Teaching Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

What is a time interval?

A time interval is the amount of time between two given points in time. An example is: “The time interval between three o’clock and four o’clock is one hour.”

What is time measured in?

Time intervals are measured in different units: every unit describes an additional amount of time, and certain teams will be better suited to specific lengths of time.

For example, if you were cooking something in the oven, you would measure the time in minutes or hours. If you were waiting for your birthday, however, you might measure the remaining time in days, weeks, or months (depending on how far away it was).

So, when we ask, “what is time measured in?” we are asking about what units are used to measure time.

The smallest amount of time we would use every day is a second. So there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. And 24 hours make up one day.

These time units can be recorded with a watch or a clock. If you want to measure bigger units of time, you need a calendar.

There are, of course, more considerable intervals of time. Seven days make one week. A month is slightly different, as a month might be made up of 30 days, 31 days, 28 days, or (once every four years) 29 days.

Twelve months make up a year, and there are even units beyond that to describe the number of years!

• Ten years is a decade
• 100 year is a century
• 1000 years is a millennium

How were time intervals measured in the past?

Although we can use clocks and calendars to measure time intervals, there was a period in history when watches and clocks (at least as we know them) hadn’t been invented.

Before the invention of watches and clocks, there were various ways that people could keep track of time intervals. In ancient times, they relied on natural resources, like the sun’s position in the sky.

Ancient people would build thin, tall monuments called obelisks. With these, they could tell the time by the position of the obelisk’s shadow. They were nowhere near as accurate as our current technology, but it allowed them to tell when it was morning and afternoon.

The Egyptians were able to make the measurement of time more accurate. They created a shadow clock (also known as a sundial) as long ago as 1500 B.C.

With a sundial, the Egyptians could divide time into smaller chunks called “hours.” In addition, they could measure more accurately because they knew that shadows didn’t change position as the day went by, but also length.

Other civilizations also used water or sand to measure time. For example, water clocks used stone vessels with sloped sides. Water would constantly drip from a small hole into another boat, with markings to show how much water was inside and how much time had passed.

With water clocks, a person could tell the time at night when they could not use the sun to check the length and position of shadows.

Fun time interval facts

Although we have already looked at some of the ways to measure time intervals, did you know that, throughout history, the question “what is time measured in?” has had some very different answers:

• In Old English, the word atom meant 1/6 of a second. It was thought to be the smallest possible unit of time.
• Although an atom is a concise piece of time, the smallest unit of time nowadays is the zeptosecond, or one trillionth of a billionth of a second!
• When you tell someone “just a moment,” you probably don’t mean “give me 90 seconds”. But, in the Middle Ages, that’s what you’d be asking for 1/40th of an hour.
• You could ask for a quadrant if you need more than a moment. A quadrant means a quarter of a day. Or, more precisely, 6 hours.

The name for the accurate measurement of time is called chronometry. However, most people instead use the word time-keeping.

Although a day is said to be 24 hours, that isn’t accurate. For example, a complete revolution of the Earth – 1 day – is a little less than 24 hours: it’s 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.2 seconds.

All about Solids, Liquids, and Gases for Kids

Everything in the world can exist: solid, liquid, or gas. These are the three states of matter.

What is the matter?

The matter is everything you can see, feel, or touch around you. It includes things like the air we breathe and the items we use in everyday life.

Everything that exists as a form of matter can be weighed to determine how much matter is in them. That’s their mass! We can also measure how much space they take up in the form of their volume.

Keep reading to find out the basics of solids, liquids, and gases!

What are solids?

Solids are all around you and around us right now. If you point to anything in the room, chances are it would be classed as a solid! These might be:

• The wooden chair you’re sitting in
• A pencil that you’re using to write
• The apple in your packed lunch

Solids can have a whole range of different physical characteristics. For example, they can be soft like fur or silk or complex like a rock!

There’s no limit to their size, either. Consider that the smallest grain of sand or rice is a solid, but so is a massive asteroid hurtling through space.

So what do all these different things have in common? First, they all hold their shape because the invisible molecules they’re made up of are tightly packed together.

Features of a Solid

• A solid can be weighed to determine how heavy it is.
• As a form of matter, solids occupy space. That is to say; they exist in the world.
• Solids have a fixed shape and volume, meaning they don’t move to fill a container when placed in it. Instead, they hold their shape and volume.
• Solids cannot be compressed into a smaller space very efficiently because there’s not much space between the atoms.

Examples of Solids

As mentioned before, there are too many examples of tangible things at room temperature to count. Here are just five of them:

• Bricks – When building a house, the walls have to hold their shape, meaning they have to be solid all the time. Bricks have been used for thousands of years to create stable structures.
• Coins – Coins are an excellent example of an everyday solid that we don’t even consider. Most metals can be melted down at extremely high temperatures to turn them into a liquid for a short time, then reformed into something else, but you have to go out of your way to do this. So they’re solid most of the time.
• Sand – You might not think of sand as a solid because putting a lot of sand in a container spreads out to fill the shape; this would suggest that it’s a liquid. But what’s happening is that each grain of sand is a tiny solid.
• Chocolate – Think about your favorite bar of delicious, sugary chocolate. Unless you’ve been sitting in a roasting hot car, chocolate is firm and holds its shape when you take it out of the wrapper, so it’s solid. But it doesn’t stay that way when it melts!
• Ice – This isn’t solid at room temperature, unlike the other examples. Water turns into a solid when it’s below freezing. Remember this one for later!

What are liquids?

