Auckland Museum Trip!

Today was very exciting as Room 4 and the rest of the middle syndicate travelled to Auckland Museum to have a look at some artefacts from ancient civilisations. Our educator Josh delivered a great session where we were able to handle some artefacts from the museum's collection! As well as the education session, Room 4 also explored other parts of the museum.

First we stopped off in the Maori and Pacific collection. We are going to be using our experience from this for some creative writing, so keep an eye out for that soon!

We also looked through the second floor science areas which had some hands-on exhibits and plenty of fossils!

Have a look below for some photos from the trip!

Vision Science Learning

In Room 4 we have been investigating sight and how we see. We have labelled the different parts of the eye and found out what they do. We have also looked at light and the role it plays in our ability to see. We found out that white light actually contains all the colours of the rainbow! We also found out that we "see" by having light reflect off objects. If you would like to find out more about vision or refresh your memory of what has been learned check out the following link!

http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/brainandsenses/eye/

Boat Making Term 1

A late update! Apologies!

At the end of Term 1 Room 4 repeated their straw boat challenge. All the new boats had fantastic designs and the students really thought carefully about floating and sinking and what would help their boat hold the most marbles. The winning boat was made by Chace and Laine but I forgot how many marbles it held.... Certainly more than 30! Check out the photos below to see the designs and construction process.

Welcome to Term 2

Welcome back to School!

This term we have a lot of exciting activities and experiences planned, including a trip........

Our focus this term is on Culture and Identity. The middle syndicate will be exploring this through myths and legends and how these shape cultures. We will be doing lots of creative writing and possibly even some drama based on the Myths and Legends we read!

Our science focus ties into this nicely as we will be looking at our identity as humans and how we perceive the world through our 5 senses. We will also be doing a small unit on astronomy for Matariki!

A reminder of homework expectations:
Each student is expected to do the following activities each day:

• Read independently for at least 20-30 mins from a book that is suitable for their reading level
• Practise Math basic facts - this includes multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division facts. This can be done in a number of ways including simple fact repetition, creating a math grid, or by using studyladder and sumdog to practice. Year 6 children are expected to know addition and subtraction facts to 20, Multiplication facts up to 10x10 (at least), and division facts of 2, 5, and 10 (at least). 

In addition to these activities, there are bonus Math maintenance activities posted to this blog each week. They have a range of contexts and a variety of levels to choose from. The answers are at the bottom of the page so they can be self marked as well.

From time to time I may post other activities of interest based on learning in class.

Here's to a successful Term 2!

Floating and sinking science learning

This week we have done a lot of learning about the reasons things float or sink.

We have discussed terms such as: displacement, volume, mass, and density.

On Tuesday we tested how much water is displaced by floating objects. We put items into a cup of water and measured the difference from the starting point. This difference is the amount of water that is moved, or displaced, because something else is filling in that space. Have a look below for some pictures of our testing.

We found that the heavier a floating object is, the more water it displaces. But what about sinking objects?

On Wednesday we measured the weight of objects that float and sink and compared that to the weight of the water that was displaced.

We found that when the weight of the water being displaced was the same or more than the object, it floated. When the item weighed more than the amount of water it displaced it sunk.

On Thursday, we discussed what density was and how it relates to floating or sinking. We found that the more dense something was, the more likely it was to sink. We also found that by trapping air we can reduce the density of an object, like how ships can float even though they weigh thousands and thousands of kilos.

Next week we are going to try our boats again and see if we can improve the design to hold more marbles!

Wednesday Science Challenge

In Room 4 we have started a new unit about buoyancy (floating and sinking). As a warm up to thinking about that we had a buoyancy challenge. In small groups, room 4 had to make a boat out of 40 straws, 4 wooden bbq skewers, 2 small pieces of bubble wrap and some cellotape.

They had 25mins to design and make their boat and it was tested by placing marbles into it until it sunk or tilted over. The top score today was 31 marbles!

We are going to try again at the end of the term to see if our new learning helps us make better boats! Have a look at some of the pictures of the process below!

Tuakana Teina

Last week we spent some time with Room 7 during the school's Tuakana Teina time. These sessions, held once every month, will involve the whole school for afternoons of fun, teamwork, and community.

We buddied up with Room 7 and spent the afternoon with them. We read to them and then went to the playground. We will be buddying up with Room 7 every Thursday from next week onwards!

Check out some pictures from our afternoon:

Persuasive Writing

This week we have started looking at persuasive writing. First we brainstormed situations and reasons when we might need to persuade or convince other people.