Wednesday, 18 September 2013

South Learning Centre



This morning Room 12 traveled to the South Learning Centre (part of the South Library) to do a short course about Cyber Safety. We talked about what it meant to be safe online and to be a positive cyber citizen. Things like not giving out personal details, communicating respectfully, telling an adult if you are concerned about anything, not writing anything to someone that you would not want to say to their face.
The children put their ideas into Glogster, a poster programme.

I love taking Room 12 out of our school because (without exception) the other adults always comment on their unique specialness. It makes me exceptionally proud of these young people.





Tuesday, 17 September 2013

Wide Reading Awards

The children of Room 12 have brought home information on our Wide Reading Awards as part of their homework. I hope that all children will attempt to improve their reading by taking part in this challenge.
Who will be the first from R12 to earn a gold award?!


WHY WIDE READING AWARDS?

The aim of these reading awards is to:

·      Recognise and reward you for the reading you do
·      Introduce you to a variety of literature/story types
·      Foster a love of reading

You can read books from the ideas in this booklet, the lists on Access-it or choose your own titles.  If you are reading your own books as part of these awards you need to show them to your teacher to make sure they are suitable.  ALL books read, no matter where from, need to be at an appropriate level for YOUR reading ability.


Genres used in these awards are:

·      Short Stories
·      New Zealand Authors
·      Classics and Modern Classics
·      Fantasy and Science Fiction
·      Historical
·      War Stories
·      Non-fiction and Biography
·      Adventure and Mystery


HINT:

To find lists on Access-it at home visit school webpage (www.stmartins.school.nz), go to learning, then library and click on visit library website.  On the left side, under search, you will find a reading lists option; the wide reading lists are here.  You can also reserve titles, posts reviews etc here.
AWARD LEVELS

BRONZE wide reading award

1 book from 4 genres (see list)

TOTAL  =  4 books

                                           Keep reading for your ……..


SILVER wide reading award

1 book from 6 genres (see list)
Can include titles from your BRONZE award

TOTAL = 6 books

                                           Keep reading for your ……..

GOLD wide reading award

1 book from all 8 genres (see list)
Can include titles from your SILVER award


                                           ---- appear on our “Wall of Fame”
+ prize


 

Visiting Scientist

This afternoon Dr Anna Chapman (Sam's mum!) visited R12 as our resident scientist to teach us all in her area of expertise. We love it when parents come in to help and share our learning with us.

She talked about
  • transpiration (plant perspiration)
  • CO2 (energy)
  • photosynthesis
  • plants getting energy from the sun and releasing H2O as a gas
  • hypotheses
  • control
We began with a simple experiment looking at the environmental effects on plants. We measured weights of plants and will repeat this again in 24hrs to see how much water the plants have lost through transpiration.

We are getting the hang of being REAL scientists because we love asking lots of questions!

Dr Chapman helped us understand how to write up a proper record of experiments, these usually go in a lab book.

17/9/2013     TRANSPIRATION EXPERIMENT

Aims:  - To determine water loss in Primula plants / To investigate how much water Primula plants lose.
            - To determine the effects of light, darkness, wind and humidity on Primula plants.

Hypotheses: - The plant in the light will lose more water
                      - The plant in the dark will lose less water
                      - The plant in the wind will lose more water
                      - The plant in the humid conditions will lose less water 

Method:
Materials: 5 Primula plants
                 water
                 light
                 cupboard
                 fan
                 plastic bag
                spray bottle
                scales
  1. Weigh and record weight in grams (g) and millilitres (ml)     (1g = 1ml)
  2. Set up our variables a) darkness, plant placed in closed cupboard
                                          b) light, plant placed in front of light
                                          c) wind, plant placed in front of fan
                                          d) humidity, plant placed in plastic bag sprayed with H2O
                                          e) control, plant placed away from other environmental conditions, in a                                          neutral location

Our plant under the light

Wind

 Darkened cupboard (once Ms Saxon closes the door!)

Results:
Condition        Weight (g)
                         t=0 (hr)     t=23(hr)     H2O loss (ml)

Control             548            509              39

Light               542              502              40

Darkness         569              530              39

Wind * 7hrs    548             499              49

Humidity         564             563               1


We have set these plants up overnight and will re-visit them tomorrow and re-weigh.

Wednesday
The plants gave up a few odd results. We were surprised that the Primula in the light (which looked really dried out!) had only lost the same amount of water as the control and dark plants. We thought the plant in humidity didn't lose much water because it had a moist environment that it was in.

The children now graphed the results on a bar graph. 

Conclusions:  
 1. The plant placed in humidity lost only 1ml of water. 
2. The plant placed in the wind lost more water than the control. 
We predict that if the plant had been in the wind for 23hours it would have lost even more water. 

