Merge pull request #3 from samfearn/Lex132005-patch-1

add many articles

_articles/concentriccircles.md

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+---------------------------------
+topic: concentric circles              
+related: spirals    
+nurseries:    
+author: Lexie Newbery
+---------------------------------
+
+#Concentric circles
+
+A group of the children were sat together, drawing spirals and concentric circles, after discussing the idea of concentric circles and how they were "circles that share a common centre". This allowed the children to really push their cognitive skills on their own as they were able to discuss each other's drawings together, leading to others joining in and forming a much larger and deeper discussion than what will potentially have been made if they were pushed into having this conversation. They took the time to draw various versions of both spirals and concentric circles and discussed how to identify which was which. The children themselves discovered that the concentric circles were the ones that were circles inside of other, bigger circles, but they all remain as separate circles, compared to a spiral, which appears to many circles that overlap. Therefore, it is clear that this activity allowed the children to push their critical mathematical thinking skills as they were able to demonstrate their own understanding of previous learning material and also create their own definition, in which they were able to understand and use to analyse a larger group of circular shapes.   
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/spiralsandcircles.png">
+
+Their creative mathematical skills were stretched when they were invited to a cloth laid out on the floor with lots of different objects on it, such as string, bottle lids and gems. They were given the time to observe the items and then asked one question, "What makes these items all the same?". The first response was "They are all circles." but then, after some more discussions, they came to the conclusion that it was due to them all being concentric circles in the way the objects were laid out. 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/circlesandcloth.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/circlesandcloth(2).png">
+
+There are many ways in which concentric circles can be demonstrated, using objects that are often within a home, such as slicing beetroot so you are able to see the individual xylem and phloem "ring" shapes. It is also possible to use many circular lids, of differing size, and place them within one another, potentially in various ways, in order to avoid solely focusing on one particular visual representation. It is also possible to demonstrate concentric circles with natural wood slices, as these show the circles from within the trunk of the tree, however, these circles will not be perfect circles and will be irregular, so it may be slightly more difficult to see the separation between the lines. It is important to allow the children the time to analyse the objects and re-word the definitions themselves, as it will allow them to understand the idea a lot clearer and also will allow them to use it within the correct context/situation. 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/beetroot.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/treeslab.jpg">

_articles/ice.md

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+---------------------------------
+topic: ice, surface area               
+related: volume    
+nurseries:  Group 1  
+author: Lexie Newbery
+---------------------------------
+# Ice And Its Surface Area
+
+Some of the children were experimenting with warm water and ice cubes. The time it took for the ice to melt depended on the ways they tried to melt the ice with the water. 
+
+The image below shows the outside area of an ice cube (the surface area), which is the area of each square face. This allows us to see the ice as the cube shape, rather than just ice. Although ice is not always cube shaped, it will still have the same surface area concept. 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/icecube.png">
+
+How much ice surface area is being covered by the warm water will determine the speed in which the ice melts. For example, an ice cube in a tub of warm water will have its surface area completely surrounded in warm water, whereas just pouring some warm water onto the ice means it will melt slowly. This is due to only a small amount of the ice's surface area being in contact with the warm water. Both examples are demonstrated in the images below:  
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/pour2.png">
+
+<img src="/My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/cupice.png" />  
+
+The children were very quick to realise that pouring the water was resulting in a lot slower melting process and that covering the ice with the warm water would be a lot faster, which is a clear demonstration of them understanding that the more surface area covered, the more of the ice being warmed and so a quicker melting process.   
+

_articles/lexien.md

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+author: Lexie Newbery 
+
+Lexie Newbery lives in the North East and is a student at a Sixth Form College, studying Maths as one of her A Levels. Other than enjoying Mathematics, she likes art, watching musicals and going to concerts/festivals. 
+

_articles/rampsurface.md

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+---------------------------------
+topic: ramp, surface, friction               
+related:     
+nurseries: Group 3   
+author: Lexie Newbery
+---------------------------------
+
+#Ramps And Their Surface:#
+
+Some of the children wanted to make ramps that had different surfaces, which changed how the object went down the ramps. 
+
+They understood that the surfaces that were a lot rougher made the objects go a lot slower than those that were smooth, which is a great example of understanding friction. The images below gives a few examples of what we can use to demonstrate this: 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/2ramps.png"> 
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/3ramps.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/shellramp.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/carramp.png">
+
+A rougher surface will have a much larger friction on an object than one that is smooth and so, will either slow the object down on the ramp, or make it stop completely due to there being more force "holding the object back", rather than weight (force) of the object pulling it down the ramp. 
+
+This friction also depends on the object itself as, an object with wheels, such as a toy car, will generally go down a ramp quicker than something that doesn't have wheels (such as the shell in the above pictures). This is due to the fact that the wheels will have a reduced friction and have a greater force pushing it down the ramp, making it easier to move the weight at a quicker speed on a rough surface however, friction still acts on the car. 
+
+The condition of the ramp may also effect the speed of the object going down the ramp, such as a smooth surface ramp that may have had water poured onto it, may allow objects to move a lot quicker down the ramp as the water acts as a coating between the ramps surface and the object. This then reduces or removes the friction and so the only force acting on the object is the weight of the object. 
+
+The idea of forces and friction also works when going up a ramp rather than down. An object on a smoother ramp may require a lot more force to push it up the ramp due to the lack of friction. This is because the weight of the object will be pulling it down the ramp and there will be no or less friction to stop it from going back down the ramp. The children would then likely indicate that for the object to go up the ramp they would need to move it themselves (demonstrated both physically and verbally).
+
+