Liquids are another form of matter. For example, before a solid turns into a gas by changing states, it will become a liquid at some point in the process.

Liquids are tiny particles packed close together but not as tightly as solids. These molecules are not arranged in any specific pattern, so they can move around and slide past each other. That’s how a liquid changes its shape.

Features of a Liquid

• A liquid can be weighed to determine how heavy it is.
• As a form of matter, liquids also occupy space like solids.
• Liquids do not have a fixed shape but a fixed volume; this means they spread out to fill a container when
• Liquids cannot be compressed easily into a smaller space because there isn’t much space between the atoms.

Examples of Liquids

• Water – This is the first thing many think of when they’re asked to name a liquid. Water is found worldwide in our oceans and is a liquid at room temperature. But remember that it’s also seen as a solid– whether it’s as snow on Christmas Day or permanent ice at the North Pole. So can it be gas too?
• Blood – Our bodies are made of plenty of solids, but blood is one of the main liquids inside us! Measured in volume, the average human has around 5 liters of blood (or 10.5 pints) inside us.
• Honey – Sweet and syrupy; honey comes from bees and is found as a liquid inside their hives. It might take forever to pour out, but it spreads out to fill a container and is a liquid!

What are gases?

Gases are one of the three states of matter. Like solids and liquids, they are everywhere. Common gases include oxygen and carbon dioxide – you can’t see them because they’re colorless, but they are in the air we breathe.

They’re made up of tiny molecules which are spread out. These molecules have so much energy that they constantly move around in different directions.

Features of a Gas

• Even though they’re often invisible to the naked eye, gases are still a form of matter, which means they occupy space and can be weighed.
• Gases do not have a fixed shape or volume; they fill a container they’re placed in, no matter their size or shape.
• Gases can be squeezed and compressed into space because there’s a lot of space between the molecules.

Examples of Gas

• Air – This air we breathe is made up of a few gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, neon, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. It spreads to fill a container in every room and all over the planet!
• Helium – The stuff that you pump into a floating balloon is called helium, and it’s incredibly lightweight. Making helium, a liquid, would have to be at a shallow temperature.
• Water Vapour – Have you ever boiled water in a kettle? Boiling water gives off steam, which is a gaseous form of water known as water vapor. That’s all three states of matter relating to water!

Changing Between a Solid, a Liquid, and a Gas

As we’ve seen, some things can transform from a solid to a liquid and then to a gas right before our eyes; this is most often done by heating it, cooling it down, or through pressure.

Metals like iron have melting points that can be achieved in a furnace, but it would need far more than that to become a gas.

It happens in reverse, too. A gas can cool down, reducing the amount of energy in its active molecules. As a result, they might begin to join together and become a liquid, then eventually, a solid! However, the temperatures required to turn most gases into a liquid and then a solid are extreme.

There are a few solids that jump directly to gas. One example is dry ice, which is solid carbon dioxide. It turns instantly into its gas form.

An Example of Changing States: Water

We don’t need to look that far for an example of something that goes through all three states of matter.

Take water, for example.

At room temperature, water is a liquid.

By lowering the temperature to 0 °C or below, that water will freeze and turn into a solid.

When the temperature rises above 0 °C again, it will return to liquid form.

Now, if you heat water to its boiling point of 100 °C, it will turn into a gas vapor!

As that water vapor cools, it will condense on a surface and become liquid water again.

What are Rainforest Animals?

Rainforest animals are creatures that have adapted to live in the rainforest. Rainforests have a unique and extreme climate, so animals in the rainforest have specially adapted to live there. It is estimated that over 50% of the animal species in the world live in rainforests.

Rainforest animals usually inhabit one of the four layers of the rainforest:

• The emergent layer includes trees that reach the highest of all the trees in the rainforest. Animals that inhabit this layer are a collection of species of insects, bats, and birds.
• A canopy is made of trees that reach heights of 30-46 meters. The animals in this layer include parrots, monkeys, slots, orangutans, and lemurs. Most of these rainforest animals will never need to leave this rainforest layer.
• The understory is the layer of the rainforest that stretches between the canopy and the rainforest floor. This layer is home to many insects, snakes, and some mammals.
• The Rainforest floor only receives about 1-2% of sunlight, which doesn’t allow many plants to grow here. This layer is also home to a variety of insects, but also some large animals. These include jaguars, elephants, tapirs, tigers, bears, armadillos, gorillas, and okapis.

10 Animals that Live in the Rainforest

While it would be impossible to list all the rainforest animals, here’s a rainforest animals list that includes some of the mammals, reptiles, and insects you’re likely to find in the world’s rainforests:

Jaguar

The majestic jaguar is one of the most well-known animals in the rainforest. It’s the largest of all cats in the Americas and the third-largest cat in the world. Jaguars are solitary animals that live and hunt alone. They inhabit the rainforest floor, stalking quietly through the undergrowth using their padded paws. They’re great climbers and can be found in the surrounding trees where they hunt or rest. Unlike other big cats, they enjoy being around water.

Tiger

The tiger is the largest species of cat in the world. It is an apex predator and mainly feeds on large prey. In the rainforest, it prefers to eat deer, boars, monkeys, and birds. Tigers can live for up to 30 years. They are very solitary creatures, especially as they get older. They also can swim effectively, allowing them to hunt aquatic prey such as alligators and caiman. All tiger species are critically endangered due to human development, hunting, and expansion. It’s estimated that less than 4000 tigers are left in the wild today.

