Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Wee Willie]

2 minutes ago, Gordon EF said:

He is.... relative to the guy at the top of the world's frame of reference. He's not... relative to his own frame of reference.

So go back to what I asked earlier. The pair of us are in a spaceship and can see the entire planet you focus your camera on the guy on top of the world and I focus my camera on the guy at the bottom of the world. We both take a photo. Is my guy at the bottom standing upright. If he is, why?

[welshbairn]

15 minutes ago, Perkin Flump said:

You haven't answered my question that if someone is top of the world and another guy is bottom of the world why is the guy who's bottom no upside doon?

Fill your boots @Wee Willie

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If Australia is nearly at the bottom of the world how are we the right way up? Why doesn’t our head point down? – Rudy, 5, Melbourne.

---

A very interesting question, Rudy!

You would think that because we’re at the bottom of the world, us Australians would be really good at handstands and standing on our heads. But in Australia, we still have our feet firmly planted on the ground.

When you hold up a ball and drop it, it always goes towards the ground, no matter where you are on the Earth.

When the ball goes towards the sky, we say it is going “up”. When it is going towards the ground, we say “down”.

---

Read more: Curious Kids: If a huge huntsman spider is sucked into a vacuum cleaner, can it crawl out later?

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It’s all about gravity

Gravity is a force (or a pull) that all objects have on other objects.

So when you stand on the Earth, the Earth is pulling you to keep you on the ground.  Gravity always pulls you towards the middle of the object.

So for the Earth, which is shaped like a ball, the force of gravity pulls you to the centre from every point on the ground. That’s why, no matter where you stand on the Earth, you always feel like the ground is at the bottom and the sky is up.

That also means that if you drop a ball it will always go toward the middle of our planet… until it hits the ground and bounces, of course.

 

When you stand on the Earth, the Earth is pulling you to keep you on the ground. Illustration by Cindy Zhi, CC BY

So, why is Australia on the bottom?

The North and South Poles are what we call “relative”. They are just names for specific places on the Earth so that it is easy for us to give directions and find our way around.

A long time ago, someone decided that the pole on the top would be called the North Pole and the one on the bottom would be called the South Pole.

But, you could turn the Earth upside down and no one would really notice, because we would still feel that the ground is down and the sky as up. This is because gravity always pulls us towards the middle of the Earth.

---

Read more: Curious Kids: Why is the Earth round?

---

Fun facts about gravity

Did you know that if you were to dig a hole from one side of the Earth to any other point of the Earth, and you jumped into the hole, it would always take the same amount of time to fall out the other side?

 

If you dug a hole from one side of the Earth to any other point of the Earth, and you jumped into the hole, it would always take the same amount of time to fall out the other side – no matter how long the tunnel. Cindy Zhi for The Conversation/CC-BY-ND, CC BY

Sir Isaac Newton was a famous scientist that came up with many ideas about forces and gravity, about light and about how things move. He was born on Christmas Day in 1642. Some say he discovered gravity when an apple from a tree fell on his head. Ouch! It might not have happened exactly that way but it is still a nice story.

The force you feel of the Earth’s gravity pulling on you is called your weight. If you were on the Moon, your weight would be six times lighter than on Earth. This is because the Moon is much smaller than the Earth, so the pull of gravity there is much less than what we feel on Earth. This is also why astronauts can bounce around like being on a trampoline when they are on the Moon.

Edited May 17, 2020 by welshbairn

[Moomintroll]

Yeah, I am known on here as a Notorious T.O.R.Y historically. Not going to apologise for that , given the alternative down here at that point, safe to say however, I will be in Keir Starmers camp for the duration. A more incompetent shower could not be imagined outside of Abbott & McDonnell, I am delighted I got my Political Party back.

[dirty dingus]

 

[Gaz]

2 hours ago, oaksoft said:

I must admit, I'm struggling to imagine why those words and that philosophy would appear in a trig class.

... what?

[Moomintroll]

7 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Fill your boots.

---

If Australia is nearly at the bottom of the world how are we the right way up? Why doesn’t our head point down? – Rudy, 5, Melbourne.

---

A very interesting question, Rudy!

You would think that because we’re at the bottom of the world, us Australians would be really good at handstands and standing on our heads. But in Australia, we still have our feet firmly planted on the ground.

