Leonardo da Vinci Activities for Kids

Renaissance Unit Study

Week 5: We created engineering notebook pages like Leonardo da Vinci, assembled models of his machines, made and improved the designs of paper airplanes.

Leonardo da Vinci was an artist, but also a great engineer. His curiosity led him to study human organs, war machines, flight, music, and the way people lived. Throughout his life he designed a high-rise city, paddle boat, machine rollers for making thin sheets of tin, a planetarium, scuba gear, tank, harpsichord-viola, and mechanical drum. Improving the design of existing devices such as the cannon and catapult also captured Leonardo's attention.

Vitruvian Man
Our Leonardo da Vinci studies began with his artist background and human body fascination which can be found here.

Leonardo's Machines
Of the numerous machines Leonardo da Vinci designed and improved, only a small handful were ever built. Just like engineers of today, Leonardo had difficulty securing funding and finishing a design to his personal satisfaction.

He did however, improve the catapult by adding a counterweight and improving the throwing arm.

The cannon was improved by creating a large projectile which broke apart upon firing releasing numerous smaller projectiles. Coupled with the redesigned projectile, the power of steam was harnessed to fire the cannon and inflict maximum damage.

The above models, Bombard Cannon Leonardo da Vinci Assemble Set, and
Catapult - Leonardo Da Vinci Kit # EDU-61009 were purchased kits. In addition to the catapult and cannon, several other models are available.

Leonardo's Notebook - Writing

Throughout his lifetime Leonardo kept engineering notebooks. They contained his ideas and mechanical designs. Since parchment was expensive, every possible inch of space was filled. Unlike a notebook of today bound with a spiral ring, his notebooks were a collection of loose pages held together with scarf-like pieces of fabric.

The horror of war frightened Leonardo and he worried about his lethal weapon designs falling into the wrong hands. His style of mirror writing, coupled with intentional mistakes built into his designs, reduced the risk of his weapons being built by enemies. His notebooks were some of the first examples of exploded view drawings commonly used in engineering practices and instruction for kids building toys today. Exploded views show parts of an assembly aligned with other parts, but not in place. Drawing them exploded makes it easier to see how the parts fit together.

The kids were asked to create a Leonardo Notebook Page with the following instructions.

1. Create engineering sketches for a custom designed machine. Be sure to include materials, and any special instructions.
2. Write down anything you are wondering about.
3. Write down your weekly budget, grocery list and to-do list.
4. Write down anything else you are thinking about.

Try to write backwards like Leonardo if you want. Remember parchment was expensive, so Leonardo used all available space.

*I gave them small pieces of paper to make it even more of a challenge.

Here are the results:

I found them difficult to read, but could after they were read to me.

This one says, "I am hoping to make a machine that makes you never have to eat. Here is a picture. I am saving up money for nothing right on my hair is blond and my favorite color is yellow. Then comes red then orange."

Your Height Diving Board

Leonardo and Flight - Paper Airplane Activities

Leonardo da Vinci was obsessed with flight. Observing birds and wondering how they flew was a favorite pastime. Purchasing caged birds and setting them free gave Leonardo more opportunity for up-close observation. His notebook pages contained designs for airplanes, gliders and parachutes.

We began our flight study by folding Nakamura Lock airplanes and learning how to adjust them.

The four key adjustment elements for us were; symmetry, dihedral angle of the wings, ailerons and elevators. Accurate folds and doing the same thing to both sides of the plane were top priority. A non-symmetric plane may turn, or fly upside down. Dihedral angle is the angle between the wings and the body. A Y-shape is best. When the wings point down instead of up, planes often fly upside down. Ailerons and elevators are not separate features on paper airplanes, but refer to specific points in the rear. Elevators are closest to the body and make the plane fly up and down. Ailerons are farther away and make the plane fly left and right. Bending the paper in the rear of the plane up or down a little bit can result in flights which turn, rise up, or nose dive.

John Collins, the Paper Airplane Guy had some great tips for adjusting planes.

