Welcome. This blogsite is a place to share and extend the learning that is happening in Rm 22. It is a place for the sharing of student work, links to sites that might help you with your homework or build on things we discuss at school. There is a message board where you can communicate with the rest of the class: http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/banksaveroom22. Enjoy exploring the site and e-mail me anything you would like to share on the blog:-) Ms Watson

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Sawatdee from Thailand

Hi Room 22,
I hope that you are all enjoying the holidays. I hear that it has been VERY snowy in Christchurch! Did you build snow people or go tobogganing?
It's incredibly hot here in Thailand and therefore it's hard to imagine it being snowy back in Chch!
I have spent most of my time in Mae Salong which is a small town up in the highlands of Northern Thailand near the border with Burma.

I spent 2 days helping in a small village - I helped build part of a school (I now know how to mix and use cement to build walls) and I played with some of the village children and taught the wee ones how to kick and catch a ball. I hope that I might be able to return to the village once the school is up and running and do some teaching during NZ school holidays.

I am now in Bangkok which is a HUGE and BUSY city. I went to a shopping mall yesterday which was like 1000 Riccarton or Northlands malls put together - it was pretty crazy but there were lots of good bargains:-)
Enjoy your last few days of the holidays - I hope that you have been able to read lots of books - I have read 4 while on holiday and need to find a couple more for my 19 hour journey back to NZ tonight/tomorrow.
I look forward to seeing you all on Monday - bring some photos or interesting things from your holiday to share with the class.
Ms Watson

Monday, July 18, 2011

Jackson's Holiday


Morning Rm 22,
Jackson has just posted on our Wallwisher. He is in Switzerland at the moment and about to go up Jungfrau, one of the highest summits in the Swiss Alps. If you click on this link you can read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungfrau
He has set up his own wall and would love to hear from people in the class. Once Jackson sends me the link to his wall I will post it on the blog for you to access.
Have a great day - I'm about to pack my bags as this time tomorrow I will be in Melbourne on my way to Thailand.
Ms Watson

Sunday, July 17, 2011

The Pistol Shrimp


Did you know that the Pistol Shrimp kills is prey by closing its claw so fast it creates a sonic bubble that momentarily reaches the temperature of the sun and knocks out its prey - you certainly wouldn't want to be the prey of Pistol Shrimps!
Watch this youtube clip of the Pistol Shrimp catching prey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC6I8iPiHT8&feature=related

Happy Holidays!

Hi Room 22,
Well done for a fantastic term, despite all the challenges we faced. It's crazy to think that school camp was at the start of this term (it seems such a long time ago!). Thank you for all the hard work, deep thinking and positive attitudes that you showed.
Enjoy your holidays with your families. I fly to Thailand very early on Tuesday morning so I have a looooong list of things I need to pack and I am starting to worry that it might not all fit in my bag. I am trekking for a few days in the jungle so I need to be able to make sure that I don't take too much! I'm not sure whether you know much about Thailand so I have included a map. I fly into Bangkok which is the capital city. The next day I fly up to Chiang Rai at the very top of the country. I am spending a week between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Then I fly back to Bangkok and have a couple of days there to visit the temples and markets before coming home. It is about 30 degrees each day at the moment and it is the wet season so it rains a lot of the time. I will make sure I take some photos to share with you when I get back.

I look forward to seeing you all on the first day of Term 3 and sharing our holiday stories. I hope that Neo, Paris and Orlando also enjoy their holidays!
Ms Watson

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Happy Birthday Neptune!


Neptune is about to celebrate its first birthday. On 12 July it will be exactly one Neptunian year - or 164.79 Earth years - since its discovery on 24 September 1846. Read this article to find out about the mysteries that still surround the planet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14081162?

Monday, July 11, 2011

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS DINOSAUR IS?