Scarlet Macaw

The scarlet macaw is one of the many species of rainforest parrots. They are known for their multicolored plumage, predominantly red, yellow, and blue. Macaws are intelligent, social birds that often gather in flocks of ten or more. They thrive in the rainforest’s tropical, humid atmosphere, occupying the forest’s emergent and canopy layers. Their diet consists of seeds, nuts, and insects. Sometimes they also eat clay or soft soil from riverbanks. They can live up to 40-50 years old.

Sloth

Slots are incredibly slow-moving creatures. How slow exactly, do you ask? The average speed of a sloth is approximately 2-4 meters per minute. They spend up to 90% of their time hanging upside down from the tree branches in the rainforest canopy layer. A little-known fact is that they’re accomplished swimmers and can swim about 3-4 times faster than they move on land. They mainly eat leaves, but some species eat fruit, insects, and small lizards. Much like their movement, their digestion is prolonged. It can take up to a month for a sloth to digest a single leaf. Their plant-based diet is mainly responsible for their slow movement, as it’s low energy and creates a slow metabolism.

Orangutan

Orangutans are large, orange-colored primates, one of the most iconic rainforest habitat animals. They are brilliant and have learned how to use tools. They are famous for their ability to climb and swing through the trees. However, they spend most of their lives on the treetops rather than the jungle floor. They’re also one of the largest primates, standing at 1.5 meters tall. Their long arms make them span over 2 meters from fingertip to fingertip. Unfortunately, like many large primates, orangutans are critically endangered due to habitat loss. As more rainforests are cut down for farming and human expansion, orangutan populations continue to decrease.

Gorilla

These fascinating creatures are one of the largest primates on the planet. They are known for walking around on their knuckles, incredible strength, and similarity to humans. Adult gorillas can weigh up to 300 kilograms and measure 6 feet in height. Gorillas are found in the rainforests of Central Africa. They live in groups which are called troops. These troops typically consist of one adult male, several females, and their offspring. Gorillas are very social creatures with a high level of intelligence. They can use tools, communicate with vocalizations and, even in rare instances, learn sign language. Unfortunately, like many rainforest habitat animals, gorillas are endangered due to human expansion and poaching.

Chimpanzee

The chimpanzee is one of the most social primates. Living in large communities of anywhere between 20 and 150 members, each chimpanzee has a different role and position within its group. They also have fantastic communication abilities. Chimpanzees use facial expressions, postures, and sounds to communicate with community members. They’re also brilliant and can remember things, use tools and share knowledge between generations. With their high intelligence and social nature, chimpanzees rely on cooperation to live, hunt, and protect each other from predators. Chimpanzees are an endangered species. They are popular exotic pets and are frequently poached for sale on the black market. Also, like other rainforest habitat animals, they are constantly at risk due to habitat loss due to human expansion.

Emerald Tree Boa

This non-venomous snake is found in the Amazon rainforest. These emerald-green snakes inhabit the canopy and the understudy of the rainforest. They only descend to the ground to climb a different tree. These snakes can move swiftly from tree to tree. They can often be coiled around branches with their heads resting in the middle of the coil. They usually sleep on branches overhanging bodies of water. Emerald tree boas are predatory animals and mainly feed on small mammals.

Capybara

The capybara is the largest rodent on earth. Standing up to two feet tall and weighing as much as 70 kilograms, this curious critter is one of the fascinating creatures of the rainforest. Capybaras are fantastic swimmers and can hold their breath for up to five minutes. They use this unique ability to hide from predators such as jaguars, pumas, and caiman. Capybaras have teeth that grow constantly. To ensure they don’t get too long, capybaras frequently graze to wear them down. They are also very social animals, living in groups of up to 20 capybaras at a time. However, their social nature is not limited to their species. Capybaras are known to coexist peacefully with a variety of different species. They even let birds sit on their backs to eat insects in their fur.

Red Panda

The red panda is a mammal that lives in rainforests and temperate forests. The red panda is a nocturnal species and is most active under darkness. Like other pandas, the red pandas’ favorite food is bamboo. It eats up to 5 kilograms of bamboo each day. However, bamboo is very low in nutrients, so the red panda spends most of the day eating to stay alive. The red panda is an endangered species as a result of human expansion. Much of their habitat is being lost each year due to farming and the development of settlements.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

The Red-Eyed Tree Frog is one of the many frogs and other amphibians living in the rainforest. These frogs are known for their huge, bright red eyes. Scientists believe this feature is a way to startle predators, giving the frogs enough time to escape. These distinctive frogs inhabit the canopy layer of the rainforest, often hiding inside bromeliad plants. They usually attach themselves to the underside of leaves, resting during the day, where they hide while hunting to ambush their prey with their long sticky tongues. They mainly eat insects such as moths, crickets, flies, and grasshoppers.

Why are there so many animals that live in the rainforest?

Although they cover just a tiny part of the Earth, approximately 2% of rainforests have the world’s most diverse species. In addition, more than half of the animals in the world live in rainforests. But why do these creatures love the rainforests so much?

Here are three important reasons:

• • Mild Climate

The rainforests are located in areas with tropical and temperate climates, meaning that the weather is hot all year round, and it also rains a lot. So basically, animals won’t ever have to deal with low temperatures. They can also avoid scorching temperatures because the vegetation is dense and excellent in some rainforest layers.

• • Plenty of food

Because it rains a lot, and it’s also sunny all the time, the plants grow freely. That means there are many things to eat for the herbivore. Since the rainforest gathers millions of animals, there is also a lot of food for the carnivores and omnivores.

