PJs... Hot Chocolates... Popcorn.... AWESOME!!

Yesterday we had a fun day in our Pjs! Thanks Totara Year 8s for organising this fun day! Whilst we all felt a bit lazy in our Pjs we still managed to dance, learn and enjoy our yummy treats at lunchtime!

Keeping a lid on the heat!

This week we looked at how boiling a pot of water creates great analogies for what different parts of volcanic and geothermal activity looks like and how it happens. The students observed what was happening at different times in the boiling process and compared that to volcanic activity. Some of the key things we discussed were: The interior of the earth is far hotter than the outside, steam creates pressure, and in some places the molten rock inside the earth can spill out.
In this experiment we did lots of observing, discussing, thinking, comparing, drawing representations,  explaining, predicting and critiquing the experiment.
We recorded our results and analogies in tables like the ones below.

Building representations

Earlier in the week we looked into the different types of volcanoes and researched a bit about them. Following this, in their groups, the students built a model of their volcano type to show other groups. They built Cone, Caldera and field volcanoes. Who would have thought that these kids would love to 'play' in the sandpit so much!

Friday Fun with Mrs Lintott!

On Fridays, Room 5 year 6 students spend their mornings with Mrs Lintott. Last week they took part in a couple of technology challenges, where the students had to build a structure that would hold a drink bottle, and a parachute to sail from a set height. The kids loved building their creations even though some structures didn't quite turn out too well.

FUN FILLED DAY COMING SOON!

ANZ Netball Fun!

We had an amazing week at Halcombe School thanks to ANZ! Wednesday morning was an absolute blast and a 'once in a lifetime' type experience. Our netballers certainly enjoyed featuring on the TV and doing some fun drills with Casey. We were absolutely blown away with all the amazing prizes we received from ANZ and got the surprises of our life when they presented us with tickets to the ANZ Premiership Grand Final! PULSE vs STEEL!
We were over the moon and really enjoyed our time at the game. There was an awesome atmosphere and it was a real nail-biting game in the end!

Thanks to ANZ, TVNZ and Casey Kopua for being so generous and awesome!

Our earth!

Over the last week we have been looking at how the earth is made up and what layers make up the structure of our earth. We did an activity that allowed us to see a model of the layers. Miss Fleet boiled us some eggs and we cut them in half, which was a representation of a cross section of the earth. It became very easy to see the different layers -The yolk being the core of the earth, the white being the mantle and the shell representing the crust. This was really interesting and we drew comparison representations of the earth and egg. To finish off we discussed what other items would model the same layers/structure. We came up with avocados, apples, and nectarines.

Tough Kids

On Friday we had a large number of Room 5 kids attend the tough kids challenge at Linton Army Camp. They had an awesome day getting stuck in, climbing under and over obstacles, trudging through mud and a bog, finding their way through a dark tunnel and getting totally and utterly filthy!
Check out the wonderful photos! Don't they all look fantastic!