Tyrolean Traverse

On the first day of the adventure south programme on camp we did the Tyroleand Traverse activity. As it says on the screenshot of the comic life I made on the Tyrolean traverse, here are the steps we went through.

3. After a 10 minute hike through the bush we got to a creek (that was a size of a river). We learnt that we were going to cross the river being only attached to a piece of rope!

3. Then we had to find a tree that we were going to to tie the rope to. After that we had to cross a wobbly bridge nearby with the rope and then find the tree we were going to attach to it on the other side.

4. We learnt some knots that we used to attach the rope to the trees. One of the knots was the no knot knot.

5. Then we had to be attached to the rope and then you had

to cross the rope ( it definitely hurts your hands) to get to the other side. But there is a twist which is that you were being pulled up by the people in your group so if the let go you would get dunked! Also when I asked to ahve a swing and to go down for a sip of water from the creek below!

6.Lastly, once I had finished I had an amazing feeling, the feeling that I had completed the Tyrolean traverse!

Year 6 Camp Reflection

This reflection is made using the famous thinking hats.

White hat - Facts Figures and information:

It was at Borland Lodge, Edge of Fiordland National Park, Southland, New Zealand.

The people who did it were the Year 6's at my school, our teachers, and some of our parents and for a wee bit our principal.

21-25 November 2011

MB schools year 6 xamp.

Red Hat - Intuition and Emotions:

It was better than I thought it would be. On some activites I was a bit nervous. For most of the activities I was extremely excited (including the ones I was nervous in).

Black Hat - Judgement and Caution:

The bad thing about camp was the annoying, pesky, mosquitoes.

Yellow Hat - Logical Positive

Being able to hang out with friends for a good quality length of time. Achieving things I haven't done before in my life.

Green Hat - Creativity and Alternatives:

Make sure next time to put tonnes of mosquito repellent on.

Now this one is not a hat but what would I advise next years campers:

Remember to put mosquito repellent on.

Year 6 Camp

Last week the year 6's at my school went to Borland Lodge for camp. Over the next few weeks I will be doing some posts on the activities we did there. I will also include an overview of the camp using the thinking hat tools. Here is a link to their site: www.borlandlodge.co.nz/

Week 6 Reflection: Comic Life

Today I have been working on Comic Life Magiq. It is a great application for making posters as it has good tools which allow you to put in stunning pictures which are framed, have cool speech bubbles and amazing fonts. You can also pick from amazing themes and add snowflakes for example to add to the poster you are making. I would rate it a whopping 9/10!

Drama

As I have not been telling you about inquiry I suppose I should now. After having taster sessions of the different types of art (dance, visual art, music and drama) I decided to go with drama. I must say I have only attended three of the many sessions (as I have been away a lot this term) I have learnt tonnes of stuff about drama. For the art sharing event at school we are going to produce three short plays about things that have recently happened in New Zealand the rugby world cup, the Rena disaster, and the Christchurch Earthquake. Last session we worked on the rugby world cup and I can't wait to work on the other plays we are producing.

Week 4 Reflection: Khan Academy

Over the last 10 weeks I have been working on a site called Khan Academy. In Khan Academy there are over 2,000 videos from simple addition to learning about the plates under Hawaii. There is also an exercise dashboard where you can practice tonnes of math.

Over the last few weeks I have been working on multiplying decimals. I get so close to passing but then I get a question wrong and have to build up my progress again. B

ut today I have finally past it.

I do Khan Academy for some extension as it has problems up to the chain rule (what is that?). Next time when I get to a task which I have trouble at (like multiply decimals) I am going to stick to the task until I have to get off the computer. Here is a link to Khan Academy: www.khanacademy.org

Week 3 Reflection: Tennis Tournament

On Tuesday I competed in the Southland Primary School Tennis Competition. I did this because I decided to enter my schools trial and came out second in the boys category which meant the school would enter me in the competition. I did this because I enjoy sports (especially tennis). I one a game and lost a couple of games. I learnt how to judge how the wind effects where the ball is going to bounce so next time when there is a lot of wind I am going to use it to my advantage.

