The Allen Centre is full of ways to help each other, to discover something new by getting stuck in and contributing by passing on that new knowledge to others. We have made POMS POMS using the expertise of Reid in Room 3, (THANK YOU REID). We learnt the traditional way, a pompom on a fork, cardboard roll pompoms, and even one around your hand.
If you get the chance to read this book, the children of Outram REALLY recommend you do! It also has a really cool website with activities to do. Follow the link below to check it out.
We started off our Young Ocean Exploring by watching the short clip on the RAYS that live in and around Little Barrier Island
Did you know?
STINGRAYS move through the water like a flying carpet, while EAGLERAYS flap their wings like a bird. A MANTA RAY is a big as your Trampoline!!
Below you will find pictures of the Stingrays we made.
Some of our finished stingrays swimming in the Allen Centre Ocean!
What eats sharks for breakfast? The Orca! Did you know that Orca have tummy buttons, and they can travel up to 150 km in a day. That's like going around a running track 375 times! Orca cruise at about 10km an hour, although when hunting, they can reach nearly 50 km per hour.
We found out that Orca are in real danger from beaching in our shallow waters, because they will never ever give up on chasing a ray for lunch! We also found out that humans are the Orca's predator. With increasing pressure on our ecosystems and their food supplies, and with pollution levels affecting water quality. Even boats and jet-skis can be disruptive and dangerous.
In response to learning all about Orca we tried our hand at Origami Whales. See our great designs below!
The next was - SHARKS!!!
"Your'e standing on a boat above a big underwater rock that is known to attract lots of sharks. Do you jump in?"
a) IMMEDIATELY
b) YES (but only because your dad and his mate who is a total shark expert...are already in the water grinning up at you)
c) NO WAY!!!!
ANSWER: B!
Did you know that sharks like the Mako have binocular vision, this means that both eyes can look straight ahead like ours giving them the ability to judge distances. Very important to catch prey.
If you roll a shark onto its back it goes to sleep!!
Sharks' skin is covered in really tiny teeth that you can only see with a microscope. Each of these teeth is unique to each species of shark. In the Mako these tiny skin teeth actually help the shark to swim faster!
Around the world there are over 400 species of shark. In New Zealand around 70 species are found, ranging from the tiny pygmy shark to the giant whale shark!
We had a go at making sharks that could bite! I am sorry there is so few pictures. We were too busy making to take any!!
If you would like to have a go please click on the link below.
Turtles were the following week. Did you know that there are five species of turtle in and around New Zealand - the green turtle, leatherback, loggerhead, hawksbill and olive ridley. The most commonly sighted is the green turtle.
We watched an amazing short clip on turtles. Included was a very strong message about plastics in our oceans! Sea turtles feed in shallow harbours where rubbish tends to collect. One turtle had been found with over 500 pieces of plastic inside it!!!
We watched a turtle rescued and put in rehab at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium.
Riley and her Dad say that kids can make a huge difference to looking after our oceans. Influence your family and friends to do the right thing and dream big! There is a lovely story in Riley's book about a girl called Samara who inspired her class to work on a school project to establish a marine reserve in their local harbour. Imagine that! WOW!
You can find out and read more by following the link below.
We celebrated Sea Turtles in New Zealand by making sun catchers just in time for summer. Each time we see the sun glinting off our creations over the holidays, we can remember to care for the turtles and keep rubbish out of the sea. Many of us will be at the beach over the holidays. We will make sure to pick up any rubbish we see!
This week is all about Dolphins. Below you will find an interview with Dolphin Guru Dr Karen Stockin.
We can't wait to see what we are going to find out!
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