This week we are going far, far away.

To get there you will be traveling almost 6,500 miles! It would take you at least 18 hours to fly there. Which continent are we visiting? Check out these photos to see if you can figure it out.

Welcome to Asia 

 

More on China:

Modern day China was formed after World War II, and it is the country with the biggest population in the world. There are over 1.3 billion people that live in the country! The capital of China is Beijing (bay-jing), but it’s largest city is Shanghai (shang-hi). To learn more interesting facts about China, check out National Geographic Kids’ country profile and try the activities below.

(1) Learn to count to 10 in Mandarin Chinese— Watch the video and share with friends

(2) Make your own Chinese Abacus—  (Chinese calculating instrument, also called Swan-Pan.)

(3) Chinese Tangrams— Cut out shapes and to create different images

Do you have what it takes to be a math olympiad?

Try these math challenges to find out! 

(1) How many squares and triangles are there in the following drawing?

(2) Draw the following shapes in one stroke without lifting the pencil and without retracing the same line.

(3) Sam lives in an apartment building. There are 3 levels above her and 2 levels below her. How many levels are there in the building?

(4) What do the following letters have in common?

Y M A O T U V X

(5) There are 2 rings and 6 triangles. Move the rings and triangles so that each ring has 4 triangles in them.

(6)  Alphabet Spaghetti Puzzle

Spaghetti is famous for the way it all gets tangled up on the plate. Those of you who think they know their alphabet are bound to get all tangled up with this puzzle too, unless you read it and think about it very carefully!

What letter of the alphabet is the one which comes eight letters before the letter which comes five letters after the fourth appearance of the first letter to occur four times in this sentence?

Comment Below with your answers!

Questions from Math Top 10 and Math is Fun

This week we are traveling to visit one of the largest cities in the world, 

London, England! 

England is a part of Great Britain or the United Kingdom, and makes up the southern half. You can see it below in Yellow. Can you believe London, England is 4,287 mi away from Omaha, Nebraska. To get there you would have to take at least two different planes!

Checkout these activities about London, England: 

1. Read more about England
2. Build your own London Bridge  
3. Learn to draw Big Ben 
4. Design an English castle and try to include at least 5 different shapes!

Share what you learned below or with your EY Coordinator!

Pi

Not, Pie, but Pi! Have you ever heard about it?

Pi is the 16th letter in the Greek Alphabet, and it is also a math symbol used with circles.

Pi equals the circumference divided by the diameter (π = c/d). The interesting this about pi is that mathematicians who have been working on this number believe that it is infinite, meaning that it’s not the quotient of two integers. In other words, the number pi goes on and on and on, and we don’t know where it ends!

Today, March 14th or 3/14 is celebrated around the world as Pi Day! 

Try out this fun Pi Day Early Enrichment activity below. Watch this video about the never ending number and download the Pi Day Grid Art!

Pi Day Grid Art 

Share your artwork with your EY Coordinator!

** Project adapted from Tinkerlab.com

This week, the happiest place on earth, Disneyland, celebrated its 60th birthday!

They planned a huge celebration full of musicians, artists, and sneak peeks

Checkout behind the scenes of Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary Celebration

Can you imagine how much work has gone into making the happiest place on earth? Especially when designing all of fun rides? Like this one:

Roller coasters take a lot of planning, and there are people that have jobs to create new rides. Isn’t that awesome? You could have a job designing roller coasters when you grow up!

Before you can design a roller coaster, you will need to know a little bit more about the different types of energy required. Click here to see how the two types of energy help a roller coaster move. (may require flash, for additional resource: click here).

What two types of energy are there in a roller coaster?

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Try and design your own roller coaster on a piece of paper. If you can, mark down where there will be Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy. Share your designs with your EY Coordinator!

Have you ever been on a trip and wondered…

Are we there yet?!

Traveling  to a new place can take a long time, a lot a planning, and cost a lot of money. What if you could take a trip from the comfort of your seat? What if you could take out the question “are we there yet?” by taking a virtual fieldtrip?

Starting this week, each month Early Enrichment will take you on a virtual field trip to visit places all around the world. You will be able to see the places, read about them, and learn about their culture.

This week we are traveling to visit the ancient pyramids in 

Mexico!Checkout these activities about the Mayan Culture : 

(1) Engineering Pyramids 

(2) Mayan Mathematics

(3) Mayan Culture

I wonder who your valentine is this year?

Is it your parents? Maybe a friend?

Valentine’s Day is an important holiday around the world. It is a day that we show those around us how much we care. But have you ever wondered about hot it started?

To check out more information go to,  Pebbe Go or by visiting this Valentine’s Day Wonderopolis.

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that we celebrate our love for our friends and families, what else did you learn about the holiday? Comment below!

It’s always exciting having parties and getting cards from your friends, but think about those who might not receive valentines. This week’s early enrichment activity is to  “Share the Love” by creating valentines for senior citizens that live in Westside’s neighborhood. Make a valentine and send it to your EY Coordinator!

This week we celebrated 100 days of school!

Can you believe that we have been in school for one hundred days! Wow! That is a lot of school! Can you imagine what it would be like if you went to school for a hundred years! That’s even crazier. 

Imagine all of the things you could learn in 100 years.

Imagine all of the things you would have made in 100 years. 

Imagine what a classroom would look like in 100 years. 

Imagine what you would look like in 100 years! (use this app if you are curious!) 

Brainstorm about what a classroom might look like in the year 2116, what you would be like,  and what you may have learned if you were still a student. Create something to share your ideas. You can make a Pic Collage, write a story, comment below, or share your work with your EY Coordinator!

Have you ever heard someone say “writer’s block?” It sounds kind of silly doesn’t it?

A writer on a block? A writer that uses a block? A writer writing about a block? What is it?

A writer’s block is when you have a hard time of thinking about what to write about or how to keep going in your stories.  Sometimes it is hard to know where to start or where to continue.

Here are a couple of different ways to get over having “writer’s block.”

 1. Listen to music. Music can relax you or inspire you. 

3. Have a snack. Make sure your brain is properly fed when you sit down to write.

4. Look for inspiration around you. Take a walk, look around, use pictures to inspire you. 

Use this writing prompt and comment below with your story. Try some of these helpful tips if you are facing writer’s block!

This is an easy, fun experiment to find out how strong different shapes are. Shape 1 sheet of paper into different shapes and see how much they can hold. We made a triangle, square, and cylinder.

A hypothesis is a special word that scientists use for “an idea that you can test,” it is also a kind of prediction. Make a hypothesis of which shape will hold a book best. Do you think a circle will be stronger than a square?

Test your hypothesis out! Does your shape hold more than one book?

Can you think of other shapes or structures that might be stronger? Share your ideas below!

Activity from  All for the boys