• • Four Layers

All four layers of the rainforests offer different life conditions to these fantastic creatures. As a result, animals have more chances to find a suitable part of the rainforest to consider it home and take advantage of it.

Rainforest Animals Facts for Kids

• The black Howler Monkeys make sounds that can be heard from 5 kilometers away
• Slots can carry algae, cockroaches, and beetles in their fur
• Both the male and female of potoo, the strange-looking birds, take turns incubating the egg before it hatches
• The sloth moves at an average speed of approximately two to four meters per minute
• Surprisingly, slots can swim about three to four times faster than moving on land.
• Jaguars have no thread from any natural predators except for humans. Many are hunted for their fur.
• More than 60% of the living creatures on earth are at home in the rainforests
• The rainforest gathers millions of types of insects. They live freely because the temperature is never too low to affect them.

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, with 1.9 billion followers. People that follow Islam are called Muslims. In Islam, the last prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), is revered as the prophet of the one true God, Allah. There are over 70 different subsects within Islam, the biggest of which are the Sunni and Shia Muslims.

What is Sunni Islam?

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims, or Sunnis, believe the first four caliphs are Muhammad’s rightful successors (Peace Be Upon Him). The first four caliphs were the first four leaders of Islam after the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Each of them directly learned from Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and served him very closely.

Furthermore, Sunni Muslims believe that the politically organized unit, or regime, set up by Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) at Medina is an earthly dominion, as opposed to a spiritual one. Therefore, they view the leadership of Islam as being determined by the politics of the Muslim world instead of by divine order. The Sunni Muslims have recognized the prominent families in Mecca as leaders and have accepted a variety of caliphs over time.

Sunni Islam recognizes the six books of the Hadith, compiled by six Sunni Muslim scholars in the ninth century CE. The six books of the Hadith are:

• Sahih al-Bukhari.
• Sahih Muslim.
• Sunan Abu Dawood.
• Sunan al-Tirmidhi.
• Sunan al-Nasa’i.
• Sunan ibn Majah.

Moreover, Sunni Muslims regard four schools of Islam as orthodox:

• Hanafi
• Maliki
• Shafi’i
• Hanbali

What is Shia Islam?

Shia Islam, on the other hand, is a smaller branch of Islam. Someone who observes or follows Shia Islam is known as a Shi’ite or Shi’i. Shia Muslims believe that the first four caliphs are not the rightful successors of Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Instead, they give this position to Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)’s son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and his descendants. Shia Muslims believe that some of Ali’s descendants hold special spiritual and political authority over the community and possess a range of divinely given traits. There are many sub-divisions of Shia Islam, but the two main ones are Twelvers and Ismailis. Twelvers are the most prominent and influential group in Shia Islam.

A List of Differences Between Sunni and Shia Islam

Sunni and Shia Muslims share the same fundamental views of Islam; for instance, both groups worship Allah as God, accept Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as the Prophet, and follow the teachings of the Quran. However, there are still many differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Initially, the two denominations were united, but after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in 632 AD, the Sunni and Shia Muslims split. As a result, the Sunnis became a more conservative denomination, but the Shia Muslims stayed more traditional.

Here is a list of differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims:

• There are more Sunni Muslims than Shia Muslims

Sunni Muslims are estimated to make up around 85% of the Muslim community, while Shia Muslims only make up about 15%. There are approximately 1.6 billion Sunni Muslims, just shy of 200 million Shia Muslims. Moreover, Shia Muslims are generally concentrated in the Middle East, whereas Sunni Muslims are more spread out from West Africa to Indonesia.

• They have different beliefs about Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)’s successor

More so than any other differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims, their differing views on who should have succeeded Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is the main reason for their divide. As mentioned, The Sunni Muslims believe that the first four caliphs should have succeeded Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), but the Shia Muslims believe it should have been someone in Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)’s bloodline.

• Sunni Muslims have a more accessible religious hierarchy

Sunni Muslims allow the government to have its say in who is appointed as a leader. Alternatively, Shia Muslims have complete control over their hierarchy, and the clergy is always someone from the direct line of Ali ibn Abi Talib.

• They have different views on the afterlife

Both Sunni Islam and Shia Islam share the belief that there is an afterlife. Both denominations are united in their belief that there is a Paradise and a Hell. The divide between the Sunnis and the Shi’ites is in how you get to either Paradise or Hell. Sunni Muslims believe that they must have faith in Allah and his prophets, believe in the righteous deeds presented in the Quran, and accept Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as the final prophet even to enter Paradise. However, even if they practice all these things, they believe they are still at the mercy of Allah’s judgment.

On the other hand, Shia Muslims believe that if they follow Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the Twelve Imams, they are guaranteed to get into Paradise.

• They pray differently

Both Sunni and Shia Muslims believe in saying the five prayers a day, but other than that, the way they pray is very different. Sunni Muslims, for example, say each of the five prayers separately so that they pray five times a day. However, Shia Muslims say all five prayers across three sessions of prayer. Moreover, Sunnis pray with their arms crossed over their chest, while Shi’ites pray with their arms by their sides.

• They have different beliefs about Imams

Imams are people who lead the Muslim community. In Sunni Islam, Imams are viewed as saints, and they must have a strong faith in the Quran and Sunnah to be appointed. However, in Shia Islam, Imams are only set by God. Therefore, in Shia Islam, Imams are the only legitimate Quran interpreters.