Cats and dogs, what is the better pet?

Over the last couple of weeks we have been working on persuasive writing. The one I have done is on what is the better pet out of cats and dogs.

Cats and dogs, what is the better pet?

I strongly believe dogs are far better pets than cats. Dogs have a lot more uses, are a lot more energetic, are more loved and are a lot smarter.

Firstly, imagine trying to herd farm animals into the yards using a cat! Now imagine trying to herd farm animals into the yards using a dog. Of course it is much easier to imagine the dog one because somewhere around the world it is probably happening right now. So in the farm aspect dogs win by far.

Secondly dogs are a lot smarter than cats. You can teach dogs awesome tricks like how to shake a human's hand! You can also teach them how to go through an obstacle courses, and there are dog training clubs in every major town. But now lets think about the tricks cats can do. At the moment I can't think of any, and I have never seen a cat training club.

Finally, dogs are more loved animals than cats. I did an investigation and dogs won by fourteen to three. I got a quote from a guy called Robbie. He said "dogs are more playful and are more energetic than cats. Also when dogs are puppies they are loved even more. Puppies are probably the most loved animal in the world! Oops I nearly forgot to mention that some people also learn to be nice to a puppy and that means they aren't as grumpy as they normally are!

In conclusion, dogs are far better animals than cats because they are better help on the farm, they are easier to teach tricks to, they are loved more and are more energetic.

Show me-speech marks

Our fantastic teacher has just set up something called a learning plan. On it there are things we are supposed to complete before the deadline. One of things we are supposed to do is make a showme on how to use speech marks. Below is the showme.

Week 2 Reflection: Inquiry-Music

Last Thursday and Friday we did a taster of music in room 7. We have been tasters of different kinds of art because art is our inquiry for this term. The four kinds of art are dance, music, drama and visual arts. We did it to help us choose what kind of music we are going to work on. In music we experimented with percussion instruments. We learned the four different elements which are to music beat, rhythm, pitch and tempo. I think I might do music and if I do I will like to make my own tune/beat using the drums.

Week 1 Reflection: 3D Shapes

Over the last couple of days we have been working with 3D shapes. 3D stands for three dimensions and the three dimensions of a 3D shape are length, width and depth. The parts of a 3D shape are faces, edges and vertices (corners). The first pic below is a pyramid made out of sticks and glue tack. Pyramids have 5 faces, 8 edges and 5 vertices. The second pic is off a diamond. Diamonds have 8 faces, 12 edges and 6 vertices.

Water & Ice

Water and ice are in ways the same kind of matter. Water is a liquid and ice is a solid and is really frozen water. But how does water turn to ice?
There are three main types of matter. There are liquids, solids and gases. Matter contains atoms (things that are so small that cannot be seen by the naked eye). Atoms make the world go round and are in everything. The atoms in gases are spread apart and are full of energy. The atoms in liquid are still got lots of energy but are more compact. The atoms in solids are basically touching each other and hardly move (they basically only vibrate).
When water turns to ice it freezes. The temperature water turns to ice is zero degrees Celsius. When water turns to ice the atoms slow down and become more compact.
Some examples of ice are hail, icebergs and ice-blocks. When the temperature of the clouds goes to zero degrees Celsius or lower the rain turns to hail. Icebergs and ice-blocks also gothrough the same process.
In conclusion water is a liquid and turns to ice which is a solid when the temperature is zero

degrees Celsius or lower.

Week 7 Reflection: Chunking

In the last weeks I have been learning a strategy in maths which is 'chunking'. Chunking is a method for 2-4 digit multiplication. The purpose was thatI could have another strategy under my belt for later in life. Now when I am figuring out math problems one of the strategies I am going to use is chunking.

Animation

Over the last few weeks we have been making animations. They had to have a theme, ours was persisting. Persisting is when you don't give up and below is the animation

Rhythm Interactive

Yesterday we had a visit from the 'Rhythm Interactive' group. There we all got given a drum and were learning to keep the rhythm. We played songs like 'I love drums' and did activities. My favourite part was when he split is in two groups and had us playing to rhythms at the same time. It was an overall enjoyable experience which will stick with me for a while.

