We miss you Nora!

On the last day of term we were very happy to receive an email from Nora! We wrote her back straight away and sent her this photo as well. Here is the email we wrote:

Dear Nora,

We miss you heaps! We were so excited to get your email!!! Mrs Naik tried to surprise us BUT she gave it away by mistake!!

Amy and Mia are SOOO LUCKY to be seeing you soon, they are bringing you some cards that we have made.

We loved looking at your photos, it looks like you are having so much fun! There is a photo of you in Japan and it looks like you have something on your head, what is it?

We have so many questions to ask you about your life in Germany!

1. Who are your best friends?
2. Is the bottom photo a picture of your school?
3. When you went to Japan did you learn any Japanese?
4. Who is your teacher is she/he nice (Or is she/he like the Trunchbull!?)?
5. How long did you stay in Japan?

It's a pity you missed watching Matilda with us, we had buttery popcorn and we all wished you were with us! We all want to come to Germany and visit you now! Maybe we can try to squeeze into Amy and Mia's suitcase!

Maybe after the holidays we can arrange to SKYPE with you?

We hope to hear from you soon,

Love from everyone in room 9.

Orca Whales!

As part of our inquiry, The Wonder of Whales, we have been learning about TOOTHED whales. We watched this interesting video about "wave washing." Wave washing is a smart technique that Orca whales use to catch seals! We felt a bit sad for the seal but it all made more sense once we learned about the significance of FOOD CHAINS! Enjoy!

Wonder of Whales!

Today we looked at EXTREME whales! We found out that the BLUE WHALE is the largest whale AND the largest known animal that has ever existed!! Here are some of the other facts that we learned:

1. Hecter's dolphins are the smallest cetaceans at 1.5 metres
2. Dwarf sperm whales are the smallest whales at 2.5 metres
3. The Blue whale is the largest whale at 35 metres
4. The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale at 15 metres


We then went outside and used a metre stick and chalk to measure the size of these amazing mammals!

 Can you see Evie and Lucy jumping in the background? Well from Olivia (at the front) to the Evie and Lucy at the back is actually the length of a BLUE WHALE!

We found out that the ENTIRE class, lying head to toe, was still less then the length of a BLUE WHALE!

Goodbye Grace and Nora!

Last Thursday we had a FEAST as a special goodbye to Grace and Nora. We were amazed with the amazing HEALTHY food choices. Thank you parents for your contributions!
 

More Science Week!

Equipment needed: 

What to do:

 

Explosion Results!!

 

 

Wacky kids with WACKY hair!

Wacky kids with WACKY hair!

SCIENCE WEEK!

Lava LAMPS!


This afternoon we made our own Lava lamps! We added oil to our RED water and watched it FLOAT to the top of the cup. Then we added SALT and watched it SINK to the bottom of the cup. THEN we watched as bubbles of oil floated back UP to the top!

We found out that OIL floats to the top of the water because it it lighter then water. Since the SALT is heavier then water is SINKS down into the water and takes some OIL with it... Once the salt dissolves, the OIL goes back up!


Mrs Naik asked us to use what we have learned to think about WHY whales don't SINK to the bottom of the ocean if they are so large and heavy?! We will explore the answer to this question tomorrow!

Cross Country!

What fantastic weather for cross country! Please follow the link for a video starring many students from our class!


http://www.muritaitv.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/cross-country-2012.html


Enjoy!

A visit from Ken, Leon's granddad!

On Friday we were very privileged to have Leon's Granddad, Ken, come to visit us at school. Ken was in World War Two and he shared some of his experiences of War with us. Each of us prepared a question to ask Ken and we took turns to stand up and ask our questions. Ken was able to answer all of them! We enjoyed having him so much that some of us even wrote cards asking him to come back! 

Leon, Evie and Olivia read their ANZAC poems to Ken as a way to show him how much we appreciated his visit. If you are reading this Ken, THANK YOU!!

ANZAC

We have been learning all about the ANZACs and about the important role they played in World War One. We read non fiction articles about the challenges of trench warfare and about the Gallipoli battles. We explored diary accounts from young boy soldiers and we listened to some famous poems as well.


We then used all our new found information to write our own poems about the ANZACS. We amazed ourselves and Mrs Naik with our poems. Some of us read our ANZAC poems during the school assembly on Friday and some of us read our poems to Leon's Granddad, Ken (but more on that later).


If you would like to have a read of our poems (and we suggest you do!) please visit our classroom as all the poems are on the wall.