Magnetism Experiment

Does a magnetic force still attract a paper clip through plastic, paper, wood and glass? We found out. 

Observing the Effects of Static Electricity

Listen to the way the children describe what they saw, as they watched the effect of static electricity on the stream of water from the tap. 

The Inertia Experiment

We read about an experiment, in a book, that shows inertia. Inertia is when objects that are moving want to stay moving and objects that are not moving want to stay still. A force is needed to make a moving object stop or to make a stationary object move. 
Here is our experiment. 

Hot Cross Buns

Pirate Ships and Gingerbread Cookies

We had been learning about repetition in text and reading lots of stories with rhyme and repetition. Two of our favourite stories were about pirates and a gingerbread man. We made pirate ships and gingerbread cookies. 

Here is some of our art work, inspired by the illustrations in the book: Maori Animal Myths by Warren Pohatu. 

Charlotte

Mangaia

Michael

Nadja

Oshyn

Paradise

Sienna

Clay Modelling With the Learning Centre

We rolled out a flat clay tile. Then we made a garden on the tile. We had to join the pieces of clay together properly so that they would not fall off the tile. We used tools to help shape and smooth the clay. We can also scratch patterns and textures into the clay. 

How to Solve Subtraction Problems by Imaging With a Tens Frame

This is how to solve subtraction problems using a tens frame. You use your imagination to see the counters on the tens frame. Then you pretend to take them away and see what you have left. It's the first step to learning how to solve maths problems in our head.

Marble experiment

We thought about rolling a marble down a slope. We predicted that the steeper the slope, the faster the marble would roll and the further it would go. We did an experiment to test our prediction and see if we were right.
We rolled a marble down a slope and timed how long it took to cross a chalk line on the floor. Then when the marble stopped rolling, we measured how far it had rolled.
We wrote our results into a table:

We found out that our prediction was correct, until the steepest slope. We thought about why the steepest slope was slower. We thought that it was because when the marble hit the floor it bounced (the floor pushed back against the marble) and slowed the marble down. 

Marble Runs

Learning about force and motion

Our challenge was to find out how many different ways we could make a marble move. We came up with lots of creative ways, including hitting, dropping, flicking, spinning and rolling. We used rulers, hands, container lids and other objects to roll or bounce a marble from. We had a discussion about what makes a marble move.
We learned that a marble can move if it is pushed or pulled. We also found out that gravity is a force that pulls objects towards the ground.