Well this the end of a great year! We all move to new classes next year for yet another year of exciting learning.
Thanks for following us!
Wednesday 17 December 2014
Making Ice cream
What could be better than making ice-cream on the last day of the year?! (A Science Experiment of course!)
Here are the instructions - Try this at home over the holidays!
What you need:
300ml cream
2 tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 trays of ice cubes
6 tbsp rock salt
1 medium sized zip-lock zip-lock
bag
Step 1: Place the cream,
sugar and vanilla into the medium sized zip-lock bag and combine the
ingredients. Be sure to zip up the bag securely first.
Step 2: Place the ice into
the larger zip-lock bag.
Step 3: Spoon the salt over
the top of the ice in the larger zip-lock bag.
Step 4: Place the medium bag
containing the cream mixture inside the larger bag on top of the ice and salt
and zip up the bag securely.
Step 5: Shake and massage
the bag for five to ten minutes or until the mixture becomes the consistency of
ice cream.
Step 6: You might like to
wrap the bag in a tea towel or wear oven mitts while you’re shaking as it can
get quite cold! It’s also a good idea to do this part outside as the
water can drip out of the bag as the ice begins to melt.
Step 7: Once ready, remove
the bag of ice cream and give it a wipe to remove the salt from the outside of
the bag.
What's the Science behind this?
Salt mixed with ice causes the ice to melt. When salt
comes into contact with ice, the freezing point of the ice (0°C) is lowered
(-21.1°C) By lowering the temperature at which ice is frozen, we are
able to create an environment in which the milk mixture can freeze. The fat
particles in the milk smash into each other and make big molecules of ice
cream!
By the way…
When sea ice forms, most of the salt is pushed into the ocean
water below the ice. Water below sea ice is really salty and is more dense than
surrounding ocean water, and so it sinks. In this way, sea ice contributes to
the ocean's global "conveyor-belt" circulation.
The Antarctic Circumpolar current has a lot of dense salty
water and has a lot to do with ocean currents and weather patterns.
UV Beads
The UV Beads are out again! These tiny beads look white
while indoors, but when we took them outside the ultraviolet-sensitive pigment
changed to blue, green, orange, purple, red, and yellow!
We have learnt that the sun gives us the light we need to see,
even if we can't see it all! UV Beads are a terrific way of showing Ultra
Violet light. They are a great reminder that we must wear sunscreen in summer –
even on cloudy days.
(These beads will be coming home along with some other cool
science experiment ideas on the last day of school)
Tuesday 16 December 2014
School Picnic
What a beautiful day for our school picnic today. Not a cloud in the sky!
We headed down to the new playground at Grasslees Reserve. It's fantastic now that there is a sealed path going down from Victory Cres to the Main Road AND a pedestrian crossing on the Main Road!! Yahoo! We have been lobbying for a crossing for many years!
A great day at the park and the pool. Tired kids and teachers tonight!
We headed down to the new playground at Grasslees Reserve. It's fantastic now that there is a sealed path going down from Victory Cres to the Main Road AND a pedestrian crossing on the Main Road!! Yahoo! We have been lobbying for a crossing for many years!
A great day at the park and the pool. Tired kids and teachers tonight!
Monday 15 December 2014
Helpers!
We have had some terrific helpers in Room 4 this year.
Many thanks to Ollie, Miss Kadhim, and of course Daile! You guys are awesome!
Many thanks to Ollie, Miss Kadhim, and of course Daile! You guys are awesome!
Friday 12 December 2014
Candy Cane Experiment
A Christmas Science Experiment for the final Discovery Session of 2014!
We placed a candy cane in cold, warm and hot water and watched what happened. A lot of our ideas about what would happen turned out to be correct. Great discussions! We were all amazed at how fast the candy cane dissolved though.
We also tried some vinegar and baking soda - water was much more efficient!
We placed a candy cane in cold, warm and hot water and watched what happened. A lot of our ideas about what would happen turned out to be correct. Great discussions! We were all amazed at how fast the candy cane dissolved though.
We also tried some vinegar and baking soda - water was much more efficient!
Friday 5 December 2014
Which Paper Towel is the best?
We had 5 different brands of paper towel and wanted to know
- Which could hold the most liquid
- which would soak up the most,
- which would be the most useful
Each writing group came up with different ways to run their investigation. They decided that the same amount of water had to be poured at the same time to see the results must accurately. Also, they decided to colour the water blue so it was easier to see.
Thursday 4 December 2014
Christmas Kindness Advent Calendars
We have come up with ways to do random acts of kindness building up to Christmas - they are all on our hand-made advent calendars. A few days late in starting, but we will catch up!
Sunday 30 November 2014
Singing at the Sound Shell, Wellington Botanic Gardens
Friends of Wellington Botanic Gardens are designing a garden with a special focus. It is a Children's Teaching Garden that is unique to Wellington. Such a wonderful idea! More information (and a YouTube clip) found here.
A group of us formed a small choir and have been practising hard for a special performance today at the Botanic Gardens as a fund raiser for the Children's Garden.
Ma ti Mahi Kaora from Mrs B on Vimeo.
A group of us formed a small choir and have been practising hard for a special performance today at the Botanic Gardens as a fund raiser for the Children's Garden.
Ma ti Mahi Kaora from Mrs B on Vimeo.
Friday 28 November 2014
Wednesday 19 November 2014
Solar Ovens
We have been trying our hand at harnessing the sun's mighty solar power! We had to come up with a solar oven design, and then assemble it. When we finally got a hot, sunny day we tried cooking marshmallows - yum!
Tuesday 28 October 2014
Leak-Proof Plastic Bag
Here's a fun experiment we tried in class today - it went so well that we are going to show it in assembly on Friday
What you need:
Plastic Zip Lock Bags
Sharp Pencils
Water
What to do:
Fill plastic bag with water and make sure to seal it tight.
Gently 'stab' a pencil through the palstic bag until it pierces through the other side.
Surprise, surprise, NO water leaks out!
The Science behind it:
Surprise, surprise, NO water leaks out!
The Science behind it:
Despite what it looks like, the zipper-lock bag isn't covered
in a magical sealant that blocks leaks. Well… not exactly. Plastic bags like
these are made out of our favourite kind of materials, polymers! Polymers are
long chains of individual molecules, called monomers. (See that? Mono = one.
Poly = many. Mers = molecules.) When you puncture these bags with a sharpened
pencil, you're essentially separating polymer chains without breaking them. The
long chains of molecules than squeeze in tight around the surface of the pencil
preventing any sort of leak. Polymers continue to prove an indispensable part
of life. - See more at: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/leak-proof-bag#sthash.jBCRn21H.dpuf
Wednesday 22 October 2014
Pathway to Sporting Success with Valerie Adams
=
Today we had a fantastic time over in Wainuiomata! We had an opportunity to attend a very exciting Athletics NZ event, playing all sorts of fundamental movement skills games. We also got to meet Valerie Adams and look at her latest gold medal.
A special thanks to Athletics NZ for putting on such a fabulous day- and for the t-shirts and posters :)
Friday 26 September 2014
Friday 29 August 2014
Cooperative Games
We have been having loads of hilarious fun cooperating with others in PE this week!
As with any 'Photo Peach' show, please add comments here instead of on the Photo peach site - thanks! Cooperative Games :)
As with any 'Photo Peach' show, please add comments here instead of on the Photo peach site - thanks! Cooperative Games :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)