IMovie Reflection

In the last few weeks we have been making animations (I am going to embed the animation on another post due to technical issues). I am going to reflect on the second part of the animation when I was working on iMovie (as I have used I can animate before and I haven't used iMovie before). Imovie has a lot of things you can do, you can add sound effects, music and 'scene swappers' ect. But the bad thing is iMovie is very complicated. I recommend iMovie but if you aren't an expert with computers you might need some help.

Short Story

Over the last few weeks we have been writing short stories and this is mine.

Bills, bills and more bills,” I muttered angrily to myself, as I scanned through the pieces of paper scattered on my desk. “At this rate my house is going to be taken off me. I need a job but no one will take me. I suppose I’ve got only one choice… STEAL,” I continued.

That night I got on my black mask, my black jacket and my black pants. I drove over to the neighbours in my black car and when I got out I was greeted by the black night. It was so dark it seemed like a movie. I was going to steal some valuable old coins I had heard them boasting about.

I crept up to the front door. I tried it and it was unlocked, thank goodness. “Yes I’m inside,” I think. I grabbed some valuable china and headed back to the car. “At least I won’t be moving out for a while,” I joked to myself.

How a candle works

A candle is an object that produces light and a bit of heat. A candle is made up of wax, a wick and a flame (which you need a match to light). But how does it work?

The wax part of the candle act as the candles food. The other food for the candle is oxygen. The candle needs these to make it go. The candle absorbs the wax by melting the top of the wax to make it liquid wax and then soaking it up the wick to the flame. It eats the 'nutrients' (stuff it needs) and leaves the rest in its liquid form. The effect is you have used a match, heat, liquid wax, some smoke and burned oxygen.

My Goal For This Term

This term I want to learn about science, so it helps that this terms inquiry is science. At the moment we have been 'tuning in' and have done experiments with liquid and heat. But back to the topic. The specific thing in science I want to learn about is gases and what the difference is between them.

Learner Profile Goals

My Learner profile this term is 'Being responsible for my environment'. I chose this because I seem to not really care about it. I will improve at this by cleaning up before I am asked, and also 'opening my eyes' so I actually see what's happening to the world.

Basic Facts Ladder

The holidays are done and dusted so everybody is back at school. In this post I am going to talk about one of mr Herrings fantastic ideas to help us learn mathmatics. This strategy is called the Basic Facts Ladder. It has 63 levels of basic facts which go from stage 1-8 so is great for all levels.

The level I started on was level 52 and I finished the basic facts ladder just before the end of the term. I am really proud of my achievement.

Safety Town

As part of our inquiry of 'safety' room seven and eight have been making a 'safety town'.  'Safety town' is a mini town which we tried  to make look like a real town.  The reason it's called 'safety town' is because as well as trying to replicate a real town we had to try and get rid of the hazards which we have in the real world.  Doing this would put to use the learning about safety we have been doing this term.

First of all we got into groups of four which would make a part of the safety town.  Then we made a plan of the 'safety town'.  My groups main things on our part were houses, an airport and some bridges.  Then we went on a trip around town to identify hazards which we would prevent in our safety town.  Then it was down to making it.  We finished making it yesterday and tomorrow we will take pictures of safety town.  I am very proud of it.

Quicksand

For writing this week we were working on 'instruction writing' so we made some instructions on how to do something.

What is quicksand?

Quicksand is normal sand and upwelling water. This makes it act like liquid. However quicksand unlike water doesn't let go without a fight. In ways you could say it acts like a vacuum cleaner and kills you. If you go in quicksand you will sink into the ground, you won't be able to breathe, so you die.



How to escape from quicksand.

Equipment Needed: Stout Pole

1. When you start to sink in the murderous quicksand put the pole on top of the quicksand.

2. Go on your back, on the stout pole. After a couple of minutes the equilibrium (the balance between to forces) in the quicksand will achieve and you will no longer sink.