• They have different beliefs about self-flagellation

Sunni Muslims disagree with self-flagellation, which is flogging oneself, particularly as a religious discipline. In Sunni Islam, self-flagellation is considered a sin. On the flip side, Shia Muslims actively practice self-flagellation to honor and commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein.

• Shia Muslims honor temporary marriages

Temporary marriage is an ancient practice in Islam that typically occurs when a man has to leave his wife to travel far away. It essentially unites a man and woman as husband and wife, but only for a designated, temporary amount of time. In Shia Islam, this practice is still respected, whereas in Sunni Islam, they believe it to be adultery.

• Shia Muslims are permitted to worship at graves

Shia Muslims have no issues with praying at graves and even encourage it. Because they believe that even if a fellow Shia Muslim has passed away, they are still of the way of Allah. Sunni Muslims, however, are entirely opposed to praying at graves. They view it as a sin because it means you rely on someone other than Allah for help.

• They have different views on angels

Sunni Islam and Shia Islam believe angels are real and were created by God from light. Sunni Muslims believe angels always obey God’s commandments because they have no free will. However, Shia Muslims believe that angels have free will and, while they are obedient to God’s commandments, they can stray and disobey Him. However, Shi’ites think they’re not disobedient because they do not desire to sin.

Religious Texts and Practices

As mentioned, despite their differences, there are many things that Sunni and Shia Muslims have in common. One of the similarities between the two groups is that they both follow the Quran and the Prophet’s hadith (sayings) and sunna (customs). They also both adhere to the five pillars of Islam, which are:

1. Shahada (Profession of Faith): Once someone becomes a Muslim, they must make a profession of faith by reciting this phrase: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is the Messenger of God.” This belief is at the core of Islam.
2. Salat (Prayer): Muslims must pray five times daily, facing Mecca. As part of their prayer, Muslims recite the opening chapter of the Quran (sura). Muslims can pray individually or in groups at the Mosque, where a leader (Imam) will guide the congregation.
3. Zakat (Alms): Muslims are obligated by Islamic law to donate a fixed portion of their income to members of their community who are in need.
4. Sawm (Fasting): All healthy adult Muslims must abstain from food or drink during the daylight hours of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. During the fasting period, Muslims can renew their gratitude for all the things God has given them.
5. Hajj (Pilgrimage): Every Muslim whose health and finances allow is required to make at least one visit to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Muslims believe that the Ka’ba, at the center of the Haram Mosque in Mecca, is the house of Abraham. So Muslims from all over the world travel to Mecca to gather around the Ka’ba on the eighth and twelfth days of the final month of the Islamic calendar.

However, a difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims is that they generally feel a certain amount of aversion towards some of the Prophet Muhammad’s (Peace Be Upon Him) companions; because of their actions during the early years of disagreement about leadership in the community.

Several of these companions have narrated traditions about the Prophet Muhammad’s (Peace Be Upon Him) life and spiritual practice. However, Shia Muslims reject these traditions and do not base any of their religious methods on the testimony of these companions.

What is a Theory of Play?

A theory of play is a set of ideas surrounding how play relates to and affects cognitive development through childhood and beyond; this may be put forward by psychologists who have been studying how children’s brains develop and how this affects us as adults. Each may be slightly different, choosing to prioritize different experiences over others.

Many of these theories are not to be considered right or wrong, but looking at several different ideas and approaches can help practitioners and parents make informed decisions about what kind of play environment they create for their children. These theories have developed a lot over time, but all are focused on doing their best to help support young children as they grow.

What Play Theories are there?

Piaget

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Play suggested that children’s play and intellectual development are keenly intertwined. Therefore, as children grow and develop, their play environment should, too; this is based on Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development:

1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years) – Babies and toddlers live in the present and experience the world through exploration using their five senses.
2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) – Young children will look at the world from their point of view. They can think about things not in front of them with pictures or words but are not skilled in problem-solving yet.
3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) – Children become more empathetic and can think about the world from other’s points of view. They are developing logic skills and can work things out in their heads rather than using physical representations.
4. Formal Operational Stage (12+ years) – Older children can now talk more about abstract ideas and form arguments. Their logic skills are more developed, and children can now think more independently and offer their opinions.

Piaget suggests that all children will go through these stages in this order but will do so at their own pace. Some children may take longer to move to the next step than others, which is to be expected.

From research in the 1920s, Piaget concluded that children’s intelligence and logical thinking work differently than adults. So it’s not that children are less intelligent; they have different intelligence. It was also one of the first theories to suggest that children’s development stops and starts in stages rather than progressing more fluidly.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggests that early years children learn most effectively when exploring the world around them and using all of their senses. As a result, it supported the popularity of discovery learning and sensory play. These enable children to explore their environments and provide practitioners with ideas and suggestions for activities that stimulate the senses to help keep children engaged, involved, and learning.

Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky disagreed with Piaget’s four stages of development, suggesting that children learn continuously and independently of specific steps. He believed that everyone is born with four elementary mental functions:

• Attention
• Sensation
• Perception
• Memory

Through social interactions and cultural enrichments, we gain higher mental functions by engaging with others. Vygotsky proposed the importance of the zone of proximal development, which is the development of skills with help you can only get from an adult or friend, which Vygotsky termed ‘the more knowledgable other.’

Vygotsky gave a narrower definition of play than some theories, limiting it to pretend, make-believe, or imaginary play. His theory suggests that this imaginary play is vital to children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development and should be the main focus of helping children. This play, to be effective, should create an imaginary situation for children to take on and act out roles while following specific rules determined by those roles. Imaginary play lets children think about and work through ideas and concepts which they cannot see in front of them. The social nature is critical to helping children develop internal language and the ability to think for themselves.

