Seascape Artwork

We read Tangaroa's Gift with Mrs Smith and discussed how the artist used intricate patterns to create the background, the colours she used and how she blended them to create a paua effect. We used korus as the main pattern which we dyed, and black vivid to create intricate patterns in the background.

Taonga Art

We created our own taonga design. We used crayon, and thought about using black shading to create a 3D effect. We were only allowed to use white, black and a cold colour. In the background we used warm colours.

Technology

We needed to design boxes for our prayer stones, we were not given a template we needed to create our own. Our design brief was that it must be able to hold our prayer stone and it must have a lid. It took some of us many attempts before we were successful. Each time we had to think about how we could modify our box so it fit the brief.

Prayer Stones

We made prayer stones as part of our taonga concept.

We will be gifting them to someone special. We are using them in our class as our prayer focus.

Living Treasures

We read a book by Melanie Drewery called The Treasure. We wrote about people or animals that are 'Living Treasures' (taonga) in our own lives. Please read....

We have been studying Taonga this term. Children have brought along various taonga to share with the class and explain why they are precious to them. Here are a few of the taonga caption cards children have made.

Ruggerland

This is a maths site set up for the World Cup. It involves answering maths questions to get the treasure. You have to go to locations around New Zealand and answer 3 levels of maths problems to get all the treasure you need. Register now! Click on the picture to get to the link.

Numeracy Skills

I have found a new website called Study Ladder. It has numeracy skill activities for children to do online or your can print them. This link takes you straight to the numeracy skills but there are many other subject areas children can focus on. There are 10 levels with 10 activity sheets at each level. Go online and practise, practise, practise!

Experiment

Mckenzie and Gemma shared an experiment with us to show the effects of oxygen on fire.

Pencil Holders

We worked with Anna from eco solutions, revisiting the 3 R's - recycle, reuse, reduce.

We made pencil holders out of a tin can and recycled materials. Anne thought we were very creative!

Our Pencil Holders on PhotoPeach

Maths- Basic facts games

This is a cool maths site with loads of interactive games to reinforce basic addition and subtraction facts. If you go to the tool bar down the side there are skill activities for add, sub, mult and div. There is even a cool game called who wants to be a mathionaire!! Click on the picture to take you to the link.

Taniwha

In Maori we read a book called Taniwha me te Poraka. We decided to create our own pages drawing the Taniwha hiding behind different things. Kia tupato Poraka (watch out!) We will add more pages when they are completed.

The Monarch Butterfly

As part of change we read a book about the Monarch Butterfly. We learnt about the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly and looked at the transformations a butterfly undergoes from a caterpillar to a butterfly. We found a You Tube time lapse clip about this. It was interesting to watch.

Science Rotations

Year 3 and 4 have been involved in activities that explore change in kitchen chemistry.

We have completed 3 rotations so far, and we will put on more photos of our rotations by the end of this week. We are thoroughly enjoying eating our cooking and observing the changes that take place.

Science Rotations on PhotoPeach

Volcano in my Tummy

We have been involved in a programme called Volcano in my Tummy where we learn about anger and how to deal with anger without being violent. Mrs Gullick takes the programme for half an hour each Friday. We made a comic life to show what situations can make us angry.

Another free photo slideshow by Smilebox

Snow Globe

In Room 13 Hannah showed us how to make snow globes. It is very easy to do and we love them!

Here is a video where hannah and Lucy give you instructions on how to make them.

Kitchen Chemistry

In this website you visit a virtual kitchen and find out about acids, alkali, and what ingredients can cause a chemical reaction when mixed together. You have to find the seven clues in the kitchen first.

Click on the picture to get to the website. Click on the virtual kitchen to start.

Science Websites

This website has 6 different activities that explore materials and change.

Click on the picture to get to this website.

Dancing Raisins

On Monday we did an experiment to show how strong gas can be. We put raisins into a bottle with soda water in it. Bubbles started to attach themselves to the wrinkles in the raisins and they lifted the raisins to the surface. The bubbles were full of carbon dioxide. When the bubbles popped the raisins sank again.

Dancing Raisins on PhotoPeach

Exploding milk

Today we looked at what happens when you drop food colouring into water.......(nothing much!)

But when you drop it into milk and add a few drops of detergent then it starts moving and mixing and swirling. This is because the milk has fats and proteins in them. The dishwashing liquid makes the fats and proteins bend and twist. Try this experiment with cream!

Exploding Milk on PhotoPeach