Thursday 19 September 2013

Music

For music we have been doing electronic music.  For a lot of us this is something new, but we have all had a lot of fun.  Some of us worked individually and some of us worked in pairs.
We started with Soundation and created our music, we then recorded it onto Audacity.  We found images that we thought went with our music and attached these and our music onto moviemaker.  Tell us what you think.
By Tayla
By Otis

Calendar Art

We have just finished our calendar art.  These will be sent away to be made into calendars for our families to buy for 2014.
We painted the background first with blue and white.  We cut out a branch and leaves from cardboard and glued them onto the background. We painted the gheko like the colour wheel, then cut it out and attached the gheko to the picture.  Lastly we added wobbly eyes.
Some left the gheko plain so some of it will blend into the picture and some drew a black line around the outline to make it stand out a bit more.
Tell us what you think.


Art with Jenny Chisholm

Jenny Chisholm, a local Wanaka artist came into our classroom and gave us an art lesson, it was a lot of fun

Our Toys

For Technology we have designed toys which include at least one simple machine.  We had a lot of fun designing and making these.  Here are a few photos of us constructing our toys.










































Here are some of them once they are finished.  Let us know what you think.
Lachlan's Tractor
Simple Machine: Wheel and Axle
Issy's Game


Roman's Army Tank
Simple Machine: Wheel and Axle

Lily's Giraffe
Simple Machine: Wheel and Axle

Mia's Ferris Wheel
Simple Machine: Wheel and Axle

Ben's Marble Run
Simple Machine: Inclined Plane

National Transport and Toy Museum, Wanaka

After our learning on simple machines was finished we organised a trip to the National Transport and Toy Museum which is located just out of Wanaka, beside the airport.
Everything in this museum has been collected by one man and is the largest private collection in the world.  It has taken 50 years to collect everything and holds 3 hangers of things from the past, including rare and unusual aircraft, cars, trucks, motocycles, fire engines, military vehicles and tractors.
One hanger is dedicated to toys which include clockwork and battery toys, porcelain dolls, teddies, pedal cars, money boxes, lego and hundreds of barbie dolls.






Sunday 11 August 2013

ELOTC

This started last week and is every Thursday for five weeks.
The ones who wanted to ski went to Cardrona, Treble Cone or Snowfarm (which is crosscountry skiing).
Those staying at school had the choice of rock climbing, karate, minigolf or enviro art.
Last Thursday was a great day - everyone including the skiers had an awesome day.
Hope to get some photos up soon.


Simple Machines

With Science at the moment we are looking at Simple Machines.  A simple machine makes work easier.  There are 6 different simple machines.

  • Screw
  • Inclined Plane
  • Lever
  • Wheel and Axle
  • Pulley
  • Wedge
Inclined Plane
An inclined plane is a flat surface which is tilted at an angle with one end higher than the other.  It either goes up (a ramp) or down (a slide).  It helps to move things either up or down.
We did an experiment with three different length inclined planes and found that the longer and less steep the inclined plane the less force (pushing or pulling) is needed.

Friday 21 June 2013

Myths on New Zealand Native Birds

During inquiry last term in groups of 4 we had to write a myth about a New Zealand native bird.  We each drew a scene from our myth, then one member of the group read the myth onto Audacity.  We then put the pictures and narration onto Moviemaker.
Look at some of our results.         We are very proud of them  -   let us know what you think!!!


Wednesday 19 June 2013

Elgregoe - You've Got the Power

On Friday we went to watch Elgregoe.  The show tells students about key values to help them learn how to treat others, with a strong message about not bullying.
Be Helpful, Encouraging, Respectful and look for Opportunities - and you too can be a HERO.
Use Integrity and Kindness.
Elgegoe and his wife Sue use magic tricks, puppets, stories and even some live birds and a rabbit
to get their message across.
We are still wondering how he performed those tricks!!

Thursday 13 June 2013

Teacher Only Day

Remember it is Teacher Only Day on Tuesday, 18 June 2013.  Please remember not to come to school on that day.

Matt and Rocket

Last Friday we had a visit from Matt Gunn and his dog Rocket from Aspiring Avalanche Dogs.  He talked to the school about how to approach a strange dog, explained dog body language and being responsible on the snow.
Rocket is a 3 year old Collie-cross and has been training as an avalanche dog since he was 8 months old.

Pirate Day

Wanaka Primary School was overrun today with pirates, from teachers to students they were everywhere.  Some looked very wicked indeed.  This is what Room 14 looked liked dressed as pirates.

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Making Our Fossils

We decided to make our own fossils.  To do this we took a ball of play dough and flattened it out slightly.
We then pressed our shape into the playdough (frogs, dinosaurs, shells and leaves).
We  took our shape out and then with a finger very gently put a small amount of cooking oil onto the mold.  This was to stop the plaster of paris sticking to the play dough.
We then put some plaster of paris on top of the mold and then left it to dry.
Look at our great fossils.

Making Fossils

Making Fossils on PhotoPeach

Sunday 26 August 2012

Different Types of Fossils


Trace Fossils
Some of the most interesting fossils don't even belong to the animal. They are the marks the animal has left behind, they can be footprints, impressions of the skin or droppings. These are called trace fossils and can be very useful to scientists as they can tell how the animal lived. Nests and eggs also give information of an animal's lifestyle. It is usually easier to identify a particular animal from a nest or fossilized egg rather than from a trace fossil.





Mold Fossils
This is an imprint of an animal or its trace. A shell can make an imprint in the sand. After the sand hardens the shell can dissolve and leave a spave in the shape of the shell. This space is called a mold fossil. When the sediment hardens into rock a fossil is formed in the same shape as that shell.







 



 

Fossils

Our new inquiry topic is Fossils and we are loving it.
When an animal or plant dies it's usually eaten or rots away to nothing. Sometimes its remains can be buried quickly and may be fossilised. This usually happens if the aninal has died in or near water.

This is the Process of Fossilisation
1.  Before the bones break up in the sun, the water rises and covers them with a layer of sand.
2.  The soft body parts such as muscle and skin rot away and the skeleton falls apart but bones
and teeth remain.
3.  Minrals in the bones are dissolved and are replaced with minerals from the ground.  Over time the sand and mud layers build up and harden to form sedimentary rock.  This can take millions of
years.
4.  Soil is washed away which can expose the fossil and can be found by
anyone.                                

Friday 24 August 2012