When you hold up a ball and drop it, it always goes towards the ground, no matter where you are on the Earth.

When the ball goes towards the sky, we say it is going “up”. When it is going towards the ground, we say “down”.

---

Read more: Curious Kids: If a huge huntsman spider is sucked into a vacuum cleaner, can it crawl out later?

---

It’s all about gravity

Gravity is a force (or a pull) that all objects have on other objects.

So when you stand on the Earth, the Earth is pulling you to keep you on the ground.  Gravity always pulls you towards the middle of the object.

So for the Earth, which is shaped like a ball, the force of gravity pulls you to the centre from every point on the ground. That’s why, no matter where you stand on the Earth, you always feel like the ground is at the bottom and the sky is up.

That also means that if you drop a ball it will always go toward the middle of our planet… until it hits the ground and bounces, of course.

 

When you stand on the Earth, the Earth is pulling you to keep you on the ground. Illustration by Cindy Zhi, CC BY

So, why is Australia on the bottom?

The North and South Poles are what we call “relative”. They are just names for specific places on the Earth so that it is easy for us to give directions and find our way around.

A long time ago, someone decided that the pole on the top would be called the North Pole and the one on the bottom would be called the South Pole.

But, you could turn the Earth upside down and no one would really notice, because we would still feel that the ground is down and the sky as up. This is because gravity always pulls us towards the middle of the Earth.

---

Read more: Curious Kids: Why is the Earth round?

---

Fun facts about gravity

Did you know that if you were to dig a hole from one side of the Earth to any other point of the Earth, and you jumped into the hole, it would always take the same amount of time to fall out the other side?

 

If you dug a hole from one side of the Earth to any other point of the Earth, and you jumped into the hole, it would always take the same amount of time to fall out the other side – no matter how long the tunnel. Cindy Zhi for The Conversation/CC-BY-ND, CC BY

Sir Isaac Newton was a famous scientist that came up with many ideas about forces and gravity, about light and about how things move. He was born on Christmas Day in 1642. Some say he discovered gravity when an apple from a tree fell on his head. Ouch! It might not have happened exactly that way but it is still a nice story.

The force you feel of the Earth’s gravity pulling on you is called your weight. If you were on the Moon, your weight would be six times lighter than on Earth. This is because the Moon is much smaller than the Earth, so the pull of gravity there is much less than what we feel on Earth. This is also why astronauts can bounce around like being on a trampoline when they are on the Moon.

I loved the Northern Territorian Newspaper that basically said yesterday, fonk you ya bladdy Southern mongrels, we can sup a cold stubby while you stew. 

[welshbairn]

3 minutes ago, Perkin Flump said:

Yeah, I am known on here as a Notorious T.O.R.Y historically. Not going to apologise for that , given the alternative down here at that point, safe to say however, I will be in Keir Starmers camp for the duration. A more incompetent shower could not be imagined outside of Abbott & McDonnell, I am delighted I got my Political Party back.

Sorry I misquoted you above in place of @Wee Willie , tried to change it but gave up..

[Moomintroll]

Just now, welshbairn said:

Sorry I misquoted you above in place of @Wee Willie , tried to change it but gave up..

Understandable, any time you want to sneak over the border, you have a safe house here.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Couldn't that be done (safely)  in June?

No - many secondaries are being used as hubs - even though I've been on the rota to work I can't get in to my department because all the rooms are occupied by other schools.

I can access my store cupboard and that's about it.

[ICTChris]

Not sure if this has been shared, some interesting observations on teaching in lockdown, pertinent to discussion on here.

https://amp.economist.com/britain/2020/05/16/why-teachers-are-doing-so-little-teaching?__twitter_impression=true

- 40% of teachers are working less than five hours a day.
- 50% of primary and 64% of secondary pupils are working less than three hours a day
- Only 6% of state schools have attempted a video lesson.
- Private schools are utilising video lessons at more than ten times the rate of state schools.

[Gordon EF]

18 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

It was neither flippant or childish.  Making that accusation is a poor attempt at deflection.

The Tories have an agenda here that puts people’s safety and well-being in second place.  The lockdown and furloughing cannot last indefinitely but, like Trump in the U.S., Johnson has his priorities wrong.

