1
NUMBER WORK
5
MONEY
Keep a record of the population of each town you drive through or visit within a week . Often you can get this information on the ‘ Welcome ’ sign at the town ’ s entrance , otherwise , Wikipedia is a good source of information . Once you have your town populations recorded , use the numbers to study place value and addition and subtraction . For the older children , you can also include some division .
Estimate how much money you think the family will spend over the coming week . Then , during the week , keep track of all the money spent . Write down the items purchased and keep a running total . At the end of the week , have a look back at your estimation and see how close you were . Maybe you can then work with the family to set a budget for the following week .
2
MEASUREMENT
Using a tape measure or a piece of string or rope cut to 1 metre in length , find a tree with a circumference of less than a metre , a tree with a circumference of more than a metre and a tree with a circumference or exactly 1 metre . Draw and label the trees you find . Make a list of items in your van or tent that are more than a metre long and less than a metre long .
3
TIME
Time yourselves setting up or packing up camp . How long does it take you ? Keep a record and see if you can improve your time as the trip goes on .
4
DATE AND GRAPHING
6
HISTORY / GEOGRAPHY
You can use these 5 questions to research any town you visit along your travels . Your research can be done through talking to locals , visiting a town museum , visiting a local library ( if there is one ) or looking at the internet .
• What is the name of the town and how did it get its name
• What is the current population of the town
• Using a map of Australia , mark where this town is
• How far away is the nearest hospital
• Was anyone famous born in this town ? If so , who
7
SPELLING
Spend one day , writing down 20-30 words you see on signs or in print around you . You might record words from road signs , café menus , information leaflets etc . When you have your list of words , ask an adult to check your spellings and then use your words to create a word search ( or word find ) for someone in your family to solve . Older children could use the list words to create a crossword .
Choose a topic on which to collect data . Some suggestions are :
• The home state or territory of other campers you meet
• The various animal species you see
• The various flower varities you come across
• Meals prepared
• Hours spent travelling in one day
• The number of people you meet each day Whatever category you choose , collect data each day for a week or a month . At the end of the week or month , decide what kind of graph you want to create ; bar , column , pie , etc , and use your data to draw your graph . page
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8
STORY WRITING
On one given day , write down the very first sentence you hear , or the very first sentence you hear from someone who is not in your family . Write down 3 names you hear spoken , 2 items you see , 1 food or drink you consume and another sentence you hear spoken throughout the day . You must now use the elements you have recorded in a story .
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