3. Then put the pole in a different place which is under your hips. Also have it at right angles with your spine.

4. Move on the quickest route to firmer ground.

Emotional Safety

The world can be a very danderous place. So you need to know how to be safe. One of the ways you need to be safe is 'emotionally' safe. Emotional danger is when somebody tries to hurt your feelings. Some examples of being hurt emotionally are name calling, pointing, and laughing at people.

Here are some ways of staying emotionally safe:

-Bring a friend.

-Change the topic.

-Crack a joke.

-Change the place where it's happening.

I suggest you try these if you are getting bullied emotionally.

What makes a Kiwi?

New Zealand is a fantastic country.  New Zealanders are also known as Kiwis.  But what makes a kiwi?

Food is one of the that makes Kiwis, Kiwis.  They are known for pavalova, Fish & Chips and Watties tomato sauce. They are also known for oysters, jaffas and loads more. People would say these things because of their fantastic love for them!

Another thing that makes a Kiwi is what Kiwis wear.  It is normally like a cold fridge in N.Z. so they wear swandris to keep them warm and red band gumboots for out on the muddy farm.  If there is some warm weather they are known to pop on there jandals (which are a bit like sandals).  Jandals are known as flip-flops in some other countries.

Values take a giant part in a Kiwi's nature.  They have a 'can do' spirit so they are normally always persisting.  They also greatly value their family and friends, and the environment.

New Zealanders also love corrugated iron, a deck, rugby, and loads more.  Their special holidays are ANZAC Day, Labour Day and they have a summer Christmas.  Their main icons are the kiwi and the fern.  Their main heroes are the All Blacks.  Go the All Blacks!!!                                                                                                                      

In conclusion, I think New Zealand is a great country. I hope this helps you know what makes a Kiwi.

My Problem Solving Hero

Over the last few weeks my class was working on problem solving.  So we made our own Problem Solving Heroes and this is mine.

My hero is a perfect problem solver.  He is called Astro-Solver and solves problems as quick as lightning.

He lives in a tiny hut in the forest and it contains a secret tunnel underground to his underground secret lab.  The lab contains all his strategies, from figuring out maths problems to ways of defeating supervillians that are going to take over the world.

Unlike most super heroes he doesn't fly through the sky, because when he was young he studied teleportation.  So now he teleports to his destination.  Does this make him better?

Now as I said he solves problems as fast as lightning and that is sort of because he uses lightning. He shoots the lightning which contains the strategy out of what he calls lightning-fork.  As soon as the strategy hits the problem, the problem disappears and the solution is found.

Will anybody or anything stop Astro-Solver?                                                                                   

Learner Profiles

In Room 8 our terrific teacher Mr Herring has set up a thing called Learner Profiles. They are a mixture of topics which you have to choose out of. The one you choose is going to be the one you will work on for the rest of the week. The one I chose is 'A Questioner'. I chose this because I need to ask questions about the things I wonder about, and not keep them in my head. I think I will probably be working on 'A Questioner' for at least a week.

What is a blog?

A blog is an ICT (Information Communication Technology) tool. It is on the computer and internet-based. Blog stands for web log which is a 'log' on the internet.

Blogs can be used for showing your learning, telling people about yourself, telling people about this amazing adventure you have had, well, basically anything! Other people can have a look on your blog. They could also give you feedback or their ideas, even if they are on the other side of the world!!!

But, you may not want everyone to see it and of course you have to stay safe. So you could change settings so only some people can see your blog. Or only some people be able to to post a comment on it, or nearly anything! Also make sure you know what you are clicking on because it might be a trap!

Now a blog might seem to you like a story book on the internet but it is much better than that! Their are awesome themes and fantastic backgrounds you can can change your blog to. You can also and widgets and gadgets, photos and movies and loads more!

So that's what a blog is, so I would recommend that you try it out!!!

Term 2

Term 2!!!


The Easter holidays have been and gone. So now into Term 2. I haven't been posting for a long time but be prepared for a big wave of posts.


