Introducing......

Our wonderful class of 2019! We are a bubbly bunch and we have already enjoyed a couple of great days, setting up our classroom and routines, and learning a bit about each other and how we want our class to work. Please keep updated with our class blog and see all the awesome learning and experiences we have throughout the year!

Pompeii Assembly Item

This is a copy of last weeks Pompeii performance that we performed in our assembly.

Nearly 2000 years ago, in the year 79 AD, an extreme natural event changed a city forever.

An ancient Roman city, Pompeii, lay close to the bottom of one of the worlds most active volcanoes -Mt Vesuvius.

The village people began their day, as if it was any other day, hoeing their gardens, farming,  teaching children, building, cooking and cleaning, bartering at markets, being artists, training as military -the list goes on.

As the morning rolled on, Mt Vesuvius began to prove it had other plans for the day.

Let’s see how the next 24 hours unfolded.

The day Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD buried the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in ash. Many years later the city began to be re-discovered, dug up and restored. Today you can visit Pompeii and see parts of the old Roman city. If you are lucky enough to ever visit this place, as Miss Simpson has, you will see some amazing history, get really dirty feet from the ash and dust, and probably get really hot from the extreme heat!

Drama Shark 2

Drama Shark!

Today, while many of the students in our class have been at drama dress rehearsals, we decided we would create our very own versions of the current trend song, Baby Shark!
We used our very own drama skills, including our wonderful sense of humors and this is what we made!








/>

We are ROCKING our learning!

Today we had the chance to look at, touch and feel nearly 100 different types of rocks! We grouped these rocks in a range of ways based on colour, weight, appearances, texture etc. It was interesting looking at them and identifying unique and interesting parts or types of rocks. We worked on explaining ourselves when we made a comment to justify our thoughts. We then identified that rocks are all different and for different reasons.

We learnt a bit about igneous rocks/ Volcanic rocks, as our science focus is volcanoes.

It was so cool being able to physically touch all these different kinds of rocks and learn about where they come from and why they are all so different!

Igneous Rocks

https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-igneous-rocks/

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!

Volcano Science!

This term we are looking into VOLCANOES! We are going to be learning some scientific skills and building our knowledge and understanding of volcanoes and their processes.
We began our unit by looking at some pretty magnificent photos of volcanic action and then did some brainstorming. We jotted down all the stuff we already knew and also all the questions/ wonders we have about volcanoes.

Gymnastics has begun!

This week we have started our gymnastcis PE focus. Check out our 'beginning' skills.

Lets gather some ideas for this year's speeches.