Millie got this dinosaur when she went to see 'Walking with Dinosaurs'. Do you know what it is? Post on our wall with any ideas you have:-)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Weather Quiz


How much do you know about weather? Here's a quiz to test your knowledge...
1. A thermometer is a device used to measure what?
2. Stratus, cirrus, cumulus and nimbus are types of what?
3. What country experiences the most tornadoes?
4. True or false? A rainbow is a spectrum of light that appears when the Sun shines onto water droplets in the air.
5. Blizzards feature low temperatures, strong winds and heavy _______?
6. Breeze and gale are common terms used to describe the speed of what?
7. Earth’s recent temperature rises which have been linked to human activity is known as global _______?
8. True or false? The highest recorded temperature on Earth of 57.8 °C (136 °F) was recorded in Tirat Tsvi, Israel.
9. What is the name of a scientist who studies weather?
10. What is the driest desert on Earth, the Sahara, the Kalahari or the Atacama?
11. True or false? The lowest recorded temperature on Earth of 89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) was recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica.
12. Balls or irregular lumps of ice that fall from clouds (often during thunderstorms) are known as what?
13. An avalanche features the rapid descent of _______?
14. True of false? The most rain fall ever recorded in one year (Cherrapunji, India) is more than 30 meters.
15. What is the name of a weather instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure?
16. An anemometer is used to measure what?
17. At what temperature is Centigrade equal to Fahrenheit?
18. Trying to predict the weather is known as weather _______?
19. The area of central USA that features many tornadoes is known as Tornado _______?
20. True or false? You see lightning and hear thunder.

Bring your answers to school on Monday and go into a lucky draw for a prize:-)

Space Quiz


We are getting near the end of our space topic. Can you answer these questions about space?
1. What is the closest planet to the Sun?
2. What is the name of the 2nd biggest planet in our solar system?
3. What is the hottest planet in our solar system?
4. What planet is famous for its big red spot on it?
5. What planet is famous for the beautiful rings that surround it?
6. Can humans breathe normally in space as they can on Earth?
7. Is the sun a star or a planet?
8. Who was the first person to walk on the moon?
9. What planet is known as the red planet?
10. What is the name of the force holding us to the Earth?
11. Have human beings ever set foot on Mars?
12. What is the name of a place that uses telescopes and other scientific equipment to research space and astronomy?
13. What is the name of NASA’s most famous space telescope?
14. Earth is located in which galaxy?
15. What is the name of the first satellite sent into space?
16. Ganymede is a moon of which planet?
17. What is the name of Saturn’s largest moon?
18. Olympus Mons is a large volcanic mountain on which planet?
19. Does the sun orbit the Earth?
20. Is the planet Neptune bigger than Earth?

Bring your answers to school on Monday to go in the draw for a lucky prize:-)

Weekend greetings and Space


Hi Rm 22,
I hope that your Friday went well. I'm sorry that I wasn't there. I spent half of day in bed sick. But, I'm feeling much better today and have just baked a cheesecake ready to share tonight with my family when we watch the Crusaders play in the Super Rugby final. I have my red and black socks on and I'm hoping for a good game.
I came across this interactive history of space today and I thought that you might be interested in exploring it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/interactive/2011/jul/08/space-shuttle-human-spaceflight
Down the bottom is a large time scaler bar. Move the mouse along this and it shifts the time forwards or backwards. Then, when you click on the coloured bars in the top box it tells you about different space shuttle missions. It is colour-coded according to the country.

I hope that your weekend sport games have gone well and that you enjoy your weekend. The dinosaur challenge will be due on Monday so you still have a couple of days to work on it if you like.

See you Monday,

Ms Watson

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Summarising - helpful for your Inquiry research

I know that some of you find it really tricky when you find a book or a website on your topic, but then you realise that you can't copy everything out - you need to sk yourself the following questions:
- What is this article about?
- What are the main points/ideas in this article?
- What examples does the author use to support these main ideas?

When I summarise I often use a highlighter or underlining to identify the main points so that I can easily find them once I have finished reading it.

Use one of these graphic organisers below to summarise your article:



Big Bang Links

Here are some links that might be useful for the group researching the Origins of the Universe and the Big Bang:
http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMSZ5WJD1E_OurUniverse_0.html
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/origins-universe-article.html
http://www.historyforkids.org/scienceforkids/physics/space/bigbang.htm
http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-powered-the-big-bang/
http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/bigbangtheory.html
http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/bigbangtheory.html
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/videos/space/solarsystem.html

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Rm 22's Notice Board

I have embedded the Notice Board (Wallwisher) onto our blog. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you can find it and post on it. Remember that this is a great way of communicating with the class whether it's your sports results in the weekend, asking a question about homework, giving some positive feedback or sharing something interesting. Double clicking on the wall will open a sticky that you can write on. Like a text message, you only have a few characters (so it needs to be short). Please try and check your spelling before posting. The posts then come to be and I have to 'approve' them before they appear on the wall.