Next we talked about different types of paper airplanes (gliders, stunts, and darts) and factors which effect flight. Wing shape and weight were discussed most. Planes with narrow wings tend to fly fast and straight. They are known as darts. Wider wings result in longer, slower flights of gliders. Stunt planes do flips. Adding weight to the nose of a plane increases stability, but adding weight to the belly, can make a plane sink to the ground.

At this stage we encouraged much experimentation and provided pennies, paper clips, paper airplane design books, straws, pipe cleaners, different types of paper and more.

Checking for symmetry

Next, armed with a fleet of planes, challenges were given at the playground.

Can you get a plane to stick into the fence? They quickly realized that darts were best suited for this challenge.

Can you get a plane to fly through the ropes? Can you get it to land on the platform? Can you hit the cross beam with your plane?

Which plane flies the farthest, longest, highest, does the most loops? Planes are built with different purposes in mind.

Books
Leonardo's Horse - This book details one project which consumed Leonardo during his life. Unfortunately his larger than life horse was not built until the 20th century. Not only does this book provide a great historical background on the project, it also gives engineering and manufacturing details.

Leonardo Da Vinci by Emily Hahn - Leonardo worked for some of the most prominent people in Italy, had difficulty in finishing projects for them, and wasn't always paid. This biography on Leonardo also provides insight into world events and other important people of the Italian Renaissance.

Leonardo and the Flying Boy by Laurence Anholt is a Leonardo da Vinci picture book for young children which tells about some of Leonardo's flying machines.




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Clam Digging - In Normandie France

We dug clams.

In the story One Morning in Maine Sal goes clam digging with her father. As she is a six year old girl with a loose tooth, she has many questions about clams and whether or not they have teeth. This story was a family favorite, but I never imagined we would have the opportunity to dig for clams as Sal had done.


Clams can be found just below the surface of the sand, in the summer months when the tide is out.

Clam diggers native to Normandie

using rakes to spot clams hiding under the sand

late June 2014

The tide swings are very large in Normandie, France due to the shape of the land. The houses in the background, nearly one kilometer away, mark the high tide location.

Clams like seaweed and can often be found hiding under patches. When digging for clams the hands just feel in the top layers of sand for hard circular objects.

Once the clams are collected, they need to be soaked in salt water (1 1/2 hours) to remove sand trapped inside their shells. While soaking, they open and come out of their shells as the one is near the upper-left side of the bowl.

Watching clams open

Clams are cooked by first scrubbing the shells and then placing them into boiling water. When they are done the shells open and sometimes the clams detach from the shells.

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* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Simple Crochet Hat - My Boshi

We learned to crochet by making simple hats.

My Boshi is a growing German trend begun by a young snowboard and ski instructor. Boshi means beanie hat in Japanese. In the evenings these two men learned to crochet and everyone wanted to buy their hats. So they started a business. Now they sell yarn and books on how to make Boshi hats as well as custom designed, hand-crocheted Boshi hats through the MyBoshi website.

After creating my first Boshi for my daughter's dance class I realized it was a perfect way to learn to crochet. Most of the hats involve only four stitches (chain stitch, slip stitch, half-double crochet, and single crochet) and are constructed from worsted/chunky yarn so they come together in a short amount of time.

This style of MyBoschi is made by joining four chain stitches into the round, and then creating 11 half-double crochet stitches in the center hole. After that the center is increased in size over the next seven rounds. Each round ends with one slip-stitch and a single chain. Then half-double crochet stitches fill each round until there are 25 rows complete, before ending with a feste maschen or single-crochet stitch for those who speak English.

 This hat was created the same way, but was bound off after only 18 rows. Therefore, instead of a slouchy hat, it fit tight like a beanie.

After two 2 hour long classes the 10-12 year olds who attended walked away with awesome hats they crocheted themselves.

For more craft ideas for kids please visit my Arts and Crafts Page.

How big is an acre?

Day 4: Area Units - and Acres

Acres are most commonly used to measure land and they are different sizes depending on the system of units being used. Measuring land with acres began during the middle ages and one acre was the amount of land one person could plow with oxen in one day. Since it was time consuming to turn the oxen around, the plots were typically rectangular measuring 22 feet x 220 feet.