Froebel

Froebel’s play theory for early years focuses on child-led play, believing this to be the basis for physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual development. His belief that “play is the highest form of human expression in childhood” informed much of this theory and still much of teaching in nurseries.

He developed many vital principles for his theory:

• Childhood should be valued as its stage, not just a stepping stone to adulthood.
• Play is vital to helping children learn how things work and the world around them.
• Children will all develop at different rates, and this should be respected.
• Education should focus on what children can do, not what they cannot do.
• Children’s emotional, mental and physical states are all of vital importance.
• Children are heavily influenced by those around them, both adults and other children.

Froebel also proposed a set of gifts and occupations highlighting the importance of child-led learning in block play and sensory play. Each of these activities and provisions should be planned and chosen by the practitioner to be relevant while focussing on children being given the space to select their specific activity.

Montessori

Dr. Maria Montessori started a school in Rome for young and disadvantaged children. Through her work here, she developed a style of teaching which focussed on the child-led play, supported by age-appropriate activities and provisions. A Montessori school provides various activities with simple rules and structures in which the children can direct their learning and play.

Dr. Montessori believed that “play is the work of the child.” She proposed that play was vital for helping children make active choices and practice and perfect actions or tasks. Through observing the children in her school, she theorized that children responded best to play based on reality and play that used real-life objects.

Montessori’s play theory for early years also focuses on the importance of sensory play for children. This input helps them to take in and enjoy their environment and get stuck in the reality of it.

Issacs

Susan Issacs’ play approach can still be seen in many directions today. A prominent psychoanalyst in the 1900s, she built on Froebel and Montessori’s prior work to support the importance of play for young children. She suggested that play lets children engage in active learning and feel comfortable with their skills. Children can learn better through play by feeling at ease with their abilities.

In her theory of play for early years, Issacs also believed that play gave children a safe space for emotional development; it can be very passionate, whether getting into character during role-play or a super competitive game. These activities give children a safe and familiar environment to work through feelings. Then, by practicing and expressing them in their early years, they can experience new sensations and learn how to navigate them.

The social nature of play enhances this. Children bond with each other through space, learning how social interactions work; this helps them learn to manage social situations, either in actual conflicts or by playing pretend.

As children progress through their schooling, the maths they learn becomes more advanced and challenging. When the numbers become too large or complicated for children to work within their heads, they can use expanded notation to make sums simpler and help them understand the value of the numbers they’re working with. They do this by partitioning the numbers.

Separate large numbers into smaller units before attempting to add, subtract, multiply or divide them; this helps students understand the value of the numbers more clearly and give them a step-by-step process to make mental maths easier.

What’s the difference between Expanded Notation and Expanded Form?

To write a number in expanded form, you’d break it down to show the value of its digits. For example, this would mean 144 would become 100 + 40 + 4 = 144.

You can also use it to calculate sums. If a student were given this equation, they would use expanded form by breaking the numbers into more manageable chunks. It would look like this:

Step 1. 46 + 73 =?

Step 2. 40 + 70 + 6 + 3 = 119

When you break the numbers down, you show each digit’s value. You can also use Base 10 Blocks as a visual aid to help illustrate this.

Expanded Notation includes another step, where each digit is multiplied by the appropriate place value. For example, 144 in expanded notation would be written as (1 x 100) + (4 x 10) + (4 x 1) = 144.

Because expanded notation includes this extra step, it emphasizes the value of each digit and requires students to consider each one individually and how it contributes to the whole number.

How to use Expanded Notation with Decimals

When using decimal numbers, expanded notation works in a very similar way. The difference is that each decimal number will be divided by its place value, depending on whether it is in the tenths or the hundredths place.

For example, if our number were 236.82, the expanded form and notation would look like this:

200 + 30 + 6 + 0.8 + 0.02 = 236.82

(2 x 100) + (3 x 10) + (6 x 1) + (8 x 1/10) + (2 x 1/100) = 236.82

When working with a decimal number, remember that the number of 0’s in the denominator for the decimals is equivalent to how many places it sits after the decimal point. So, looking at the above example, this would mean that the eight sits in the space after the decimal point, and the two would sit two spaces behind the decimal point.

A family tree is a type of chart or diagram representing generations of families and how they are linked throughout the years.

A family tree can include names, birth dates, marriage dates, and pictures. Family trees can be simple and have your close family members, or they can go back many generations to enable you to see where you came from, who your ancestors were and how you are related to them.

A family tree could also be used to show the following:

• Direct descendants of a famous historical figure
• All family members who share the same surname
• Generations of holders of office who may not be directly related, such as Kings and Queens

Family trees are also an excellent visual representation of how close you are related to a member of your family. For example, you will see that you are more closely related to your sister than your cousin, as you are closer to them on the family tree.

What is genealogy?

Genealogy is the study of families and their history. Genealogists collect data about families by conducting interviews, looking through historical records, performing genetic analysis, and using other research methods to construct family trees.

What is a tree structure?

A tree structure or a tree diagram is a way of representing hierarchical data. Meaning data is organized in a particular order on different levels. For example, in a family tree, the information is collected with older generations at the top, the youngest at the bottom, and those of the same age on the same level.

A tree structure is used as a graphic representation to help make data sets easier to interpret and understand.

