Waingels Challenges- Week 1

Communication is a skill that is so important in all our lives and now even more so with many of us in our houses, unable to meet up with friends and family members and perhaps with some tempers beginning to fray a little! And yet people continue to amaze me by finding ingenious ways to communicate!

Including…

• Arborfield Military Wives choir (and many others) are doing their rehearsals online.
• People are ‘going to Quiz nights’ in their own homes.
• People are singing ‘Happy Birthday’ from their front doors to their neighbours who are vulnerable and can’t leave their houses.
• People are simultaneously cheering and clapping to show support and solidarity to the NHS and all those people in our care system.
• People are placing rainbows and teddy bears in their windows to say ‘Hello’ to children and their families as they do their daily exercise.
• School children writing (virtual) letters and creating pieces of art to send to people in care homes.

So for this week’s challenge…

I would like you to think outside the box and communicate with someone (anyone) differently – perhaps your idea will be the next thing to go viral!

Word of the Week: Connect

• Make a video demonstrating ‘connect’.
• How many different things can be connected? Create a photo collage.
• Short story (100 words) based on ‘connect’.
• Write a letter/email/postcard to someone.

Secret Codes

Communication by secret codes is called cryptography, from the Greek words for “secret” and “writing”.

Surprisingly cryptography is 99% maths, and numbers are at the heart of secrecy, particularly today in the age of the Internet. Some of the biggest employers of mathematicians are the secret services in countries around the world and, of course, big companies employ mathematicians to protect their secrets.

Here is a (5x5) grid containing all the letters of the alphabet, except Z:

The word CODES is coded with the following series of symbols.

Try to work out how the code works.

Can you create your own code? Share it with us: KeepInTouch@waingels.wokigham.sch.uk

What to know more about Coding?

Explore the The Code-Breaking Website, it has loads of codes for you to try out and explore

Behind many forms of communication lies a great deal of STEM related knowledge and technology. Morse code, mobile phone signals, fibre optics and wireless Internet systems are just some of the examples that we could spend a long time explaining the science behind. However sometimes the technology behind communication can be very simple. Have a go at this simple yet effective experiment...

Invisible Ink

Making invisible ink is a lot of fun and easy – and far easier than devising or decoding code! All you need is some basic household objects and lemon juice ….

You'll need:

• Half a lemon

• Water

• Spoon

• Bowl

• Cotton bud

• White paper

• Lamp or other light bulb

Instructions:

1. Squeeze some lemon juice into the bowl and add a few drops of water and mix together.
2. Dip the cotton bud into the mixture and write a message onto the white paper.
3. Wait for the juice to dry so it becomes completely invisible (DON’T use a hairdryer or radiator).
4. When you are ready to read your secret message or show it to someone else, heat the paper by:

- holding it close to a light bulb

- using a hairdryer

- ironing it – you must use some material between the iron and the paper and please don’t do this without an adult

- some sources suggest using a candle – we suggest you do not try this at home

What's Happening?

Lemon juice is an organic substance. When it is heated up it oxidizes and turns brown. Because we mixed the lemon juice with water and diluted it you cannot see it when you apply it to the paper. This means the message can’t be seen at all until it is heated and the secret message is revealed. You can also try this experiment with orange or onion juice. Milk and vinegar are also known to work well.

Across the country, there has been an outpouring of kindness and children and young people can play their role too. By understanding what we can all do to help tackle this virus, they’ll gain a sense of stability and resilience. Keep a calendar of kindness. Trying to complete one act of kindness every day.

Power of Kindness Calendar

Supporting Activities for Learners Aged 11 to 18