The Adventures of Workerman!!!

Tinker Ball

How many ways can you help the ball reach its goal?

Exploratory play is about asking questions: “What happens when I do this?” “What if I did it this way?” Experimenting with materials and pushing their limits encourages us to consider a wide range of possibilities when problem-solving. Playing around with objects and ideas helps us see that there may be more than one solution. See how you go!

How Do Machines Help?

Dr Skateboard's Action Science - Simple Machines

Find the simple Machines in a Complex Machine

All complex machines, such as, a lawnmower are made out of 2 or more simple machines that work together. See if you can find all the simple machines in a complex machine.

Leonardo Da Vinci's Inventions

Leonardo Da Vinci's Inventions
Click on the picture above
Leonardo's fascination with machines probably began during his boyhood. Some of his earliest sketches clearly show how various machine parts worked. Many ancient machines were in common use in Leonardo's time, e.g. ,water wheels turned millstones to grind grain and Archimedes's screw lifted water from streams providing a ready supply for drinking and washing. Leonardo developed a unique new attitude about machines. He reasoned that by understanding how each separate machine part worked, he could modify them and combine them in different ways to improve existing machines or create inventions no one had ever seen before. Leonardo set out to write the first explanations of how machines work and how the elements of machines can be combined.

Dance Mat Typing - Learn how to type

Make your way through all 12 stages and you can be a top typist. I had fun last night practising my keyboard skills and I need lots of practise! Get in early and learn.

Find It - Simple Machine Games aand Information

Visit this site to learn about the six simple machines. Lots of colourful animated examples



Play this game and find all the Simple Machines







Learn more about forces and movement

Gadget Anatomy

The hand powered tools shown on these pages all use combinations of the elements of machines to accomplish their functions.
Look carefully at each tool.
Think about how each part moves and makes the other parts move as the tool does its job.

Ed Heads - Simple Machines

Today we used this game to begin our inquiry unit on Simple Machines. We found out we knew a lot about simple machines but we now have another question to our first questions this morning.
What makes a compound machine?
How are they different to simple machines?
Are there complex machines? If so what are they?
Play this game and learn more about simple and compound machines while you explore the House and Tool Shed!

Simple Machines - Our first questions.

These are our first questions. We don't know what we don't know so we will be adding to these as we progress through our inquiry on simple machines.
Questions
What makes a simple machine?
How do they work?
How are they made?
What are they made of?
Who invented the first machine?
What was the irst machine made of and what was it?
Are there any other types of machines?
Who invented simple machines?
Where are they made?
Why were they made?

My Tiny Magic Box

In my box I will put
The flame of a ruby dragon
The silver sparkle of a unicorn's horn
And the power of a silent panda's in China

In my box I will put
The silent roar of a tiger
The peaceful call of a golden eagle
And an anaconda coiling round a box

In my box I will put
Some fruit to be healthy
The colour of the bluest stream
And the heart of a fish

In my box I will put
The star-lit sky
The magical wing beat of a griffin
And the birth of a chick

My box has been carved from clay
And sea stuff on the outsideAnd pink thread on the inside, with a bow

I can go everywhere in my box
But my favourite place is the Amazon jungle.

By Max

Calendar Art - Inspired by Chinese Cloisonne Art

Every year our Parent Forum organise a fundraising project where the children's art work is turned into calendars. That time is here again so pop in to see your child's artwork. We decided to base our art around our inquiry unit about China and the Olympics.

WALT...
Investigate the process of China's cloisonne enamelling (DI)
Understand the meaning behind popular Chinese enamelling and identify symbols / designs (UC)
Design an artwork using motifs and symbols familiar to the Chinese early art pieces DI
Create an art work using oil pastel and dye resist technique (PK)

Here is our work. Bright and colourful!

The Whale's Box

I will put in my box
A wish from the huge whales
The noise of a blue whale
A whale's fluke that will push me in the sea.

I will put in my box
The smell of the sea crashing on the rocks
The colour of the coral reefs
A tiny calf to keep me happy.

I will put in my box
A splash of a wish
The cry of a whale calf
And a whale's splash.

I will put in my box
The sun blazing down on the whales
Some white seashells
And some fruit for the whales.

My box is carved with white, blue, read and yellow coral.
It will take me to Whale Wonderland.

