At the moment in Across the World in 50 Experiments, we’re heading to Norway! Find out about Vikings, Fjords, Northern Lights and navigating with the celebs as we journey to Scandinavia for an journey.
Across the World in 50 Experiments – Norway
Norway is a Scandinavian nation in Northern Europe, with one-third above the Arctic Circle. It shares a border with Sweden to the east and Finland and Russia to the northeast.
Norway is understood for its spectacular pure magnificence, mountains, glaciers, fjords and northern lights.
Info about Norway
Capital Metropolis – Oslo
Official language – Norwegian
Foreign money – Norwegian Krone – NOK
Inhabitants – Approx 5.5 million
The Christmas tree in London’s Trafalgar Sq. is a present from the folks of Oslo yearly.
Norwegian Roald Amundson was the primary particular person to succeed in the South Pole in 1911.
Trolls are legendary creatures from Norwegian folklore. Troll tales are handed down via generations, and lots of pure rock formations are related to trolls.
Wildlife in Norway
Due to its various landscapes and huge shoreline, Norway has a various vary of wildlife.
Polar bears, reindeer, arctic foxes and musk oxes are discovered within the Arctic areas, whereas wolves, brown bears and elks are widespread in mountainous and forest areas.
Marine life off the coast of Norway consists of:
Humpback whales
Minke whales
Orcas
Seals
Puffins
Historical past of Norway
Norway has a wealthy historical past courting again to the Stone Age, however it’s maybe most well-known for the Vikings, seafaring folks from Scandinavia who dominated from the late eighth to late eleventh centuries. The Vikings had been expert explorers and merchants who related Norway with different elements of Europe and additional afield. Viking mythology, traditions and language proceed to affect the Norwegian tradition.
Find out about Norway with a science exercise
The Northern Lights
Chalk Artwork
Be taught in regards to the aurora borealis with a bit of chalk artwork to indicate the colors and patterns. Taming Little Monsters has an incredible instance of this lovely artwork and science exercise.
Norway’s Fjords
Norway is known for its breathtakingly lovely fjords. A fjord is a deep, slender valley surrounded by cliffs on either side.
When glaciers kind, they generally reduce lengthy U-shaped valleys out of the bedrock ( glacial erosion ). When the glaciers soften, sea ranges rise, flooding the valley to kind fjords.
Fjords are often situated in mountainous areas near the ocean. Two of Norway’s most well-known fjords are Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord.
Scientists have not too long ago discovered coral reefs on the backside of fjords in Norway.
Learn how glaciers kind with a video from Nationwide Geographic.
Viking Longboats
The Vikings had been seafarers from Scandinavia. Vikings are well-known for his or her longships, which had been constructed from planks of timber overlapped and nailed collectively. Areas between the planks had been full of wool, moss or animal hair blended with tar to make the ships watertight.
The entrance of the ship was often adorned with a carving of an animal head. The ships had been constructed to be lengthy, simple to manoeuvre, and quick. The slender width decreased drag, making the ships sooner and the low depth allowed the ships to journey up rivers in addition to on the ocean. The draw back of the low depth within the water was that the ships had been extra prone to capsize than ships that sat deeper within the water. The flat backside made them very buoyant as they’d a big floor space for the ocean to push towards.
Viking longboats had oars, one giant sail and a steering oar to steer the ship. Vikings would pull ships up on land at night time and use the sail to make a tent to sleep below.
Viking Longboat STEM Problem
Vikings made their ships watertight by filling the areas between planks of timber with wool, moss or animal hair blended with tar or tallow ( rendered beef fats ).
On this exercise, you’ll be able to waterproof your individual Viking ship! Both make a number of mini fashions from cardboard, cowl the underside of every with a distinct materials, and check them in water or use my paper model the place supplies are caught over the longboat pictures and water sprinkled excessive.
We used kitchen foil, cloth and wax crayon to waterproof our ships. You possibly can see that the foil and crayon are waterproof because the water sits in beads on the highest.
Viking Navigation
Vikings did not have modern-day GPS methods or perhaps a compass, so that they navigated utilizing the celebs and solar. The North Star ( Polaris ) sits on the north celestial pole. Because the Earth rotates, different stars appear to rotate across the North Star, which is why it was vital for navigation in Viking instances. Think about drawing a line via the earth from the South Pole to the North Pole. When you then stored going up, you’d hit Polaris!
The way to discover the North Star
Polaris is a part of the constellation of Ursa Minor, often known as Little Bear or Little Dipper. Polaris lies on the finish of the deal with of the Little Dipper and is by far the brightest of the seven stars however not the brightest star within the sky, as folks usually suppose.
Stargazing Exercise
On a transparent night time, go outdoors and see if you happen to can spot the North Star. If you wish to monitor the celebs over a time frame, report your every day findings with my stargazing logbook.
How did Vikings navigate in the course of the day
Within the daytime, Vikings used the solar to navigate utilizing a shadow board ( or solar compass ), which was like a sundial. This fashion of navigating was helpful however limiting because it solely labored on a transparent day.
Vikings measured the size of the shadow on the solar shadow board at midday when the solar was highest within the sky. A circle was drawn to mark the tip of the shadow on the beginning location. Sailors would take a brand new studying every day at midday. If the shadow was longer than the circle, they knew they’d travelled north of the beginning place, and if it was shorter, they’d travelled south. These crude measurements allowed Vikings to journey in whichever route they wished.
Viking sailors additionally used the behaviour of birds to navigate. Birds carrying meals had been heading to land, and people with empty beaks could be heading to sea.
Make a Solar Shadow Board
This exercise makes use of a torch to signify the solar.
You may want
cardboard
Brief section of dowel
Torch
Directions
Lower a circle with an approximate diameter of 20cm out of the cardboard. The scale is not too vital.
Place the piece of dowel within the centre and repair it in place.
Use a torch to indicate the shadow of the dowel and draw a circle on the solar board.
I coated the underside of our solar shadow board with foil to maintain the cardboard dry within the water.
Transfer the torch up and down to indicate how the size of the shadow adjustments.
Vikings positioned their solar shadow board in a bowl of water so it stayed degree at sea. You possibly can check this by inserting your board on water and creating waves. The board ought to keep nearly flat on the floor.
We have had plenty of enjoyable studying about navigation, fjords and Vikings! The place will you head subsequent in your journey around the globe in 50 experiments?
Final Up to date on January 16, 2025 by Emma Vanstone
