UWC Grade 5 (2009-2010)

Here you'll find animated illustrations that explain the inner workings of a variety of steam, Stirling, and internal combustion engines.

The Rats of NIMH were so intelligent that they learned how to use simple machines. They used them to build and move things, including Mrs. Frisby's house. Types of simple machines are the inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, lever, pulley, and wedge. How many of these did you read about in the book? Look around your house and neighborhood. How many simple machines can you find?

Google Earth is a powerful software tool that enables you to look at the world top-down, using satellite images. Though not "in real time", it’s a great tool for anyone interested in Archeology/ Ancient History.  Especially for those interested in Ancient Egyptian History. Since the ancient Egyptians built in stone, a lot of their monuments are still visible, still stand. (As compared to for example ancient Sumerian, Mesopotamian architecture that has often disappeared, since the ancient Sumerian didn’t use stone)

The concept is simple. You play a shining, heroic yellow ball who launches through space and collects the various coins peppered throughout the game's 100 levels. To do this, you'll need to use the [Left] and [Right] arrow keys to set your angle, and press [Up] or [Down] to adjust your force, all of which can be seen in the panel at the bottom of the screen. (Alternately, if the [arrow] keys aren't your thing, you can type in these numbers manually in their respective boxes, or drag the gauges with your mouse.) Once you're satisfied, it's time to hit the [Space] bar to fly towards the goal point in each stage. Of course, nobody ever said gravity was easy to deal with. The bigger the object, the stronger the pull it'll have, and the more force you'll need to be able to break free, rather than smashing into it, thus putting an early end to your lucrative career in space coin scavenging. You'll encounter a number of obstacles, such as red planets that repel you and blue planets that will draw you in.

Each stage in Crayon Physics Deluxe features at least two objects: a ball and one or more stars. Your goal is to move the ball to collect the stars and finish the stage. It's that simple. Using the left mouse button you can draw using crayon-style lines. Click, drag, and when you release, the shape you made comes alive and is given mass. You can draw wild shapes, plain shapes, lines, hearts, stars, bacon, monkeys, and everything in-between, it all interacts using realistic physics. You can even build rudimentary machines that are powered by gravity, attach shapes using hinges, and give the ball a little boost by clicking on it. Don't let typical gaming conventions limit yourself, as creativity is the key to enjoying Crayon Physics Deluxe.

The First World War Poetry Digital Archive and the Learning Technologies Group at Oxford University have collaborated on an exciting new project in the 3D virtual world Second Life to simulate areas of the Western Front 1914-18. The team believes this is the first time anything of its type has been done on Second Life. This project, which is funded by JISC, has arranged a range of digitised archival materials like poetry manuscripts, letters and diaries from the major poets of the First World War including Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg and Vera Brittain, along with contextual primary source materials. These materials have been supplemented with new interpretative content and a spectrum of interactive tools and tutorials, streaming video and audio effects.