Thursday 9 October 2014

Finn and Roan write about the Southern Landfill



The Landfill
By Finn
 “Come on, I need to get off the bus!” We were there, at the tip.
“I didn’t expect this,” I said to myself. The tour person was telling us that under your feet there was loads of rubbish and how it took 5 years to fill up. There were big rubbish bins everywhere I looked. Name a type of bin, recycling, nappy, you name it, they’ll have it.

Then it was time to go to the stinky part. When we got to the stinky part… when we got off the bus, straight away I felt like spewing everywhere. I rushed to have a look and ran straight back again. I saw green slimy toxic acid leaking everywhere.


I felt disgusted and ashamed of the other people who do not recycle what could be recycled.




The Landfill
By Roan
 I ran out of the bus and Meagan held up a sign. Everyone was wearing a bright yellow jacket and Meagan the tour lady showed us how it worked. We went to look at come bins. The first one we went to look at was a diaper bin; it was silver and new and filled with nappies. I thought the smell was gross like rotten flies.

Then we went back on the bus and drove up the hill to the smelliest place of them all. I saw birds flying around. When we got up the top I saw a digger crushing rubbish and it smelt so bad. Then we walked to the side and Harry barfed ‘cos of the smell.

M12 designs creative playgrounds!






What equipment can you see?
 How would you play on this playground?











Where would you find shade from the sun?
What could you climb on?



What kind of skills do you need to use in the playground?
Do you think playgrounds should be safe or challenging?










Can playgrounds be safe and challenging?
What equipment could you use to climb on,
balance on, hide under?

We tried to make our playgrounds into a creative place to play, so children could play differently each time they came, using their imagination.
We also thought about ways to stop erosion happening in our playground.














Can you see the sandpit?
What could you do in the sandpit?

Would you like a turn on the flying fox?




Practise your climbing skills on the rock wall.

Pull yourself up on the ropes. I wonder if playing in playgrounds is good for developing muscles?






Some of our playgrounds have streams and water running through their grounds,  I wonder what games we could play with water?
I wonder if there are any dangers to think about?





Why do we need trees and plants in our playgrounds? Why are they important?





There is so much to explore!
Would you like to climb a tree or swing on the
bars?
Can you see any tunnels or ladders?







 These playgrounds are very colourful. Do you think colour is important? How do different colours make you feel?
What colours can you see?




 Next time you go to the playground, have a look around.
What do you enjoy playing on?
How could you play using your imagination?






Saturday 12 July 2014

Tim and Anthony's Land Changes Experiment

Tim and Anthony made a movie of their experiment about land erosion. We think it's pretty cool. Take a look! Read the text carefully to find out where you should build your house!!! Click on the link below to watch their creative movie.

The Experiment

Anthony's Extreme Maths For Kids!

Anthony has been busy creating a website for budding Mathematicians! But we will ask Anthony to explain more about 'how' he did it later. But here is the link for you to have a look. Well done Anthony - great effort! Click on the link below to answer some of the cool questions Anthony has developed in his quiz.


Extreme Maths For Kids

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Te Whare Tapawha

M12 built a model Marae to show their 2nd ideas for their inquiry. On each side of the Marae they included their ideas about 'what makes us healthy?' 



There are many elements to our well-being:

Taha wairua relates to spiritual well-being; taha hinengaro to mental and emotional well-being; taha tinana to physical well-being; and taha whānau to social well-being.We learned a lot!

















We think they look amazing!!

Wednesday 9 April 2014

What can't you see?



Under The Microscope!

What can you see under the microscope M12? We have been thinking about the germs that live around us, for our inquiry. Thank you Karin for bringing the microscopes and the magnifying glasses into our class so we could see a fascinating unseen world through new eyes. We looked at seaweed and the organisms that begin life in the sea. They were squirming and wriggling with life!

I didn't quite know what to expect but when I saw the sea sponge under the microscope I was AMAZED! Seeing things close up made me want to see more. I was really excited to see lots of different samples of sea life under the microscope, it was like seeing a whole new world! Max & Roan




I never knew that I could see something so close up! It was really cool to see our sea life samples close up in a way that you couldn't see with just your eyes. We thought that the samples looked really amazing and giant sized under the microscope - we thought that was awesome. Milla & Ashley




I loved looking at the Paramecium swimming in the test tube. I thought it was amazing that you could only see them with a microscope. Everything looked really different under the microscope. It was unbelievable! I felt lucky because not many people get to see this. Mia & Sacha




I thought it was amazing how different the sea sponge looked under the microscope, it looked like it had veins and nerves! The brown sea sponge looked big and squiggly and amazing under the microscope. I definitely want to see more! Timothy & Noah
I wanted to see everything, it was all AMAZING! I really enjoyed looking at the Paramecium - it was like, you look at the test tube and there is nothing there, but when I looked at them under the microscope they were like wriggling, swimming rice bubbles. I thought they were EPIC, it was like a whole new world. The sea sponge looked like it was made out of lots of tiny little stiff strings under the microscope. Rory & Cameron
The sea sponge looked like a lot of strings all tangled together, the colour was gross. The red seaweed looked odd, like it had lots of veins. The Paramecium looked like lots of tiny little fish, and were really cute! Kate & Lucinda





I like looking at the dark green seaweed under the microscope, it looked like lots of small bones. There were lots of different colors to see. The sea sponge had lots of big holes with little dark things in-between. The Paramecium looked like like little tadpoles, and were really cool. They looked like orange little fishes, and you couldn't see their eyes! Noam & Catie
The sea sponge looked really fuzzy & cheesy, with lots of air tunnels. It looked like the type of sponge that you wash the dishes with. The Paramecium were like invisible tadpoles until I looked at them under the microscope. The seaweed looked looked really strange when it was really close up, because I am not used to seeing it like that. Stevie, Keagan, Finn


We were looking at the beginnings of life in the sea. It looked like little blobs of clear glass. "Wow!" It was cool seeing what it looked like up close because it looked so much different from what water looks like! It was wriggling like a teeny tiny worm! Mia, Kaelin


I looked at lots of different seaweed under the magnifying glass. They were all different sizes and shapes. You could see lots of lines tangled up together. Some lines were thick and some were skinny and one even had the same shape as a tree! They were all different colours like brown, green and red with white.   I thought it was very interesting! Kaelin
I looked at the sea sponge. It was yellow and blobby under the microscope. I could see lots of little tunnels going through it. It really interesting! Keagan
We looked at the red squiggly dried up seaweed under the magnifying glass. You could see all the sharp edges. I wonder what it looks like if you look even closer under the microscope?

Thanks Karin, for helping us write our blurbs and letting us use the microscopes! It was so much fun!

Friday 14 March 2014

Avie: Shares his creative writing talent!

Thank you Avie! Not only are you an amazing caretaker! But you are an inspirational poet. Thank you for reading some of your beautiful poetry to us in the library. You painted exquisite pictures in our minds and let us see the world from your perspective.
Arohanui
Adele and M12