Andrew

Market Day Fundraiser

As I said the Year 6s at my school had a fundraiser on Monday for Year 6 camp at Stewart Island later in the year. The fundraiser was called Market Day. At Market Day the Year 6's would get into a small group and sell bakery, have raffles and competitions and things like that for the rest of thge school and other people who came along. I buddied up with a couple of mates and we had a stall called 'The Three Weirdos'. At that stall we sold popcorn, sherbet, lollie bugs, gingerbread men and gingerbread Easter bunnies. We also had a game of basketball shooting with a yummy prize at the end. Some of these items were a sell out and some weren't. We were also going to have Ten Pin Bowling but it turned out to windy. In the end all the Year 6's raised $1730 together. This was the second highest score in history of Market Day and it would have one if the won that bet it did'nt have a second fundraiser which would have earned them $300. Altogether it was a great day. If you would like to see the post before Market Day you would find it under Market Day on the 'Labels'.

Wiki

Hi I'd like to tell you about a wiki. You will probably not know what a wiki is so I'll tell you. A wiki is a thing where you can share some things about you with another person even if they are on the other side of the world. Our class is doing one with our epals from Green Bay, USA. A few people and I are in charge of the topic of 'our communities'. To share this with our epals we will have to have a tour around our community and take some photos and videos. We could then upload them and put them on a keynote(a bit like Powerpoint) and make a slideshow and then upload it onto the wiki.

Epals

Hi, a few weeks ago our teacher set up epals for our class. They come from Green Bay, USA. The epals website contains fun activities. Oops I just thought you might not know what epals are. They are like penpals but you contact them on the computer by emailing them. If you want to find out some more you could ask me your question by posting a comment(and hopefully I'll know the answer to your question). You could also check out the epals website at www.epals.com

Market Day

Next week the Year 6's are having a fundraiser called Market Day. We have it every year to fundraise for the Year 6 camp at Stewart Island. I am on a stall called 'The Three Weirdos' with my mates Tim and Robbie. We will be selling things like popcorn, lollies and sherbet and other goodies. We are also having a couple of activities of Basketball Shooting and Ten Pin Bowling with some great goodies for prizes. I will show you the results soon.

Let's make some money!

Point Blanc

I am now going to tell you about a book called Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz.


Fourteen year old Alex Rider is trying to get back into normal life. But M16 has other plans for him. Sending Alex on a dangerous mission of checking out Point Blanc Academy to find out the truth. He doesn't have any guns or weapons like that just a false ID and a handful of fantastically disguised gadgets. Things seem wrong but can he tell anybody before it's too late? Just remember Alex you are never too young to die.

Multiple Intelligences

Hi, guys Andrew here again. This post is going to be about Multiple Intelligences. Now you will probably be wondering what Multiple Intelligences are so I will tell you. Some people might think you are either smart or not smart but actually there are actually 8 different 'smarts'. They are: Bodily-Kinaesthetic (Body smart), Logical-Mathmatical (Math smart), Musical (Music smart), Interpersonal (People smart), Intrapersonal (Self smart), Naturalist (Nature smart), Visual-Spatial (Picture smart), and Verbal-Linguistic (Word smart). My best was the Math smart and the Self smart. I think these results are better then the others because I like solving problems and I prefer working on my own than working in a group. My worst is Nature smart and I think this is because you hardly see me outside and I think I can improve on this by encouraging myself to go outside more. I will show you the full results in another post as I don't have much time now. Sorry to keep you waiting but it should be on here very soon.

Tiger Golf tournament

Andrew here, you will now probably know a bit about me and why we blog from my description under the blogs name. I might tell you some more about that stuff but now is not the time. In the weekend I went in a Tiger Golf tournament (even though it was pouring) at the Invercargill Golf Club. We played some holes and some of my shots went great, but others were awful. After that we went inside for presentations. I knew I wasn't good enough to get a place but I never knew I was going to get something just as good. I ended up winning a set of golf clubs just because I entered. I really recommend trying out golf (if you haven't already) even if you are little. This following link might change children's lives and make them much better. http://juniortiger.co.nz/
Just remember, try out golf!