Other examples of tree structures:

• Evolutionary tree – like a family tree, but this shows the relationships between species of animals
• Sports tournament brackets – show which teams have played each other and who has progressed through each round
• Rock bands – English journalist Pete Frame has made family trees depicting the different members of rock bands over the years

What is a genogram?

A genogram is a more detailed version of a family tree, which also shows the medical history of family members. Allowing doctors and medical professionals to see any hereditary patterns and psychological factors that may have affected a family over their generational history.

Why is a tree used to represent family?

The use of a tree to represent genealogy possibly dates from a piece of medieval art called ‘The Tree of Jesse,’ which depicts the ancestors of Christ in a tree. The Jesse Tree is used to help tell the story of the Bible from Creation to the story of Christmas.

Why should I make a family tree?

Family trees are a great way to explore your history and background. You may discover some amazing facts about your ancestors! Family trees can help you:

• Find out more about who you are and where you came from
• Discover fascinating facts about your family
• Connect you to your heritage
• Pass on stories about your family through generations

How to make a family tree

1. Gather information about your family – you might want to find documents, pictures, newspaper clippings, photos, and more to make a more visual family tree
2. Outline with all the family members you want to include – remember, you can always keep adding to this!
3. Create a ‘leaf’ for each family member – add names, dates, photos, and any other information you want to include to each leaf
4. Distribute to your family or share in the classroom!

Fun family tree facts

• The most extended family tree in the world is that of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher. It has around 2 million members!
• If family trees go back eight generations, most people will have approximately 256 ancestors!
• People have been making family trees for a long time! In Japan, it is believed that the ancestry of the Imperial family began to be traced during the 5th century. The Old Testament also includes a family tree with a record of the descendants of Adam and Eve.

What are standard units and non-standard units of measurement?

We usually use standard units to measure weight, length, and volume. For example, standard units introduced in primary school are grams, kilograms, meters, kilometers, milliliters, and liters.

Children use nonstandard units in EYFS and Year 1 to introduce without using scales of any kind, as this can make it seem more complicated.

Although standard measurements are an essential part of the 2014 National Curriculum for Maths, non-standard measurements are often used with EYFS and Year one students to help them grasp the concept of measurements.

How are Non-Standard Units used in the classroom?

Children are first introduced to the measurement concept during the EYFS stage of their learning. However, children at this stage don’t read any scales – instead, they usually begin to measure everyday items on how they feel (light or heavy). So, for example, you could ask children to compare items by asking them: do you think the pencil or sharpener is more serious? It is a great way to get them thinking about measurement and how we determine the difference between items.

Once children reach KS1, students are prompted to measure using centimeters or kilograms; it is common for teachers to introduce them to the concept and skills of measuring using non-standard units.

These are often practical, easy-to-visualize examples that can be demonstrated in the classroom. For instance, how many cups of sand are needed to fill a bucket?

It will allow students to develop their counting skills and learn the language around measurements, such as “x units got into y unit.” In addition, it creates a strong foundation of knowledge which will help them as they begin to learn standard units of measurement.

Using standard units of measurement

Children begin to use standard units in Year 2. Next, they’ll learn and understand the equipment needed to measure different items. For example, they’d need to know whether to measure things using centimeters, kilograms, or meters.

Once children reach Year 3, they’ll work on everything they’ve learned in Year 2, but at more advanced levels. For example, year two children will begin to problem-solve using practical ways such as scales. They will also start to understand the different conversion measurements and should be able to recall the following:

• 1 litre = 1000 millilitres.
• 1 metre = 100 centimetres.
• 1 kilogram = 1000 grams.

In year four, children will start to convert and should be able to determine different measurements. For example, children should know that 1.4 liters are the same as 1400 ml; this will help them problem-solve when they sometimes must find a measure and convert it to a standard unit.

In Year 5, children will solve problems using measurement further but will also use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to achieve the answer.

Once children reach the last year of Primary education (Year 6), they will continue problem-solving using the four operations while converting between units using decimals.

Examples of Standard and Non-Standard Units

The following are all standard units of measurement. Though they may not be typical, they have still accepted units of measurement across the world.

• Centimetres (1 cm = 0.39 Inches)

• Feet (1 Foot = Approx. 30 cm)

• Kilograms (1 Kilogram = 2.2. Pounds)

• Cups (1 Cup = 10 Fluid Ounces)

• Hands (1 Hand = 4 inches)

However, these measurement units are non-standard and not generally accepted or known by others. They are likely only used in a classroom situation or a casual context. They may give only a very approximate measurement – more like an estimate than a fixed measurement.

• Heads (e.g., Megan is a head taller than her sister)

• Sweets (e.g., 20 sweets in a bag)

• Squares (e.g., 15 squares of chocolate in a bar)

• Phone Book (e.g., This is heavier than a stack of Phone Books!)

• Stone’s Throw (e.g., It’s not far – it’s only a stone’s throw away.)

Facts about shooting stars: what causes a shooting star?

Shooting stars, otherwise known as meteor showers, form when dust from other space objects (such as asteroids and comets) enters the Earth’s atmosphere. To form a shooting star, it must enter the Earth’s atmosphere at a very high speed. When they enter, the specks of dust rub together with the Earth’s air particles. Causing friction, which heats the specks of dust. This heat then burns the meteor, which creates the shooting star. A shooting star is a meteor burning up.

Facts about shooting stars: when do they form?

Sometimes, shooting stars can form almost randomly. Other times, astronomers can predict when we are to experience a series of shooting stars (otherwise known as a meteor shower).