Justifying Space Research


I posted some links earlier in the evening that will help you out with your debate topic. I would strongly suggest that you use this website for your research. It's called 'Debatepedia' and has a whole section devoted to your topic. There are links to pros and cons pages, background information, links to sites that might help, explorations of arguments etc.
Check it out and make use of it to ensure that you have a strongly argued and well researched debate. We will draw out of a hat on Monday to decide which team will affirm (agree that space research spending IS justified) and which team will negate (disagree and argue that space research spending CAN'T be justified).
I am really excited to get our debating up and running!

Tabs on the Website

I am going to start posting things under the subject tabs on our blogsite. I have just copied and pasted the Science Fiction stories onto the Literacy tab. Click on it and you will be able to read these stories.
If you would like your story added to this tab, e-mail it to me and I will upload it.
Ms Watson

A Mission on Mars and Saturn by Kiranjeet

Two men are going to the rocket centre. They all get ready and pack their stuff. Everything goes into the rocket they are ready he lady in the speaker starts a checklist. 1 hour later... finished. The countdown starts 10,9,8,7 suddenly a dog called Bolt and a cat called Mittens chase each other to the rocket ship. 6,5,4,3, the door closes and Bolt and Mittens are trapped inside 2,1,0, BLAST OFF!!! Uh oh...

Everybody is holding tight as they get ready to go out of the Earth’s atmosphere. When they are out, they float in the rocket Jimmy steers the rocket in the way to Saturn their Mission begins!!! Jimmy and Jack get hungry they eat mouthfuls of food meanwhile Bolt and Mittens try and get out, they find their way to the pod that lands on the plant. There were lots of supplies there and there are the controls Mittens accidently pushed the take off button and the alarm goes off. Jimmy and Jack quickly run to the pod they find the controls bolt and Mittens hide they find Penny and stare in surprise TAKE OFF!!!Oh No... The pod lands on Mars the red planet. Bolt hugs Penny Mitten yawns. Jimmy and Jack find them. Jack asks why they are here. Penny says nervously “I was looking for my dog Bolt and find him at the rocket centre, they ran into the rocket so I do too. I went in but then the rocket suddenly took off. I quickly put on a suit and waited. Now I am here I’m really really sorry.” Jimmy lets them come with them to their mission but now they are stuck on Mars.

“What are we going to do?” asks Penny.”We are going to get out of here of course” replies Jack. “We could go but the engine is empty” said Jimmy. Suddenly little colourful aliens come and meet them and say “hello earthlings you look very very weird, do you need any help?” They stare in surprise everyone thought the aliens were evil then Jimmy said “yes we need to go to Saturn can you help us?”Jimbo said “sure”. The gang go to the big, big, big, 100,ooo,ooox big house

Then Jimmy says to Jimbo “we thought you would be evil.” Jimbo said happily “yey we get that a lot but we are not evil.” Anyway they go into the house and get cleaned up and get some supplies. They fix the engine and meet other aliens. Penny was wondering “how can we get to Saturn?”. Suddenly Jenny came and had the same thought as Penny. “Hey we have this machine that can get you anywhere in the Solar System in just two seconds!” yelled Jenny. Would you like to use it” she told. “Um ask Jimmy and Jack” said Penny nervously. So Jenny asked them they shouted YES!. So everybody said goodbye and went in the machine. “we will miss you” said Jilly . “ guys are the best ‘’ said Jas. Jimbo said to Jimmy “Please don’t let the other humans discover us’’. We won’t we promise’’ said Jimmy. “right guys’’ “yey’’ said Jack and penny. Jack was wondering “First Jimbo said that they get it a lot of from when people come’’. But he didn’t tell his thought to anybody.