One acre is slightly smaller than a football field and near 70 feet x 70 feet when measured as a square. Land in the United States is measured in acres. There are 16 sets of  40 acre plots in one square mile as represented by the figure below. The highlighted grey square represents 40 acres in one square mile.

Acres are used to measure land today because they are convenient units. One acre is equal to .0015625 square miles and 4840 square yards. Therefore, using square miles or square yards would result in very large or very small numbers when discussing personal property.

As done on the previous day with distance, the kids first made a list of all the area units they were familiar with. I was surprised that they only wrote square inches. So we had a review and they caught on quickly.

Distance
inches
feet
yards
miles

Area
square inches
square feet
square yards
square miles

The pattern of feet to square feet and so on became obvious quickly, and we also made a list of metric units as well.

Then we stepped outside to determine how big an acre was by measuring the field behind our house.

We will always remember that it is about 3 acres in size.




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Erosion Activities for Kids

Earth Science Unit Study

Erosion Part 2
Week 34: We froze ice, sprouted beans in a bottle and observed a clay ball over the course of several weeks.

Erosion is an ongoing naturally occurring phenomenon which is both destructive and beneficial. Erosion changes landscapes and is a vehicle for nature to recover. As part of our ongoing Earth Science study we have been reading the book Rocks, rivers & the changing earth,: A first book about geology, (Young Scott books). It's a narrative Earth Science chapter book which contains suggestions for many simple supporting activities.

 Megastructures - Breaking Up the Biggest Dam

Dams built for people to harness power can become obsolete and are not always good for nature. This video is about the challenge an engineering team faced when trying to break up a massive dam and return a river to its normal state. The amount of sediment accumulated behind the dam during its existence is quite impressive and an interesting example of erosion.

How the Earth Was Made - Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was formed through a long process of erosion. This video from the How the Earth was Made Series was perfect for an erosion unit.

After watching and reading about erosion, we did some simple experiments.

Clay Ball Erosion

We formed a few clay balls and let them sit outside in the weather for several weeks.

Over the course of time the appearance of the balls changed as the soft materials were washed away by rain and wind. We hoped to see some dramatic effects of water and ice due to the cold, but our winter was unusually mild. Perhaps we will repeat the experiment at another time or stick the balls in plastic wrap with water in the freezer?

Sprouting Beans
Seeds have an enormous capability to cause erosion. Once they are embedded in rock, water can cause them to sprout. Their sprouting strength is strong enough to crack rock.

To demonstrate this, a water bottle was completely filled with beans and then topped off with water. The cap was screwed on tight and then the bottle was observed over the course of several days.

As the beans soaked up the water the pressure inside the bottle immediately increased. This was evident by feeling the hardness of the bottle.

As time went on the beans were able to deform the bottle.

Freezing Water
Putting a full water bottle into the freezer, the ice was able to deform the bottle the same way as the beans.

Erosion is a powerful force which is helped along the way by wind, water, and seeds.

To see more of our hands-on science activities, please visit our Science Page.

Leonardo da Vinci Vitruvian Man Activity for Kids

Renaissance Unit Study - Week 4

We measured ourselves to determine if we were Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

Leonardo da Vinci was a true Renaissance Man. He was a scientist, inventor, artist, engineer and truly one of the greatest thinkers of all time. The 13 minute movie Renaissance Artist Leonardo da Vinci was created for children and does an excellent job of entertaining while packing in information about Leonardo.

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is one of his most famous sketches. It is so much more than a work of art. The man's belly button is located at the center of the circle and circle and square show the proportionality between height and arm span.

Primary Resources offers a free Vitruvian Man worksheet located under the Length/Distance section, highlighted with a bulleted yellow number 4 on the webpage.

The worksheet asks the question: Are you Leonardo's Vitruvian Man? Kids measure several body parts and then answer questions such as were the height and arm span the same? It's quite simple and interesting.

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Math
History
Science