that allowed them to breathe without oxygen on the moon. One student said that we would need space food. Everyone wanted to bring strawberries to the moon, so we carefully dry froze some strawberries to take with us. Once we were set, we took off on our adventure!
We landed on the moon just as the Apollo 11 space shuttle landed. Because we didn’t want to alter history, we stayed on board out time machine and watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their first steps, planted a flag, and collected samples. Once they left, it was safe for us to go explore. Everyone had fun jumping and leaping around like they were bouncing on the moon’s surface.
The first thing we went to look at was the first human footprint left on the moon. The students took a photo of the footprint. They soon realised that, nearby, the space shuttle had left a scattering of spare parts that it no longer needed. We each took a small nut or bolt to keep in our sample bags.
The next area we explored was covered in craters and moon dust. We walked into the bottom of a crater and found there a big pile of moon dust. We wondered many things about the moon dust, like what does it do, how did it get there, what is it made of and what does it taste like. The last question we knew we could test right then and there. Every student took a very small pinch of the moon dust to taste. It tasted surprisingly sweet. So much so that some students deduced that it must be what aliens eat. Just like Aldrin and Armstrong before us, we knew we just had to take a sample of the special moon dust.
With both our sample bags filled, it was time to make our way back to the time machine, but wait… did you hear that sound? We listened carefully, then finally saw a group of little aliens walking towards us. We all hid behind a large rock and pressed a button on our utility belts to help us camouflage into the area around us. The students were excited to hear how camouflage worked and promptly curled up into a ball to make themselves look even more like a space rock.
Eventually we learned that the aliens were friendly and could understand our words. They came and offered us a lollipop as a gift for visiting their home. Well, we couldn’t just let them give us a gift without giving one back. Luckily we brought the dried strawberries from earth! Everyone learned about why giving strawberries to an alien of the moon would be special. They learned that trees and plants can’t grow on the moon because there is no water or oxygen.
Each student took a strawberry for an alien and went to introduce themselves and where they came from. We were just saying goodbye to the aliens when they ran away. But why? When we turned around we could see a giant asteroid hurtling towards us! We jumped in the time machine and quick as a flash, we jetted back to 2018.
So much to learn and so many places to go! When we were done we hoisted our time boat up into the viewing section of the studio roof so that we can be inspired by it everyday and lower it back down when ever we want to go on a new adventure.
Below are are some pictures which hold a thousand stories of the fun we had (and are still having) with our time boat!
