Learning Journey

Monday 4 December 2017

Writing

Kia ora everyone,
Earlier this month we wrote a recount about a time with family.  I am really really disappointed because  of my score at the level I am at  (the level I am at was 3A) I did very bad on this test and I knew if I tried I could probably reach 4A or 5B.  This was by far the worst piece of writing I have ever done this whole year and last whole year, but next year I will try my best to catch up.

Wednesday 20 September 2017

Eating hearts and origins!!!

Kia Ora,
Last week, we had wonderful Terry, from life Ed.  We learnt about the body and the lungs, livers, the systems, the brain and more. Today, we did an acrostic poem about one of our recent experiments. Observing and dissecting lamb heart and kidneys! We touched, felt, smelt and tasted the heart and kidney.  Now, I would like to tell you about the experiment using the acrostic poem we just did 😊.  






Sunday 17 September 2017

Skittles

Kia ora everyone.
This week we did a Skittle experiment and that following day we had to write a recount. When I mean we did a experiment I mean we did a pattern experiment where we watched a satisfying movement as the Skittle colours swirled in the water. So hope you enjoy my recount.
                                                  Thank You.







Tuesday 29 August 2017

Sentences






Kia ore everyone 
this week we have been writing sentences using our  senses.  Here is mine.  



The abandoned hospital - By Willow
_________________________________________

I took one through the door and then immediately I had shivers down my spine.It looked like it could have been used in a horror movie scene and was so dusty and horrid it was a monstrosity. The air smelt rotten, stale, moldy and so repulsive that I could hardly breathe. As I approached the bed a strong smell of stinky socks filled my nose.  
I wandered further into the depths of the deep dark hospital I could swear I heard whispers flowing through the air and I suddenly had a strange feeling that someone or something was following me.


     

Monday 14 August 2017

Science fair preparation

Kia ora everyone,

This term we have been focusing on our theme up up and away. This term we are also doing our science fair so most of our class has been trying to work on experiments that are based on, in the air or the sky. My group and I are doing an experiment called Lightning in a jar.  This experiment is caused by friction so, how it works is you put aluminium inside of a glass jar then you put a dryer sheet on top of the glass jar (PS: you have to use a dryer sheet you can not use a tissue instead, I tried it trust me I know) Then you put around about 10 thumbtacks in the dryer sheet, after that you put a strong metal lid on top of the glass jar, finally you rub a balloon (one of those stretchy animal balloons) on your head to create static electricity and place the balloon on top of the glass jar I believe your result would be be that the static electricity would caused friction to create the lightning in a jar.         


Here is a link to the video of our experiment
LIGHTNING IN A JAR LINK



Tuesday 8 August 2017

Kia ora
We are learning how to match a thesis and and write scientific reports. We have been doing experiments and writing about them. This is a reading activity we did. We had to be able to match a wondering question with its thesis.


We are learning how to understand the structure and language of a report about a scientific experiment #3 Understanding that a hypothesis is a brainy prediction based on what you already know.
In this exercise you need to match a thesis with its hypothesis.  Use the ‘Fill tool’ to colour code the matching xsazideas.
                               Thesis                                                                      Hypothesis
I know this……                                                                         So therefore if I do this I think this will happen…

I know that a puddle of water is a small amount of water lying (usually) on the ground. I know that water is a substance which is found on our planet and that it can exist as a solid (ice), liquid or a gas (water vapour). I know that the main reason water changes from one state to another on Earth is because of  temperature -heat or cold. On Earth a sunny day is when there are no clouds, the sky is blue and the temperature is usually warm or hot.
I predict that when I mix vinegar and baking soda together that a chemical reaction will occur and that I will be able to notice this. I might feel hotness or coldness, notice smoke or bubbles, smell something, hear some kind of noise or  find that the taste or texture of the foods has changed.
I know that heavy things usually sink and light things float. However, container ships are heavy but they still float so there must be more things that have an effect on floating than just weight. Blutack is a squishy material that is quite light. It usually comes as a wide, flat strip but you can shape it into a round ball, a sausage shape, an O shape etc or you could flatten it out into a thin, wide shape like a leaf or saucer. Leaves usually float and ships look a little like a leaf shape.
I predict that when I take an ice cube out of a freezer it will begin to change back into liquid water (this is called melting) because it will no longer be colder than 0 degrees centigrade.
I know that an ice cube is water which is frozen. I know that that liquid water freezes into ice when the temperature reaches 0 degrees centigrade. An ice cube will stay an ice cube as long as it stays in a freezer.
I predict that if I make a puddle of water somewhere on the playground on a hot, dry day that the puddle will dry up and disappear quite quickly.
I know that everything we eat is made up of different kinds of chemicals.Sometimes when you mix different chemicals together they react with each other in different ways and the substances will do things that they didn’t do before (chemical reaction) and become different to what they were like before (chemical change). You will be able to notice things happening by using your 5 senses to  listen, smell, feel, look at and sometimes taste what is going on. I know that vinegar and baking soda are both food substances and I learned that they are chemically different
I predict that if I take some ice cubes out of a freezer and wrap them in different materials, I will find that one material will keep the ice cube frozen for longer than the others. This material would then have proven itself to be the best insulator.
I know that liquid water changes into a solid (ice) when the temperature reaches 0 degrees centigrade. I know that a freezer will keep water solid because a freezer’s job is to keep food at a temperature just below 0 degrees centigrade.
We are going to use Bluetack as our material. We will use the same amount of Blutack to make three different shapes. One will be a straight, rectangular strip of Blutack, one will be a compact, round ball and the third will be a rounded  saucer shape like a boat. We predict that at least one of these will float.
I know that insulators are materials that can be used to protect yourself from too much heat or cold. When we put clothes on because we are cold, the clothes are insulators which help our bodies stay warm. If you put insulating material like Pink Batts in the ceiling of your house, in the winter the Batts help keep warm air inside the house. In the summer, The Pink Batts help stop hot air coming into the house so they help to keep us cool. Many  food containers like Thermos flasks and Chilly Bins are made out of insulating materials to keep food hot or cold.
I predict that when I put some liquid water into a freezer it will change from a liquid state into a solid state (ice) because the temperature in the freezer will be below 0 degrees centigrade.

Tuesday 1 August 2017

Our science experiments


Kia Ora
We have been doing science experiments in preparation for the science fair.  Here is a photo of one of our experiments.