TED Conference by Sir Ken Robinson: How schools kill creativity. Creativity is as important now as literacy. Public education came from the needs of industrialism. At school you don’t grow into creativity, you grow out (or get educated out) of it. Our education system is based on academic ability. We only educate one side of our brains. But we are in the middle of a revolution: an academic education no longer guarantees you a job. Companies (and education) stygmatise mistakes. If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original. Intelligence is diverse, dymanic & distinct. kill_creativity.html

LEARNING BY DOING Learning by doing involves a series of steps. 1.BEFORE THE ACTIVITY. Prediction & hypothesis: What do you think will happen? What do you think you will see? NOTE: there are NO right or wrong answers! 2. DURING THE ACTIVITY. Observation & note-taking

LEARNING BY DOING 3. AFTER THE ACTIVITY. i. Verbalisation & logical thinking What happened? What’s important? What’s irrelevant? ii. Reflexion What do I know about each material? What do I know about its components? Can I relate what I’ve seen to what I already know? iii. Application. Can I apply what I’ve learnt in a new situation? 4. FINALLY: Ask questions & investigate: What if I change…? Why…? How…?

What we know about LIGHT It’s the fastest thing in the universe. It travels at about 300,000 km/second. The different wavelengths give different colours – red is the longest and violet the shortest. There are other rays we can’t see above red and below the violet– can you think of their names? Light travels in straight lines. Reflection is when light hits a smooth surface and bounces off in a different direction. Refraction is when light bends as it passes from one transparent substance (eg air) to another (eg water). Dark colours absorb the most light. They change the light into thermal energy. Lighter colours reflect more light. Without light there wouldn’t be any colours.

L I G H T ! ! Look, think and comment.

How it works

Application This solar furnace in the Pyrenees is a structure that uses concentrated solar power to produce high temperatures, usually for industry. It can reach up to 3,500 °C !! P a g e l a s e r p i c t u r e s C o u l d t h i s y o u n g m a n u s e h i s l a s e r g u n t o s t u n a n o p p o n e n t ? S e e m o r e l a s e r p i c t u r e s. l a s e r p i c t u r e s L a m b e r t / H u l t o n A r c h i v e / G e t t y I m a g e s G e t y I m a g e s Lambert/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesGetty Images

The same principle is also used in reflecting telescopes. A curved mirror collects the light and reflects it to a focus point. APPLICATION II

Simulation of an eye You will need: -A transparent recipient (like a fish bowl) -A black sheet of card -A white sheet of card -A lamp/torch/candle 1.Fill the bowl with water. 2.Make a small hole in the centre of the card and stand it up against the bowl. 3.Stand the white card the other side of the bowl but not touching it. 4.Darken the room and place the lamp just in front of the hole in the black card.

Observe what happens. Experiment – with different sized holes and different lights and distances: what is the best combination? Think what you know about the eye: which material represents which part of the eye? Describe what’s happening. Can you explain why the image is upside down? Apply - Think about glasses. And contact lenses. –Think about the previous photos: could light burn our eyes? How could we prevent it?