 

Deflection from what? I and a few other posters have made specific suggestions about what we think should happen based on actual data. You haven't given any argument against those suggestions at all. You haven't said why they're wrong. If you'd given an actual argument and then i'd just called you childish in response, that would be a deflection. Which is exactly what you've done over the past few pages.

[Gordon EF]

18 minutes ago, Wee Willie said:

So go back to what I asked earlier. The pair of us are in a spaceship and can see the entire planet you focus your camera on the guy on top of the world and I focus my camera on the guy at the bottom of the world. We both take a photo. Is my guy at the bottom standing upright. If he is, why?

It depends on the orientation of the spaceship and what the observers sense of up and down is. That's not a yes or no question.

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

- 40% of teachers are working less than five hours a day.
- 50% of primary and 64% of secondary pupils are working less than three hours a day

Impressive that 60% of teachers are working 5 or more hours a day, likewise with the pupil figures.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Not sure if this has been shared, some interesting observations on teaching in lockdown, pertinent to discussion on here. https://amp.economist.com/britain/2020/05/16/why-teachers-are-doing-so-little-teaching?__twitter_impression=true

 

- 40% of teachers are working less than five hours a day.

- 50% of primary and 64% of secondary pupils are working less than three hours a day

- Only 6% of state schools have attempted a video lesson.

- Private schools are utilising video lessons at more than ten times the rate of state schools.

 

 

 

 

Not my experience - we were given 2 weeks notice for a virtual change of timetable - normally we have around 4 weeks between timetables being issued and the change of timetable. I've been spending hours each day setting up Google Classrooms, issuing and marking work, dealing with emails from pupils and parents and the biggest part of my time - completely rewriting materials to make them accessible to pupils. 

 

 

The staff in my department have been the same - we've has endless discussions via WhatsApp, email and phone calls.

 

Yes - there may be some lazy buggers - but you get that in any workplace - the vast majority will be working hard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Granny Danger]

3 minutes ago, Gordon EF said:

Deflection from what? I and a few other posters have made specific suggestions about what we think should happen based on actual data. You haven't given any argument against those suggestions at all. You haven't said why they're wrong. If you'd given an actual argument and then i'd just called you childish in response, that would be a deflection. Which is exactly what you've done over the past few pages.

No you’ve given an opinion based on your interpretation of limited data.  Not the best way to address the most serious crisis in my lifetime.

The only positive thing is that your opinion will not influence public policy in Scotland.  Neither will mine but I’m OK with that.

[Wee Willie]

27 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Fill your boots @Wee Willie

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Thanks welshbairn that picture is worth a thousand words.

9 minutes ago, Gordon EF said:

It depends on the orientation of the spaceship and what the observers sense of up and down is. That's not a yes or no question.

But look at welshbairns picture above.

The bairn at the bottom is 'upside doon'

Why does that no happen in reality?

And that is all I'm asking.

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Wee Willie

[Gaz]

1 minute ago, Wee Willie said:

But look at welshbairns picture above.

The bairn at the bottom is 'upside doon'

Why does that no happen in reality?

And that is all I'm asking.

You're at it.

[bendan]

16 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

 64% of secondary pupils are working less than three hours a day

 

I'm a bit surprised by that. The minor subject teachers at my daughters school are often setting work that takes way longer than the time allocated in the timetable (i.e. one period a week). 

Edited May 17, 2020 by bendan

[Granny Danger]

4 minutes ago, Wee Willie said:

Thanks welshbairn that picture is worth a thousand words.

But look at welshbairns picture above.

The bairn at the bottom is 'upside doon'

Why does that no happen in reality?

And that is all I'm asking.

 

Have you looked at where Scotland is in to relation to England on a map?

The reason Hadrian’s Wall was built was to stop the Scots falling on top of the English.

Spoiler

Cue some clever c**t pointing out there were no Scots or English at the time.

 

[Honest_Man#1]

9 minutes ago, Wee Willie said:

Thanks welshbairn that picture is worth a thousand words.

But look at welshbairns picture above.

The bairn at the bottom is 'upside doon'

Why does that no happen in reality?

And that is all I'm asking.

 

It does happen in reality. As Gaz says, you’re either trolling here or are being incredibly dense.