By Nadia

The Imagination Box

I will put in my box
The howl of a hungry werewolf
The scream of the Chinese winning
The sensational hops of the new Spring lambs

I will put in my box
The lovely soft heart of my Grandma
The brain of my ten year old brother
The thread of a unicorns tail

I fashioned my box out of wood
From a fine palm tree
And there was jade engraved on the side

I will fly to Scotland, Auckland and Australia
On a gigantic flying dragon.

The Fantasy Box

I will put in my box
A tiny pink rabbit pounding down waterfalls
Silver wings to carry me along a chain of stars
Glistening drips of water dripping from the forest leaves

I will put in my box
Trees greeting me with their swinging branches
Squirrels nibbling on juicy nuts
Our own glistening moon.

I will put in my box
A werewolf howling to the moon
A princess's wooden carved curtains
Swaying in the wind.

I will put in my box
The calm blue beautiful ocean
A nightingale singing its beautiful song
Bees buzzing in their golden hive.

My box is fashioned with forest moss,
Its hinges are made of the finest bark.

My box will take me me to a land of fantasy,
Where I will play with every fantasy creature in the world
And do my wildest dreams.

Thinker Keys

Now we know lots obout the Olympics and China we are going to use this information to think creatively and critically. Over the next 2 weeks we will do lots of thinking about the Olympics and China in our reading,writing and speaking activitiies. Inquiry is such fun!

WALT... think about he Olympics creatively and critically
Brick Wall Key
‘People should be able to take performance enhancing drugs to compete at the Olympics.’ Argue for this statement.
Alternatives Key
List 5 different countries that are competing in the Olympics.
Reverse Key
List 10 sports you WON'T find at the Olympics.
List 10 things you WON’T find at the Olympics.
List 10 things you CAN’T do at the Olympics.
What If? Key
What if anyone was allowed to enter the Olympics? Write a paragraph about it.
Combination Key
Combine a swimming pool and a running track. Draw a picture and describe it.
Bigger, Add, Replace Key
Make a rowing skiff Bigger, Add something to it and Replace something on it.
Questions Key
Write 5 questions that have the answer “a gold medal.”
Write 5 questions that have the answer “he would be disqualified.”
Write 5 questions that have the answer “athletics.”
Variations Key
How many different Olympic sports can you name?
How many Olympics gold medalists can you name?
Disadvantages Key
List 5 disadvantages of the Olympics
List 5 disadvantages of being an Olympic athlete.
List 5 disadvantages of the Olympics.
Different Uses Key
List 10 different uses for a swimming pool at the Olympics.
List 10 different uses for a chair at the Olympics
Prediction Key
What will the Olympics be like in 8 years time?
Ridiculous Key
They should build venues big enough for everyone to go and see their favourite sport. List 5 reasons why you agree and 5 reasons why you disagree.
The Olympic games should be held every year. List 5 reasons why you agree and 5 reasons why you disagree.
People are not interested in the Olympic games anymore. List 5 reasons why you agree and 5 reasons why you disagree.
Commonality Key
List 5 things the same about the Olympics and a box.
List 5 things the same about swimming and archery.
List 5 things the same about NZ and China
Alphabet Key
List 1 Olympics word for each letter of the alphabet.
Inventions Key
Design a New Zealand Olympics uniform.

Drama

This term the Middle Syndicate classes are moving around different drama workshops
Some are...
Puppets, Theatre Sports, Taking a Role, Script reading, Process drama, Hot seating, Tableaux and Mime

De Bono's Thinking Hats

Today we used the yellow and black thinking hats to explore postive and negative points of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We looked at some articles about issues at the games. We discussed lots of ideas then we used a T chart to record our thinking. What a lot of thinking went on!
Some of the black hat thinking recorded was ...

• Pollution makes it hard for athletes to run
• Someone visiting from USA was killed by a Chinese person
• Some people took drugs to make them stronger or faster (this is cheating)
• Some peoples homes were knocked down for the stadiums
• Lots more traffic
• Lots of money used when there are poor people
• Some people got injured and couldn't compete
• There were some violent protests
• There was some bribery and blackmailing (by officials)
• Lots of athletes didn't get medals even though they had trained very hard
  

Some yellow hat thinking recorded was...

