Term 2 FUN!

Rod Morris bought in a stoat that was dead because it had been hit by a car.  We were like scientists and we got to look at the stoat.  Rod was an expert and he told us lots of facts.....
Stoats are very fast runners- They could run down to the Macandrew Bay Diary and back without even puffing.  Stoats have very sharp teeth.  Stoats can hunt and kill our native birds.  Stoats are smaller than a rhino but bigger than a weasel.  Stoats are native to England.
Our new inquiry topic is learning about: How do animals survive and thrive?

Yesterday we had the Fantastic Playcentre children over to Room 6.  We welcomed them with one of our favourite waiata- Pakeke Mai.  Then we showed them around, read them one of our special reading books and served them pikelets!! Mrs Simpson helped us make the pikelets- yum yum! They had delicious, gooey, tasty, sticky jam on them.  We even got to have cream on top!

Saving the Ocean and Freshwater creatures!

In Room 6 this week...........
We have been making posters to help persuade people to save our ocean and fresh water creatures.

This morning we had ROZ and Tess come to talk to us about how to handle dogs.
Step 1: Always ask the owner if it is okay to pat the dog
Step 2: Let the dog sniff your fist
Step 3: Pat the dog under its head or chin
Step 4: If a big dog comes up to you and it doesn't have an owner.  Stand still like a tree and cover your face and head.  Stay still and calm.

Last week we made clay tiles with Airini Taylor.  She is an amazing artist who works with clay.

Eels and Galaxids!

Here are some facts about Eels and Galaxids that we learnt from Lan on Friday.  Lan is an expert who works for the Department of Conservation.  Lan's job is to help protect New Zealand's fresh water fish species.
Eels can live for up to 80-100 years! That is amazing!
Some eels are being caught and turned into dog food.  We are sad about that in Room 6.
Some eels travel 2000km to lay their eggs near Tonga.  This is the end of their life cycle.
Mud fish can survive without water for up to 2 months, by burying themselves into the mud.
The two species of eels found in New Zealand are called long fin and short fin eels.
Matt found out that mud fish eat water boatman!
Some eels can climb up waterfalls.
Galaxids do not have scales and they are nocturnal.  There are 28 species of Galaxids in New Zealand.

Highlights from term 1 so far

Buddy Reading with Room 1!

Dress up as a book character day!

In the Portobello Aquarium classroom.

Swimming!

Using cubes to show our groups with 5.

Writing at the writing table

Having so much fun!

Sharing our favourite books for news!

Scientists

Last week for news, we were Scientists.  Noah showed us how an egg floated in salt water and in fresh water (H20) it sunk.  Ezra showed us an experiment about liquefaction, the water came up and the rocks which acted like houses sunk! Reid made an experiment about crystals growing on a string, we may even be able to eat the crystals when they form, because they are made out of sugar.

The Portobello Aquarium

The Portobello Aquarium

First we saw Victoria and she welcomed us to the aquarium.  Next we went into the big classroom and sat on the chairs.  Room 5 sat on the right and Room 6 sat on the left.  Victoria told us about the metre squared project.  Then we went to the beach.  It was a rocky shore, the tide was out.  After that we counted the creatures and seaweed in the quadrants.  We had 4 quadrants.  We had to look very very carefully.  Next we met Bev and she showed us some of the creatures under a microscope, we saw a half crab up really close.  We found out that girl crabs have a round shape on their tummy and boys have a lighthouse shape.  Last of all we went to see the touch tanks.  It was so exciting to see and touch crabs, sea stars, kina, baby crayfish, cats eyes, anemones, mussels, paua  and fish.  It was so much fun to go to the aquarium and we all loved it.  (including the Mum's, Dad's and Grandparent's!!!)