So everyone climbed up in the rocket and too Saturn. They had a great time there getting rocks and taking pictures. Penny even wrote a story . Soon after they came back to Earth and told everyone their amazing story but not about the aliens. “I wonder if we can go again sometime” wondered Penny “Maybe” says Jack.

Dr Jhon Alien Attack by Kobe

12:30 HOSPITAL GARATEL RD

“Scissors, knife” called out Doctor Jhon. Suddenly, a green glow came shinning out of the window. Doctor Jhon and Illisabith came immediately to the window. They saw a flying saucer coming smoking down.

Green Martin’s flying saucer:

2 lasers coming out of each side
3 bomb droppers
Spikes on the replacement

‘BANG’ it hit the ground with an explosion. The hospital shock like an earthquake hit. Everyone quickly got under their table. People rushed outside with a mask on. The smoke was rising up vertically. The dust cleared as Martin the alien stepped out with his troops.” Don’t even think about calling the cops” said Martin with an aqua-green laser gun.

Range Gun

Points a light green sharp laser than can cut through anything.
He repeated once more. Everyone ran away as he shot his range gun.

One O’clock.

Marel Hotel.

“This will be a perfect place for a hide out” said one of the troops. “No one will find us”

It had been burnt as was very black. “We will stay here until they do” said Martin greedily “Bwa ha ha ha”

1.25 Doctor Johns Laboratory

Dr John and Illisabeth were setting up a trap. “I thought you ran out of traps” said Illisabeth. “I have, that’s why I’m making a new one” “We can track Martin down on this rampgan”

“ It says he’s in Marel Motel, he’s invaded it”
“Wow that’s pretty hard to invade, it’s been there for 135 years”

Suddenly a man ran in and slammed the door behind him. “Watch it, they could fall off” said Doctor John.
“They’re after me” he said”
“They’re after everyone” he responded.
“Who are you?” asked Illisabeth.
“Cameron” he answered
“Hi I’m Illisabeth, I live two blocks away from here”
“Okay, I can see where this is going, I need G45 to finish off the trap” said Dr John
“Who’s G45?” asked Illisabeth
“My latest creation, here’s the map”
“He’s not on here” said Illisabeth.
“Flip the flap” said Dr John
Illisabeth lifted up the flap.
“Come on, there’s the magaraige, Lets go”

The Magaraige

Two magnets and large wheels on each side.


2.30 Half past middle of city

Green lasers started destroying the city. Everyone screamed. The spun while flying through things with their spikes.


3.00 end of school Dr Jhons Lab

“Quickly, they’re destroying the city already” said Cameron. “Thanks for the tip” said Dr Jhon sarcastically. “That’s ok” said Cameron. “G45, Done” he said. “We’ll have to set it near your house” said Dr John pointing at Cameron. “Mine?” muttered Cameron. “No your Grandma, yes you”. “It’s not going to be an explosion, is it?” asked Cameron. “Nope, just technical stuff” he answered.


3.30 pm Marel Motel

“More back up” declared Martin. “We’ll escape on it, no-one will stop us”.

4.00 Afternoon tea Beach

“G45 like beach” he said to Dr Jhon on the beach. “What’s that thing in the distance?” asked Dr Jhon. G45 used his close up eye-sight on the thing. “G45 says it a ship” he answered. “That must be Marin’s” said Dr Jhon.

Martins Ship

4 cannons on each side
20 rowers on each side

Dr Jhon and G45 hid behind a bush. The large ship stopped just 5 metres away from the shore. Martin stepped on the soft orange sand. “I’ve been waiting for this moment, bwa Ha ha ha ha” said Martin greedily laughing. He stepped on the ship. “Quick, if we can pull chain we can get onto the ship” planning Dr Jhon. They both ran over to the leaving chain. Dr Jhon gripped the chain in his hands, the shi0p started pulling him in the water. The next second he was in deep water. Dr Jhon was struggling to pull himself to the ship. The water was pressing against Dr Johns’ chest, well enough to let him let go. He got there. He knew if won’t get out soon, he will freeze to death. The water was zero degrees. He saw a ladder just beside him about 2 feet away from him. He slipped along the back of the ship to the ladder. Dr Jhon climbed up onto the ship. “Savantary” an alien called out. 3 men ran over to him. He saw a saw balancing on the top of the flat surface. He cu just under him of the wooden pole and then kicked it. The wooden pole fell down with the Aliens on it. Dr Jhon fell down too, but he landed safely. Dr Jhon crept into one of the rooms, it was the prisoner room, nobody was in there. A head of Martin popped up from the window and locked it. “See ya in Hell, I might not cause I’ll be in Heaven” he said walking away. 5 feet away from the ship, G45 on his floaty with Illisabith and Cameron were heading to the ship. When they got there, they climbed the ladder. G45 saw that Dr Jhon was in the prisoner room and unlocked it.