• It is a time of peace
• Lots of countries come together to compete
• There was great teamwork
  
• New buildings were made (like stadiums) for people to use
• People won medals
• Lots of people visited China
• People learnt lots about China
• People had fun
• There were some peaceful protests about things that are not so good about China
• Brings people together
• Some athletes won lots of medals for their country

Fraction Workshop

Go to the Fraction Workshop and model fractions with strips, pies or sets. Practise adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers

Fractions

Clara Fractions Ice Cream Shop - Convert improper fractions to mixed numbers and scoop the right amount of ice cream flavors on the cone. This one is harder but give it a go!

Old Egyptian Math Cats Fractions - Add fractions like an Old Egyptian Maths Cat

Find the equivalent fractions. This means that they are different fractions that name the same amount. Try them out!

Pizza Party

Pizza Party - This game gives you a fraction of a pizza and you identify the fraction

Flitting with Fractions

Catch the butterflies, close the lid and write the fraction.

Yummy Olympic Flags

We made Olympic flags today for Golden Time. We used rectangular plain biscuits, white icing, and red, black, green, yellow and blue M & Ms. Here are some photos.

Home Fun - Time Machines

This was our task...

Time Machine Project
Part 1: Draw a time machine.
Imagine you are a scientist.
You have just invented a time machine – well done! Now draw a diagram of your time machine. Use labels to show the details. Draw a diagram of the inside and the outside. Make it as colourful as you can.
What types of noises do the buttons make when you press them? Are there any flashing lights?
Do you need to write some instructions on how to use the time machine?
What will you call your time machine? I might call mine “Miss Mrs McCambridge’s Machine of Mystery”
Are there any special features of your time machine?

Our Pictograms

Pictograms

We completed our sport pictograms last week. Can you guess the sports in the pictures?

Upper Clutha Cross Country

Haiku Poem

Olympics

Amazing medals
Mahe Drysdale wins a gold?
Rowing is such fun

Bake a Cake

Help Hutch bake a cake. Practise your fractions and measuring skills

Weaving Montage

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Captain Calamity

Will Captain Calamity find the hidden treasure?

Ordering Fractions

Try this bitesized revision activity on ordering fractions

Half & Half

Half & Half
WALT ... find half and half of a set of squares

We used squares that were divided into 16 small squares and we had to colour half black and leave half white. We found that half of 16 equals 8 so we started by colouring 8 squares in to make a pattern.
Some of us thought that by diving each small square into 2 making 32 small triangles. Half of 32 equals 16 so we found ways to colour 16 little triangles.
Someone else then drew lines to divide the squares into 32 rectangles and they coloured them in.
We discussed other ways and came up with dividing each square into 4 triangles, making 64 triangles altogether. Half of 64 equals 32 so we found ways to colour 32 of these tiny triangles. We did this with tiny squares as well.

Fractions with Smarties

WALT ... find the fractions of colours in our smarties packets
On Monday we counted the number of smarties in our packets, then found out the fraction of colours in the box. After we had completed our worksheet we got to eat the smarties. Just goes to prove .... fractions are fun!

We also learnt a fun way to remember the numerator and denominator ... remember that denominator starts with d which is the first letter of the word down which is where the denominator is eg

Java Dance Company Visits

A few weeks ago the Java Dance Company visited.
We loved the performance and viewing all the different dance forms
and listening to the music that went witth each dance.

Olympic Sports and Venues

WALT... find info from books and web sites to answer key questions
... surf, slurp & summarise info
OLYMPIC SPORTS
Aquatic (diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo), Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing/Kayak (flatwater and slalom), Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic and trampoline), Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon (5 disciplines: shooting, fencing, swimming, riding, cross-country running), Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling.

Use the National Library site to find information


MORE OLYMPIC FACTS
Games Mascots: Fuwa, designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.
Number of Sports: 38
Number of events at the Games: 303
Number of Venues: 31
Number of Spectators (est.): 7 million
Number of television viewers (est.): more than 4 billion
Number of registered volunteers: 700 000
Number of visitors expected during the games: 2 million
Population: China: 1.3 billion, Beijing: 11.6 million
1st Modern Olympics: Held in Greece in 1896
1900 (Paris) was the first Olympiad in which women participated

Try this sport word find

Check out the BBC's Olympic Sports Map