Forest Row Home Education - Natural Explorers

CONGRATULATIONS to my 2 students, Casper and Orin who sat the Cambridge Environmental Management and Sustainability IGCSE exams this summer!! You were stars anyway and amazing students to teach! However getting A and A* was well deserved for the dedication you gave to learning about the Earth’s natural systems. 💚

This week one of our Environmental groups was landscape designing on an old quarry site. After a mining area has ended it’s business, it is hoped that the reclamation and remediation of the land takes place. We looked at how previous sites have been used eg Eden project, Bluewater shopping centre and Zipworld Penryn quarry.

Our Environmentalists have been learning about mining and the responsibility of making decisions and running a company, plus the clean up and reclamation of land afterwards. This turned into another edible activity, Cookie Chip mining!

One of our Environmental groups has been studying how we search for minerals to mine. One way is to take Core Samples to see what’s lying beneath our feet. We experimented by using secret cake layers to take core samples and then interpret our findings! This was one of our popular edible experiments!

Our Environmentalists have been researching volcanoes around the world and how different types form on the tectonic plate boundaries. We found out about the hazards that can result from volcanoes but also the positive results of an eruption.

Our IGCSE Environmental Management group studying Natural Hazards, has been experimenting with how structural stability is necessary in buildings to survive an earthquake! We looked at countries who are experts in this type of construction, then experimented with shape and form, to find the most stable structures to survive our mock earthquakes.

One of our Environmental groups has been researching Rocks this term. We experimented to understand how the rock cycle works through the natural processes of the Earth. Creating Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rocks.

This term we visited the Giant Sequoias of California and especially the President, a 247ft high tree, 3200 years old! We surveyed the tree to see all the wildlife that calls the tree it’s home.
Our research included fun water and straw experiments as we wondered how such a tall tree gets its water from roots to the highest leaves! We also studied Dendochronolgy to see how we can find things out from tree rings.

In our Creative Maths group we gave ourselves the task of creating curves from straight lines! This was really interesting and we soon got to exploring different patterns we could make.

This week our Explorers have been researching the animals which live in Yellowstone Park and the black and grizzly bears caught our attention!! We found out that human interaction with the bears was a popular visitor attraction back in the early days of the park. But soon it became clear that the bears needed to be allowed to be wild and new regulations were introduced. We looked up how to distinguish the bears and made posters for any visitors!

Our Japanese studies have taken us to Mount Fuji to explore the wonderful landscape and the spiritual traditions connected to this mountain. We then looked at the beautiful Cherry blossom trees and the festivals held each year in honour of this time of year, when the trees of all different shades of pink welcome Springtime.

Our Explorers are still in Yellowstone park and looking at the hydrothermals. We carried out some pH testing as we found out that the park’s hydrothermals vary according to the acidity/alkalinity. We liked the acidic mud pots where gases escaping cause the mud to bubble and pop. We then looked at the plumbing system under the park, a mix of pressure and restrictions along with heat, producing hot springs, fumaroles and of course spectacular geysers, Old Faithful being the most popular attraction! We experimented to create some of these!

Our Creative Maths group have been looking at symmetry which led to us exploring patterns throughout art, architecture and interior design in the world. We started making our own by first learning how to draw a hexagon within a circle, then repeating the patterns and adding colours to enhance it.

Our Natural Wonders group have started the new term in Yellowstone Park and we have been going back in time to see how this National Park began. This research brought us to meeting a Supervolcano! Through messy and fun experimentation we created our own explosions and implosions to show how the caldera we see today came about!

STARTING SEPTEMBER MEET-UP and ONLINE groups following the Cambridge IGCSE in Environmental Management and Sustainability.
A popular and very current course learning all about the Earth’s natural systems and how we have managed our planet as a human race and how we can be more sustainable💚
Our current groups are from 11+ to teens.
For further information please contact: [email protected]
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CONGRATULATIONS to my Environmental students who have all achieved great results in their IGCSE in Environmental Management and Sustainability! 🥳May all the knowledge you have gained exploring our Earth and her systems, instil a sense of care and responsibility for our planet in your future studies and careers. 🌍💚

Our final session of the term was the completion of our trip to Chichen Itza. We put our final touches to our El Castillo research.