“Thanks, Little Jack” thanked Dr Jhon. “Attack!” said one of the troops, G45 quickly all gave them swords and they had a long battle. Finally Dr Jhon made him drop the sword and stabbed him. Illisabith couldn’t take it, it was gross as all the blood and guts squiggled out.


5.00 tea time Cameron’s house

“Here comes the bride, all fat and …..” Dr Jhon interrupted G45 with nasty reply of “Shut up!” They were just about to kiss when a trap went off and a pit hit Illisabith’s face. “Well, you know what they say, pie beats Alien” said Dr Jhon snickering with G45.

Suddenly a crocodile burst out of a drain.

No. 2 – ‘Dr Jhon and the sewerage croc’

Goozacks and Topias' Problem By Millie

‘ Ah mum what are those bright lights out side’ shouted Selena
‘nothing go back to sleep right now or you are grounded for a month’ Stephany shouted back
“BOOM” all of a sudden the house started to shake frantically like an earthquake one might say.
‘ get down and try get outside” said Austen in his loudest and most scared voice ever. So everyone got outside safely only one scratch because Selena fell down the stairs.

Well back to the big bang I mean boom it was a giant round spaceship
‘ mum what is that thing” whispered Selena staring at this alien like creation
‘ I …I…I don’t know” Stephany whispered back also looking at this alien like creation.

Mean while what the humans didn’t know is that two purple aliens had snuck into
their house while the humans were staring at the ship and what the humans also didn’t know was that if the ship crashed it would explode so that the humans didn’t do all their scientific stuff and find out about the aliens.

All of a sudden a low and scary voice started “scona , fera ,cora, scuscu cu teco
‘ahhhhhhhh” shouted the family as they were flushed back closer and closer to their house.

‘ what is this place?” asked Topia one of the purple aliens to her brother Goozack
‘ what is that?” questioned Goozack staring at Max
‘ bark bark” Max warned his family that someone was inside
so the humans ran inside and saw the aliens
‘H…H…Hello” stutted Stephany
‘ H…H…Hello” Topia and Goozack both stutted at the same time
‘ where are you from” Jack nervesouly asked
“ we are from planet Suntun in another galaxy with only 4 planets because all 8 planets have been made into 4 different planets because there are 2 different planets put together in one” said Goozack trying to act smart when actually topia is.

While that was all happening back on Suntun Paul (Goozack and Topias farther) was commanding orders to locate the lost ship and find his children.

Then back on earth Goozack said ‘ dads probably trying to find us I just know’
Because back on Suntun they were hot on the trail of the lost ship and they were planning when to leave and what ship to talk because this is a very important misson because Goozack and Topia are Pauls children and Paul is the king of all purple aliens.

‘Goozack what if they don’t find us what if they don’t come , Goozack I’m really scared’ whispered Topia hugging her brother and letting all his warmth come trough and lift her spirits.
While this was happening the family of humans were stareing at Goozack and Topia looking amazed ‘
‘ what ’ said Goozack ‘why are you stareing at us’
‘I don’t know’ said Jack who was stareing the most and was still stareing
then they looked outside and there was a huge space ship outside and just as the door opened Jack woke up in his bed thinking and wondering what was happening then looked outside and the dent in the grass where the space ship was was completely gone like someone had come in the middle of the night and fixed it then Jack relaiszed it was all a dream
‘come on Jack or else you will be late for school’ shouted Stephany
and at school Jack told his class about his dream and he got a lolly for shareing such a wonderful story

