Marble Runs

Our term 4 unit is called  Crafty Kids. 

We collected toilet and paper towel rolls to make marble runs....

To create a wall for the marble runs we turned our tables on their sides.

We used quite a lot of sellotape.......

Bats

Here's a mystery. Pippa gave us this wooden object. We wondered what on earth it could be.

Kenneath thought it might be a knife holder.
Devon wondered if you keep letters in it.
We did some research and found out that Project Echo is an organisation that looks after bats in Hamilton.

Yes! There are bats living in Hamilton! 

(but not the vampire variety)

So, the wooden object is a bat house! 

The bats crawl up inside to sleep.

Here's what we wrote about bats.

Whaea Sarah told us she used to teach children about bats when she worked at the Museum. She told us bats like living high up in dense trees.

We decided the big Totara tree below our classroom would be an ideal place for bats to live so we got Dugan to climb up and put the bat house up in the tree.

We can keep an eye on it from the balcony of Room 13 and see if any bats move in.

Next time you're walking down the hill, have a close look and see if you can see the Bat house.

More importantly, see if you can see evidence of any bats!

Giant pumpkin competition

Can you believe this is a REAL pumpkin???
Hamilton East School is having a giant pumpkin growing competition. This is what we hope to beat!

This what inspired us. Early this year  Dugan brought a giant pumpkin in to show us.

We thought it was amazing. We also thought it would be fun to grow one ourselves.

Room 13 planted the Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds that Ms Jones brought back from America.

We gave each one a pot, and labelled them.

When they got big enough to plant we gave one to each class.

Let the competition begin!

Mystery Creek Trip

We went to Mystery Creek to learn about things from the past.

We explored the Heritage village, which had old buildings that displayed things from the past.

Here are some of the highlights.

We went into a garage that had old vehicles.

Some of us really liked the stocks!

Alan was a master storyteller and told us all about the old days.

What are these mystery objects?

This is what the dental clinics were like. They were called the Murder house by the children in the old days!

Girls wore a pinafore and bonnet. Boys wore a white shirt and cap.

We enjoyed having a go at washing in the old laundry.

Here are some milk carts with cans of cream, ready for sale.

We made comparisons between the old days and the present:

In the old days people used horses for transport. Now cars are cooler than horses.
Erana

In the old days there were only pencils and no computers. Now we use computers.
Bel-Aire

In the old days people rode horses to get around. Now we have cars.
Maria

In the old days they used blades to shear sheep. Now they shave them with electric machines.James

In the old days there were pigeons to carry letters. Now we use telephones.
Noah

In the old days we did washing by hand. Now we have washing machines.
Hailey

In the old days people went on ships. Now they go in aeroplanes.
Mahdi

In the old days people had long-drop toilets. Now we have flush toilets.
Blair

In the old days cows were milked by hand. Now we have milking machines.
Kenneath

In the old days kids rode horses to school. Now they ride cars and buses to school.
Sky

In the old days we used paper. Now we use iPads and computers.
Darryl

In the old days there were candles and no lightbulbs. Now we have power.
Levi

Dem bones

Many months ago we found a dead blackbird. After having a good look at it, we buried it in the butterfly garden and agreed to dig it up again once it had turned into a skeleton.

Well, last week we decided it was time. ...

We dug up the soil but there was no skeleton!

But there WAS a skull. And we found  a small bit of bone that might have been part of its leg.

The bottom jaw bone was like a wishbone.

We looked at images of bird skeletons and then drew our own. ............

Here are some of our wonderful sketches of bird skeletons.

 

 

Cross Country

Congratulations Room 13 cross country stars!

Our training certainly paid off. We did very well, coming first, second, third and fifth in the Year 1 girls, and  first and third in the Year 1 boys.
Everyone ran brilliantly and a great time was had by all.
Here are the first six in each category: