Aerodynamics of Biscuits

(illustrated by Sophia Touliatou, Maverick Books)

Please see a wide range of activities below, helping to emerse young learners in the world of picture books, whilst meeting National Curriculum Objectives.

IDEAS FOR ENGLISH

Write a prequel to the story that explains why Captain Sneaky McSqueaky and his crew of pirate mice need to go to space to find cheese.

Create character profiles for the main characters in the story (Oliver and Captain McSqueaky) or for one of the other pirate mice.

Imagine Oliver is out of biscuits! Think about other items Oliver might have in his house and write an alternative version of how the mice get to the moon.

Create a news report about the adventure that Oliver, McSqueaky or another pirate mice have.

Imagine that you are a member of McSqueaky’s crew. Explain how you feel about your greedy Captain. Can you explain why you feel this way? How do you feel about Oliver?

Investigate the use of different types of punctuation in the story. Can you find question marks / exclamation marks (and more) and explain why they have been used in each sentence?

Are there any unfamiliar words in the story (e.g. aerodynamic)? Can you find out what they mean? Could you use them in a sentence of your own?

Can you find any examples of alliteration in the story (e.g. goat guzzling giant)?

Retell the story from the point of view of Oliver.

Create a set of instructions to teach people how to play make The Jolly Dodger.

What adjectives can you think of to describe some of the biscuits in the story? Think about the feel, smell, look and taste of it? What about your favourite kind of biscuit?

Could you create your own comic strip based on the story? Can you use captions, speech bubbles, thought bubbles etc).

Can you turn it into a play script and perform it to an audience?

Create a sequel to the story, in which McSqueaky travels beneath the sea.

Design your own front cover and blurb using a cereal box.

IDEAS FOR MATHS

This story takes place on the moon. How many miles away is the moon? How long would it take to fly /walk /drive there? What about to other planets in our solar system?

What is your class’ favourite kind of biscuit?

Oliver and the mice have to use different shaped biscuits to build their rocket. What shapes do they use? What other shaped biscuits can you make?

IDEAS FOR SCIENCE

Create a report that shows McSqueaky and the mice everything they need to know about space.

Sneaky McSqueaky loves eating cheese and biscuits. Can you plan a healthy meal for him?

What is the most aerodynamic biscuit available in the shops and why?

Can you test which biscuit would be the best to make a boat? Make a prediction first and explain it.

IDEAS FOR COMPUTING (with thanks to Andrew Baldock, SLE)

Create a stop-motion animation that portrays a scene from this story.

Create a trailer for the book using video editing software.

Design a poster using publishing software to promote the book to other children.

Use a green screen and internet device to superimpose a model or prop into space.

Make a green screen box and re-tell Aerodynamics of Biscuits using stick puppets. (Please note, the sticks will need to be painted green too).

Using the app Adobe Sparks, create an advert calling pirate mice to come and help Captain Sneaky McSqueaky on his moon mission.

*NEW*

PROGRAMMING AND USING ALGORITHMS WITH SCRATCH (Click on the links below)

Challenge 1 – Can you program the Jolly Dodger to fly to the moon? (Y1/2/3)

Using ‘move’ blocks, can you program the Jolly Dodger so that it travels to the moon? Extension – Can you use a repeat loop in your code?

Challenge 2 – Can you program the Jolly Dodger to fly to the moon and then back to Planet Earth? (Y2/Y3/Y4)

Can you program the Jolly Dodger to travel to the moon, turn around and travel back to Earth?

Challenge 3 – Can you debug the code? (Y2/Y3/Y4)

The Jolly Dodger needs to go to the moon. Wait ten seconds and then fly and back to Planet Earth. Oliver and Captain McSqueaky have all of the right code but it’s in the wrong order. Can you help them by debugging the code?

Challenge 4 – Can you program the Jolly Dodger to fly to the moon and back to Earth (diagonal)? (Y4/Y5/Y6)

Can you program the Jolly Dodger to fly to the moon, turn around and then fly back to Earth?

Challenge 5 – Can you debug the code? (diagonal) (Y4/5/6)

The Jolly Dodger needs to go to the moon without using the ‘glide to’ function. Oliver and Captain McSqueaky have all of the right code but it’s in the wrong order. Can you help them by debugging the code?

IDEAS FOR DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

Create a model of ‘The Jolly Dodger’ or ‘The Brie O’Booty’ or design a new vehicle.