They Never Saw It Coming by Natasha

Here is Natasha's science fiction story:

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6” said Zerzack the alien space ship captain over the big loudspeaker “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” “ boom, kappow, poof, bang, zoom and crackle ”, as the space ship that the aliens were in, set off from Pluto to Earth. After a month of flying through space they finally saw Planet Earth but as they hovered above Earth, the spaceship ran out of fuel…

It was a normal day on Earth, everyone was at school, work or at home. Then a space ship appeared from the sky, the aliens crashed straight into Banks Avenue School. Everyone fled in fright, they ran into the class rooms, under cars, behind trees and some children even ran home, but Julian, Dick, Anne and George ran into the hall and peered round the door, they wanted to save the universe.

They made a plan together and because their street had tunnels running from house to house underground they decided everyone could hide in them until they managed to kill the aliens, but there was one problem the aliens had captured Trina and Josh from their class. The aliens had by now found the schools lost property clothes and started dressing up as school children and fooling the children that had not been able to hide in time. The aliens had their own plan and kept Trina and Josh and all the little children they fooled as hostages. Everyone was worried about them especially their family and friends but little did they know the aliens had mind powers and were reading and playing with Trina and Josh’s minds.
Now having the information from the minds of the kidnapped children, the aliens decided to sneak into the tunnels, put bags over the human’s heads, take them to the prison cells in their space ship where they keep them alive until they ate some of them for lunch.

But Julian, Dick, Anne and George jumped out and started fighting the aliens. Because the aliens were weak as they hadn’t eaten humans for a while, they all got knocked out easily and the children took all their weapons like lasers and ray guns. Also Worm balls that can read minds, scanners that can tell who lives in a certain houses and a book called “How to Dress up like Humans. They spent lots of time looking for Josh and Trina but they couldn’t find them, they never gave up and when they climbed up into the space ship, Anne yelled out “I FOUND THEM” they were knocked out and covered over with the lost property clothes. Anne and Dick carried Trina and Josh to the hall and stayed to look after them while Julian and George went to the tunnels to tell everyone about their victory. The aliens were starting to wake up and captain Zerzack said to his alien soldiers,

“Bogota toga marsh oz. roe rub rubo orbs robo z sacks tagine ta totty maye hart hue”
Translated:
Are you strong enough to get up?
Ezzep, then said veau ehur nigh runty headk shifg
Translated:
I am ok but I don’t know about the others
Pabzig, said “tgbv bow jfb wae ndhg equek”
Translated:
I’m fine I only have a headache

Then Gug said quietly “abet shah hem fabd heft gaffs gad fatwa aim wyff erg oafs jeur keck weur”
Translated:
Let’s go check on the prisoners and I am absolutely fine
But Zerzack said “tokpiu bofet barey dotre”
Translated: no, because I want to get back to the space ship and fly away these humans are too strong for us!!!

By that time every one was in the tunnels including Josh and Trina because they had all been rescued. Then Anne saw the aliens creeping back to the spaceship. Luckily they didn’t see her and she ran into the hall to warn the others. Julian, Dick, George and Anne were ready to jump at the aliens again but as the aliens were going back to the spaceship the children yelled at them NEVER COME BACK OR NEXT TIME YOU WON’T BE SO LUCKILY. The police came running out and said “well done” and everyone came out of hiding to congratulate them. By then the aliens were speeding away in their space ship into the sky. The heroes had had a wonderful time but their mothers came out and said “that will be your last adventure” but I don’t think it will be……….

School Holiday Ideas


Winter school holidays can be hard because the weather is not always great for playing outside.
Kidsfest is running throughout the holidays and has heaps of great activities that you could get involved in. Some of them you need to book, others are just events that you can turn up to.
Check out their website and discuss with your families anything that might interest you:
http://www.kidsfest.co.nz/
The South Learning Centre also offers holiday activities:
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/LearningCentres/Community/Holidays/
These activities need to be booked and paid for a week before the activity takes place:-)

HOLIDAY FUN IDEAS - ASTRONOMY


Has our space topic made you want to find out more about stars and the night sky?
As part of Kidsfest the West Melton Observatory will be open each night between 16-29 July (if the sky is clear).
For more details, check out their website:
http://kidsfest.co.nz/Events/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=672
This might be something you could do with your family during the holidays:-)

