Today we found out that the team (Team Lightning) had featured on the National EVOLOCITY facebook page! The team have been working on their electric go kart for 3x 5 hour Saturday sessions so far and they have nearly got it operational!
Room Thirteen |
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Today we found out that the team (Team Lightning) had featured on the National EVOLOCITY facebook page! The team have been working on their electric go kart for 3x 5 hour Saturday sessions so far and they have nearly got it operational!
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Check out the student's artist studies! We have not had much time to learn about art and artists in particular this term so we decided to have a go at an artist study. Students were invited to present it in the style of art journaling... They had to research an artist (there was a list to help them get started but many used this as a springboard or had an idea already. The key thing is that they chose an artist they were interested in). They wrote down some background details, looked at the style of art and techniques used, then presented their research. Finally they developed their own idea using the artist's style as a prompt. They are excited about their efforts. We had a lovely visit from the SPCA today... and we gave them the $100.00 that the SPCA fundraising group raised for them (by selling cupcakes at our mini-gala). They really appreciated it! BEE GARDENA BIG thank you to Bunnings for helping us out with supplies to finish our Bee Garden. We will be painting pot towers, signs and colourful peace poles as soon as it warms up. Then we will begin planting. CATFISHOur Catfish team have been busy checking the nets this term. So far, they have found NO catfish so we hope that means there are none! We check them once every 2 weeks.
The year 5 and 6 students built their aquabots on Friday! It was tricky... like a giant jigsaw puzzle. They still have to attach motors, learn how to waterproof them and wire up controllers. There is so much learning in aquabots. Part of the programme involves research too - learning about hydrodynamics, propulsion, buoyancy, Polynesian navigation, Netwon's Laws, electrical circuits and short circuits, and so much more.
This year they also have to learn about geothermal Rotorua. We were lucky enough to have Kat come in and help us learn how to make ricotta... we learnt to bring the milk to the right temperature (using a food thermometer) and separate it into curds in whey after adding vinegar (acidic catalyst). We drained the cheese and added herbs to one lot. After leaving for a few hours in the fridge, we were able to taste our cheese (with some crackers).
I cannot believe we are 1/2 way through already!
Once again, there is so much happening! I was really excited (and nervous) to have a special trip to Wellington to talk at an ERO forum for science... in the first week. It was a great experience and I felt like I got a lot out of the experience. I also managed to visit Wa Ora and see what they are doing (a specialist Montessori school in Wellington). Meanwhile... back at class... the students started work on their science projects to get them ready for the school science display. The boards came out great. They learned a lot of new skills (in science and related to visual presentations) and they were really proud of their work. The projects were research based but had models and experiments that went with them and the students focused on following the scientific method, design processes, and using their capabilities Here are the list of projects: Amelia and Kai's GLOBAL WARMING and solar oven smores Alina, Jessika, and Hunter's history of Chocolate, How it is made (Bean to Bar) and designing their own chocolate bar (after doing market research and experimenting with different filling ideas). Jaezarn, Zayed and Jace's project on Robotics and Mechanics used in food production with models of a conveyor belt and gears. Jennika and Leila's project on Chickens complete with a plasticine model of the Life Cycle (and Leila even made a SCRATCH coding life cycle). Lucien and Raniera's Root Vegetable Lapbook and investigation (the carrot is still trying to grow!). Snigdha and Alyssa's SUGAR research, experiments and investigation (including a blind taste test where they made a surprise discovery, which hopefully you will find out about on their blogs). Reda and Ihaka completed a science board about their Evolocity Project and had their prototype model on display (and they and Amelia did another build day a couple of weekend's ago at Toi Ohomai again). James and Christian investigated energy used to mill bread. They completed Lapbooks and James made a waterwheel model while Christian made a windmill model. (They will also be making Bread in a Bag soon!) And last but not least, Tyse and Riley's project on CHEESE - it's history, the process of cheesemaking and some fun facts. They even tried to make their own yoghurt and make it into Labneh (a Lebanese style cheese), and make a white cheese. This Friday we are having an expert come in to help us make real Feta... yum! And that was just the science display! We're also working on Te Reo, core maths skills, improving our writing (especially using correct speech conventions and figurative language), learning Chess, working on our Book Club books (so we can have 'Kahoot' quizzes to test our learning!), working on winter sports skills, trying out CANVA and InspirARTion and constructing our Bee Garden... and we rearranged the room a little to fit in room for 9 AQUABOT teams (underwater robot with a tether, ready for the competition our previous classmates were and are National Champions in!). So much to do... it's just as well we know how to work hard! Go Room 13! There was a lot happening in Term 1...
The Year 7s (and a keen Year 6 helper) started planning and then building their electric Go-Kart for the EVOLOCITY competition later this year - from almost scratch! We have some great mentors helping us and spent 5 hours on the first build day at Toi Ohomai (the local Polytechnic) in the Automotive shop working on the chassis and design. We collected bread tags in a competition we ran across school, raised money for the SPCA at a mini-gala, and planned out a bee garden. We also signed up to help out with the local CATFISH programme, ridding the lakes of this invasive pest.., we are learning a lot about catfish, other fish in the lakes, how to check the nets, and how to log the data for the people running the programme. And that is just the extras! We also started our DISCOVERY concept by learning about Food and Farming. The students chose a topic they were interested in and have been doing presentations, so now we all know quite a lot of new things! We've also been doing BOOK CLUB reading and working on responding to our reading to improve our comprehension, working on maths (including fractions and Geometry), learning our Pepeha (Maori introductions and others if we come from other cultures) and doing athletics (14/20 trained for the mini marathon!). 2021 is off to a very busy start! Welcome to R13 2021. I hope you have all enjoyed some time with family and that you are all well and ready to get back into a busy school year. Welcome to new families and students, we're looking forward to working with you. Look out for notices and information about the school welcome powhiri and key dates.
Please get a good night's sleep, remember to pack hats, and come ready to learn! |