Science - Simple Circuits

Today we had a fabulous science session looking at ELECTRICTY and SIMPLE CIRCUITS using our STEM science kits. 

The students brainstormed everything they knew about electricity. They came up with words like; energy, solar power, hydro power, switches, wires, lights, power source. They learnt which part of the battery and LED light was positive and negative and then we discussed what an electrical circuit looks like.

The students needed the following for their simple circuit;

• playdoh
• battery pack
• wires
• LED (light emitting diode)

Once the students had their equipment they were able to just give it a go. You can see from the photos how much enjoyment they students had.

A huge thank you to Whaea Jacky for making us playdoh for our circuits and going through each kit to make sure we had everything we needed to build our simple circuits. We really appreciate your time.

Music with Matua Jade

Every Monday until the end of term we have music with Matua Jade. Our first session was absolutely awesome. He set up music stations around the whare which included a drum kit, electric guitars and amps, piano recorders and bongo drums. The students were allowed to give everything a go and be as loud as they liked. It was fabulous to watch the enthusiasm on each of their faces as they had a go on some instruments that they had never used before. We look forward to our music session with Matua Jade next week. 

Water Safety with Whaea Rhonda

Whaea Rhonda came to visit our class today to talk to us about water safety. She shared some ways that we could stay safe when we are swimming or boating. 

When you are going out boating for the day you need to remember safety gear; life jackets, a form of communication in a plastic bag and a flare. You have to make sure your life jacket fits properly and you are wearing it on the boat EVERYTIME you are in the water. Your captain also needs to tell someone you are going out on the boat and what time you will be home. 

If your boat capsizes it important to form a 'huddle'. Whaea Rhonda talked to us about  why we form a 'huddle'. We form a huddle to keep together, to keep us warm and to make it easier for Search and Rescue to find us. The 'Huddle' helps us to stay together in the water if we fall off the boat. 

We also talked about swimming at the beach. Our class was very knowledgeble about how to keep ourselves safe at the beach. The student's knew how to spot a rip; a calm spot on a surf beach. If its green, it's mean. If in doubt, stay out! Never swim alone, always swim with an adult or at least someone who is older than 18! 

We are already looking forward to our water safety session in the pool with Whaea Rhonda next week!

Level 2 - Fun Friday - Science

It was great to have 12 students at school today as we welcomed in Level 2. 

Our focus today was on our favourite subject, SCIENCE. Today we did two experiments; one with water and one with milk.

The first experiment was called 'walking water'. We used water, food colouring and paper towels to show how water could 'walk' between the cups. The students learnt what a 'hypothesis' was and they made their own hypothesis about what would happen during this experiment. The students decided how many hours it would take for the water to get from one cup to another. It was a lot of fun! 

Our second experiment was called 'Magic Milk'. We used milk, food colouring and a stick with diswashing liquid on it. We waved our 'magic wands' and put the stick in the milk to watch an amazing chemical reaction. There were lots of oooooooooo's and ahhhhhhhhhh's while the dishing liquid made the milk swirl and move in all directions.

The students discussed what was happening and wondered if it would happen if we used water instead of milk. So we used water to see what would happen and it definately did not have the same reaction. The students decided there was something in the milk that made it react with the dishwashing soap. They brainstormed words like protein, calcium and fat. I was so impressed. They were right, when the dishwashing liquid touched the milk, it reacted with the fats. 

The soap molecules from the dishwashing liquid are trying to attach to the fat molecules in the milk which causes movement in the liquid as the molecules in the fat and soap bond together and expel the water and food colouring.

We can hardly wait for next Friday!