Astronomers can determine whether the Earth will come into contact with the stream of dust debris that an asteroid or comet has left behind. As each speck of dust enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it will rub against the air particles, develop friction, and burn up. It will happen on a vast scale, meaning those on Earth can witness a meteor shower. The more dust enters our atmosphere; the more intense our meteor shower will be.

Do shooting stars have tails?

Sometimes, depending on the size of the shooting star. For example, when giant shooting stars, known as fireballs, enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they can be seen to have a large redhead with a tail following behind.

How far away are shooting stars?

We can see a shooting star around 75 and 120 kilometers from Earth. The rocks are usually meteors (which means that they have burned up) by the time they are between 50 and 95 kilometers from Earth. If the stone does not thoroughly burn up, it is named a meteorite once it lands on the Earth’s surface; this is a rare occasion, and rocks that enter the Earth’s atmosphere will usually turn into shooting stars before having the chance to land on Earth.

How common is it to see a shooting star?

Shooting stars are prevalent. Rocks from space regularly enter the Earth’s atmosphere, with around one million shooting stars occurring daily worldwide. Therefore, the sky should be clear to see a shooting star. The best way to see one is to stare at one point in the sky for around 20 minutes. There are usually around two shooting stars per hour, but the best time to see them is during a meteor shower because there will be many more than usual all over the sky. Shooting stars occur in the daytime but can be seen more clearly in the sky at night.

What are the different types of a shooting stars?

This question asks, ‘what is the difference between a meteor, meteoroid, and meteorite?’; they can all refer to shooting stars, but their definition changes depending on where they are concerning Earth.

Meteoroids

Meteoroids are pieces of space dust. We call them meteoroids only while they are in space, and they can range from the size of tiny grains of sand to large asteroids.

Meteors

Meteors are meteoroids once they have entered a planet’s atmosphere and burned up. They are otherwise known as shooting stars or fireballs.

Meteorites

Meteorites are rocks that manage to reach the ground of a planet after surviving the atmosphere. These are much rarer than meteoroids and meteors.

Some fun facts about shooting stars

• The name ‘shooting star’ is very misleading as they do not have anything to do with stars.
• They form due to space rock entering a planet’s atmosphere and burning up.
• Shooting stars can come in different colors due to the rock’s minerals.
• For example, iron, one of the most common metals found in meteoroids, glows yellow when it burns.
• The best time to view them is at night, but they can happen anytime.
• It is helpful for scientists to study shooting stars because it helps them to learn more about the weather, the Earth’s atmosphere, and space objects.
• Shooting stars get smaller as they fall through the Earth’s atmosphere.
• They can move through the atmosphere at speeds of up to 48,280 kilometers per hour.
• While burning up, they can get up to 1648 degrees Celsius.
• They can also form fireballs. These occur when a larger dust (meteor) burns up and explodes in different directions; this can cause a large, bright flash known as a fireball. It can be seen in the daytime and can be heard up to 48 kilometers away.

Key vocabulary:

• Meteor: a piece of space rock that has entered the atmosphere of a planet, been heated due to friction with air particles, and has burnt up, causing a streak of light.
• Asteroid: large pieces of rock that orbit the Sun.
• Meteor shower: the production of many meteors at once due to the collision of the Earth’s atmosphere with the debris left behind from a comet or asteroid.
• Shooting star: a meteor.
• Earth’s atmosphere is the layer of gas surrounding Earth, held by the planet’s gravity.
• Debris: loose natural material made of rock.

Water resistance is a force that uses friction to slow things down that are moving through water. It is often called drag.

Water resistance doesn’t have to be just water. However, it can happen to objects moving through any fluid. Water resistance happens because of the particles in water or the liquid. As the thing moves through, it collides with the particles, which try to slow it down.

Several factors affect this force:

• Different-shaped objects have different levels of water resistance; streamlined shapes have less and can move through water much more quickly. If an object is turned sideways, it will likely be easier to push it through the water. It is why fish are shaped the way they are. The area is one of the most significant factors affecting water resistance. An object larger will collide more with water particles and therefore have a more substantial drag force. If you spread your body by jumping into the water, you will encounter more water resistance.
• Velocity can affect this force too. An object with a more significant velocity will have a more potent drag force; this is how fast the thing initially travels through the water. The faster it is going, the stronger the drag force.
• The texture of the object is another common factor affecting the force.
• The density of the fluid it is moving through can also affect it. Density is how much matter is packed into a substance and how tightly packed the particles are. The dense the water, the greater the drag force.

Forces

As water resistance is a type of force, it is a good idea to establish what a force is so your class understands the effects of drag.

A force can push or pull objects and change their shape, speed, or direction.

A force meter, otherwise known as a Newton meter, is used to measure the force of an object in Newton (N). This meter has a spring inside, stretched out; the stretch’s size determines the force’s size.

Examples of using Water Resistance

A similar force to water resistance is air resistance, a type of friction between the air and another object, like an airplane. The air particles hit the aircraft, making it harder to move through the air.

Water resistance is the same as this but with objects moving through the water. For example, if you go swimming, you must push the water out of the way to move forward because there is friction between your skin and the water particles.

Science of Swimming – The level of water resistance increases if your body is completely submerged in the water, making it harder to move. Therefore, swimmers tend to go towards the surface as much as possible because moving through air resistance allows a better movement speed than water resistance.

Penguins and Water Resistance – the Penguins, can glide through the water with little water resistance because they are slim and have bullet-shaped bodies. However, their feathers do slow them down. To change their direction, they can stick out their flippers which steer them against the water.