Roman's Homefun Presentation on Snow

Holly's Homefun Presentation on Tornadoes

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!!!

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!!

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.

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

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.                                

Wire Scupture Athletes on PhotoPeach

Cross Country

Cross Country on PhotoPeach

LEOTC - Enviro Art

We started by viewing artworks by Environmental artists who use objects found in nature to create sculptures. Their works usually focus on shape, space, texture, and colour. Two of the artists we looked at were Martin Hill from Wanaka and Andy Goldsworthy.  We walked down to Bremner Bay and created our own amazing works of art.
Here are a few, tell us what you think.





































Before coming back to school we collected driftwood to make mobiles - what do you think?

Art - Making Wire Sculptures

Today we began making wire scuptures of Olympic athletes.

First we looked at Elizabeth Berrien, Helen Godfrey and a few other artists who create some amazing work from wire.

We sketched what we want our sculpture to look like and then began our own sculptures.

LEOTC - Bike Skills

On Thursday, 2 August we had a bike skills day. We started off by being put into groups of four and then were given the challenge of construction a bike out of newspaper and sellotape. For some, this was indeed a challenge.

What do you think of some of our results?

Then we jumped on our bikes and moved around in groups completing bike skills. Phil Vink also came along and did bike and helmet checks for us and showed us how to ride on the road safely.

LEOTC - Mt Iron Walk

On Thursday, 26 July we left school at 9.15 am and walked to the base of Mt Iron where we had a morning tea stop. A few of us wanted a drink, but the fountain was still frozen. We made our way up Mt Iron in a long line - some of us fitter than others, but we all made it eventually. We had lunch at the top, a bit of a look at the view and some even got their sketch pads out as they were so inspired by the view.

We made our way down again (a lot faster than going up), had a quick stop at the bottom for a drink and then continued on our way to school.

Hunter was so proud of himself as he said that is the furtherest he has ever walked in his life. Way to go Hunter

London 2012 Mascots Film 3 - 'Rainbow Rescue'

Visual Art - Sewing

Room 15 have been busy sewing this week. We drew the Olympic Rings onto hessian using a cardboard template, then with running stitch and the correct colours we stitched around the rings. To achieve this we had to learn a few skills first - these were:
Threading a needle, knotting the wool and learning the stitch.
It looks easier that it actually is - most of us got tangled a few times but luckily we managed to sort that out.
We have been having a lot of fun.





Liam showing Jasmine how to knot her wool and begin on the next circle.












Layton, Harrison and Ewan busy working on their sewing

Play these fraction games