Our explorers are still in the Yucatàn peninsula and found stepped pyramids, temples, columned arcades, and other stone structures of Chichén Itzá which were sacred to the Maya and a sophisticated urban centre of their empire. El Castillo is the most well known structure at the site, a pyramid which was also a calendrical system. We saw how at the equinoxes the shadows created, formed the shape of a snake’s body which perfectly connected to the stone snake heads at the bottom of the steps. Kukulkán, the God that El Castillo is believed to be dedicated to, had the form of a feathered serpent. Using precision just like the ancient architects and builders, we drew our El Castillo!

Our Creative maths group have been researching the Platonic Solids. We had to go back a long way in history to find out that there are ancient artefacts showing the understanding of these 3D solids with their unique criteria. Whilst nowadays they are named after Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, he theorized that the classical elements of the world were made of these regular solids. The five Platonic Solids were thought to represent the five basic elements: earth, air, fire, water, and the universe.

Our Environmental IGCSE groups have been learning about Eutrophication, when the environment becomes over enriched in nutrients leading to our water systems, often having algae blooms suffocating life below the surface. One of the major causes is the runoff of fertilisers from farmlands and other human activities.

Our Creative Maths group have been using straight or curved lines to create further illusions. Using shadowed colouring also added to 2D becoming 3D!

Our explorers are still visiting the Great Blue Hole area in Belize. We took to our snorkelling and diving this week to investigate the Lighthouse reef and find out how coral forms, the beautiful different types of coral and the marine life that lives on and around the reef.

This week in Creative Maths we looked at how straight and curved lines can create 3D effects. So we used our hands to experiment for ourselves to see if we could create this optical illusion!

Our explorers have left the Blue Zones but have travelled to an amazing Wonder, The Great Blue Hole in Belize! Thousands of years ago this was a dry cave when sea levels were lower and over time stalagmites and stalactites formed. Through weathering the cave altered and after the last ice age, the sea levels rose to completely flood it. Today it is a tourist attraction for divers, visiting the Lighthouse reef it is part of.

Our Explorers have started the new term with looking at the 5 Blue Zones, where people are healthier and many centenarians are found in them! This inspired us to look at ourselves and what do we mean by good health? Well from what we have found out from the people who live in these Blue Zones, there are some key factors which they all have - EAT WISELY - with plant based diet being optimum or a large part of your general diet, only fill your plate 80%, drink plenty of water. RIGHT OUTLOOK - have a Purpose to your day, Downshift time too. CONNECT - family, friends and loved ones very important to a happier life plus a sense of belonging. MOVE - move naturally.
We had some very good discussions on these subjects and we all filled in our own Health journal to see where maybe we could add a few changes into our own lives. The top one was DRINK more water!

Our Creative Maths group have been using straight lines to create optical illusions!! This was a fun exercise as we tricked our brains into seeing lines which converged to form a tunnel or was it a square based pyramid? We also used Magic Eye pictures to see how 3D images are formed.

Whilst in Hawaii our explorers have been finding out about Hula - an ancient form of storytelling through movement, unique to the Hawaiian culture. It is the Living History of the Hawaiian people, telling their myths and legends, stories and values through songs, chants and music accompanied by dance with descriptive hand gestures and rhythmic movement of feet and hips. Hula enables us to better understand our lives, and touches us in a way that deepens our understanding of ourselves.

Our Creative Mathematicians have been exploring Pascal’s triangle to find patterns hidden in it. We found patterns of ones, counting numbers, odds and evens creating a Sierpinski triangle, triangular numbers, horizontal sums, squares, symmetry and still searching!

Congratulations to our latest group of Environmentalalists who have finished the course and awaiting their IGCSE results! Whilst exams were cancelled this year, they all stepped up and met the criteria needed for their Assessments. It’s been a privilege teaching you all 💚May your knowledge and understanding of our beautiful planet guide you in future studies and careers for the betterment of our Earth and everything living on it. 🌏🌳🐾🐬