3. We expected that the plant placed in the light to lose more water than the control and the plant in the dark to lose less, but they lost the same amount. We think this is because the pots were too small. 

A huge thanks to Dr Chapman, we love having parents coming in to share their expertise with us. Anna has offered to come in regularly next term and do 'cool' science experiments with Room 12 - we are very excited!!!

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Red Carpet Update

So far we have received 30 RSVPs!
We have two hosts, a narrator, paparazzi, waiters and waitresses, interviewers.

Are you going to be part of this event?

Friday 20th, 11.30-12.30.


Monday, 9 September 2013

Garden Update

This morning our garden leaders visited our wee plot of land to be greeted by sprouting plants!

These are our carrots, they will need thinning out soon.

These are our tall dwarf beans!

This is Fred...

Our corn, lettuce and basil are still too small to be photographed.

Camp Writers

Check out some of today's poems - can you tell they are linked to camp?

Sam C
Not only the mist engulfing the point of the mountain,
Not only the birds singing along the lines of the dawn chorus,
Not only the steam rising off the thermal water,
Not only the crescent moon gently tiptoeing up the sky's starry back,
Not only the delighted cries of the heroic tree climber,
Not only the cowering souls, resting in the graveyard. 

 http://7art-screensavers.com/wallpapers/mist-0/big/7art-00021_mountain-mist-trees.jpg


Max
Not only the leaves waltzing in tune
Not only the lonesome bird singing - can fly
Not only the magical mist gently conquering the hilltops - can die
No, not only.

If only the sun didn't guide the world
If only he didn't burn my skin
If only the rain didn't dampen my soul
If only.

When only the birds survive the war
When only the weeds can be seen
When only the people can rule the land
Only then will we understand
Only then can we heal the scars
Only then.

http://www.lubpedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Snow-Mountains-3.jpg


Evie
Not only the sun reigning down on the water
Mystifying the forest
Not only the secret hidden inside us all
Locked away
Not only the wind freezing the shivering leaves
Lifeless
Not only the daffodil crying out in despair
Nothing
Not only the frost betraying the colour of the grass
Enemy
Not only the steam rising from the heated water
Not only the sky bursting through the night blanket
Not only.

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/10/12173790_ad72ec9218_o.jpg


Madoka
Not only the sky
Not only one cloud 
Not only one bird
But only one destiny.

Blue clouds hover
In the mystery scented sky
And the golden mother awakens
A warm graceful crimson flower
Beautifully ruling the sky.

Not only the dawn chorus
Not only happiness
Not only the snowflakes
Longing for adventure.

Not only the flower petals pirouette
Not only the leaves wave
Not only my heart shivers
Not only the salty water trickles down my cheek
Something more important.

The sky is there
Connecting
Every smile
Every feeling
Every life.

The golden door opens
Leading to a brand new journey. 

http://www.zastavki.com/pictures/2560x1600/2010/Nature_Clouds_Blue_sky_024785_.jpg



Evelyn
Not only the dusty mist blocking the snow covered hills
Not only the sun adorning the hill with a crimson cloak
Not only the rushing stream flowing rapidly along the track
Not only the grass dancing in the rhythm of the wind
Not only the trees sheltering us from the crying sky
Not only the birds singing to the rising sun
Not only the stars guiding us like lanterns.

http://www.zlatnicovjek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/morningsun.jpg


Saturday, 7 September 2013

Camp

Our fabulous camp last week had so many highlights, I know I won't remember them all! I could not have been more proud of every one of the children of Room 12 - they showed exceptional resilience (yes, the weather was awful!), wonderful co-operation (often with people they wouldn't normally choose to work with), great initiative, and above all happiness, the smiles on their faces at times were priceless.
We didn't modify any of the activities due to weather, the children just put up with the wet and cold. Some went off-road mountain biking for the first time, most climbed higher than they ever had before (three girls in Room 12 got to the top of the highest tree!), many played a game of adapted rugby totally initiated by the children, controlled by the children, with all playing wonderfully together.
The head instructor of Activity Hanmer asked if these children were part of a 'special class'. He couldn't get over their ability to work together and listen to each other.
I can't say enough about these children, they truly are special.

Thanks for giving me so many wonderful highlights in Hanmer.
Ms Saxon.

The A Team raising the flag after completing Mission Impossible!

Mountain biking

The A Team heading along the mountain biking track

The blue girls preparing to climb trees



Fabulous co-operative skills on show at all times

Conal returns from a muddy mountain bike ride

On top of a misty Conical Hill

Ella climbing high

Evie showing great climbing form

Leighton on his way up. He was AMAZING at off road mountain biking!

Madoka ready to ride

What a group of posers!




What a fabulous camp!!