Websites for space inquiry


Hi Rm 22.
Great to see you all getting underway with your group research projects.
Here are some websites that might be useful for your research:

Hubble Telescope
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/
http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/hubbletelescope.html
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/hu/Hubble_Space_Telescope
http://www.surfnetkids.com/hubble.htm


Justifying Spending on Space Exploration
http://debatewise.org/debates/137-space-exploration-is-a-waste-of-money
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Budget
http://www.universetoday.com/13600/the-value-of-space-exploration/
http://www.visualeconomics.com/how-countries-spend-their-money/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_do_countries_spend_on_space_budget
http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=DQoAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA373&lpg=PA373&dq=how+countries+spend+on+space+research&source=bl&ots=X6LO3IYiOu&sig=rKEqFfrZh84WE32dSpZdfj-weRg&hl=en&ei=5RsUTpjxEcusrAe58Pj4CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Galaxies etc.
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/galaxies-article/
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/galaxys.htm
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/galaxies.shtml
http://www.astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/News/2008/01/New%20information%20on%20galaxies.aspx
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/stars_kids.cfm

Mars Rover
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://athena.cornell.edu/kids/
http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/kids-pathfinder-rover.html
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/mars_explorer.htm

Gravity, orbits and forces
http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDUQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.suite101.com%2Fcontent%2Fgravity-for-kids--gravitational-science-theory-and-history-a351020&rct=j&q=history%20of%20gravity%20for%20kids&ei=l9kTTrHcLOXZmAXVhLjhDg&usg=AFQjCNHHbJchJB_JNELPDBvq4ZTRrWfu0Q&sig2=MGDvbnZXfGFeObN2MfMFEA&cad=rja

Print out any information you would like to bring to school to use tomorrow afternoon when we work on our projects.

Think creatively about how you are going to share your group's research.
- Is there an experiment you can do to demonstrate part of your learning?
- Could you make a model of something related to your topic?
- Are you going to use a poster, a powerpoint presentation, a short film or a song to present?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Paul Jennings' Website


Here's another great website to check out, especially as I know how much you all enjoy his books!
http://www.pauljennings.com.au/

Dinosaur Challenge - Homemade Musical Instruments


REMINDER!
The dinosaur challenge is due on Friday.
The challenge is to design and make your own musical instrument. I could be based on an instrument that already exists, but I would like you to think about how you could use your creativity to modify it.
You must have some sort of 'performance' which demonstrates your instrument's musical ability.
DUE: Friday 8 July (THIS FRIDAY)
Here are a couple of websites in case you are needing some ideas for getting started:
http://www.squidoo.com/kids-musical-instruments
http://www.kinderart.com/teachers/9instruments.shtml
http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/musicalinstrumentsartscraftstideashandmadekids.html
I look forward to seeing and hearing your instruments on Friday:-)

Horrible Histories Website


I know that quite a few people in Rm 22 enjoy reading books from the Horrible Histories series. Have you checked out their website?
http://horrible-histories.co.uk/
There are jokes, competitions, cards, videoas, games and so much more.
If you area allowed on youtube at home, search horrible histories and you will find lots of clips from the BBC tv series of the books. There are some very funny and clever songs and skits (short funny plays).
Let me know of any good websites linked to books that you are reading/authors that you enjoy so that I can post them on the blog to share too.

Chlorine Websites


Reuben,
I have found a couple of websites that might be useful for your Chlorine inquiry.
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/chlorine.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-CP2a5RihQ
I would like you to share your learning so far with the class on Monday so make sure that you spend the next week answering some of your inquiry questions.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Why do your fingers and toes go pruney in water?


http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110628/full/news.2011.388.html
This interesting article explains why our toes and fingers go wrinkly when we get them wet for long periods of time:-)

Measuring the speed of light using a chocolate bar!!


Wanting something to do in the weekend that involves science?
Ask someone at home if you can do this experiment:
http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/science/item/measure_speed_light_microwave_chocolate
Take some photos and bring them to school so you can share your experiment with the class.