_articles/rocksinwater.md

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+---------------------------------
+topic: rocks and water splashes / relationships and models
+related: patterns in nature     
+nurseries:   unsure 
+author: Lexie Newbery
+---------------------------------
+
+#Rocks In Water#
+
+Many of the children enjoyed dropping rocks into the river water and watching the splashes. After a few goes of dropping the rocks, we are able to identify a pattern between both the rock and splash sizes, and the height at which the rock has been dropped and the size of the splash in the water it makes. 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/rockpuddle.png">
+
+After experimenting with a few different rock sizes, it is clear that the larger rocks made a much larger splash and those that were a lot smaller in size were making smaller water splashes. This is because, the larger the rock, the larger the mass and so larger the force (weight) in which it hits the water with, pushing more water out around it. If the rock has a small weight then there will be less force pushing the water out and so a smaller splash. 
+
+There is also a correlation between the height at which the rock is dropped and the size of the splash it makes. If the rock is dropped from a large height, there is more time for it to gain speed (momentum) and so again, will hit the water with greater force, resulting in a larger splash. However, if the rock is dropped from a smaller height, then there will be less time for it to gain nay momentum and so, there would only be a small splash made. The children were able to recognise that there was a correlation between the height dropped and the splash size, and the size of the rock and the splash size when dropping the rocks multiple times. 
+
+

_articles/rulers.md

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+---------------------------------
+topic:Rulers              
+related: 
+nurseries: Group 6
+author: Lexie Newbery
+---------------------------------
+
+#Rulers
+
+Some of the children were experimenting with different ways of measuring the lengths of objects, using different units. Naturally, many children and adults will automatically jump to grab a ruler when being told to measure something, however that is not the only unit that is available. 
+
+For example, it is possible to use something like a pen, or remote control to measure how long a pillow is or how wide a couch is. They could also measure the same object, using different units of measurement and comparing the results. For example, the length of couch in cushions, compared to the length of the same couch in books or in crisp packets. This allows the children to deepen their creative mathematical thinking skills and hence, develop their cognitive skills as they will begin to understand the importance of knowing what unit was used to measure an item. This is particularly helpful when it comes to maths later in life and life as a whole because there are so many units of measurement to use for one task. Not only this, but we may also allow them to develop analytical skills, by asking the after comparing the measurements of the same object, which unit was more efficient. 
+
+For example, in cushions, a couch's length is 3, but when it comes to the couch's length in books, it is 9. Therefore, it may be more useful to use the length in books as, when comparing it to, for example, a  small chair, a unit of cushions may be too big. However, if we were comparing a cushion's length to the length of the couch, then the unit of cushions would work as, one cushion is 1 unit long and the couch is 3 units. Therefore, the couch is 3 times the size as the cushion.  
+
+The image below gives a visual example of above: 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/couchlength.png">
+
+In order to gain a full understanding of the importance of units, it may be helpful to have this repeated with many different objects. 
+
+It may also be useful to try using the larger unit, in this case the cushion, as a way of measuring a larger object in the unit of books, by creating a  compound unit. This would be done by stating that "One cushion unit is 3 book units", then, if something was 11 cushions long, then it would be 33 books long. This is incredibly useful when it comes to measuring larger objects as it is more time efficient and also a lot easier to do in terms of equipment. 
+
+The children may also wish to make their own "rulers" using a bit of paper or cardboard, which is also another way of measuring something, without using a regular ruler, so this is still going to push their cognitive and creative thinking skills. Some examples of this are below: 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/makingruler.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/orderedwood.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/ruler.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/ruler(2).png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/measuringcar.png">
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/measuringhand.png"> 

_articles/shapesandvolume.md

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+---------------------------------
+topic: shapes and volume            
+related: 
+nurseries: Group 5 
+author: Lexie Newbery
+---------------------------------
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/dough.png">
+
+
+As one group activity, some of the children spent their time making lots of different sized balls out of dough. This then allowed them to spend the time exploring the idea of increasing and decreasing sizes, by placing them into order and having conversations about how to increase or decrease the sizes/masses of the balls. From here, the children were able to develop their mathematical thinking skills by experimenting with putting the different sizes together or taking some small pieces of the ball away and seeing how this affects its size or mass, deepening their previous knowledge on addition and subtraction.  This can also link with the idea that the mass of two balls added together will be equal to the mass of the one ball when those two balls are combined. Although this may be something that seems almost obvious to many people, it is often quite difficult for young children to understand and so, offering a more visual representation of this will make it a lot easier for them to get their heads around. 
+
+<img src="My files/Downloads/Nuffield/image/doughaddition.png">
+
+As well as this, the children were able to explore the effects of halving the dough or doubling the amount of dough, which fits very well when it comes to simple mathematical skills needed when it comes to much more complex equations or models. Therefore, this gives the children the time to understand the ideas completely that they start to explore at this age, without having it pushed on them in the generic form of a sheet of equations. This also helps for them to create their own systems of remembering how things such as halving works, which builds their own cognitive thinking skills. 
+
+Using the dough, the children can also explore the idea of conservation of mass and volume. This can be done by taking a certain amount of dough and starting off by making a shape, such as a sphere. This sphere has a very specific mass and volume. Then, without adding or removing any dough, make a new shape. This new shape will have the exact same mass and volume as the original sphere. This links quite closely with the idea of adding two object's individual masses will be equal to the mass if the two objects were combines, which is incredibly useful in both mathematics and physics, when it comes to models of moving objects.