Saturday 2 March 2019

What's ACING in Room 5?





Introducing Rockets!






Term 2 has seen Room 5 launch into a very exciting initiative with the help of Engineering NZ!



Over these two terms the children and I have followed the process below to design, fly, fix up, and ultimately join the blast off competition with our water rockets.



We certainly had a lot to think about and learn about before we got down to designing!


If you would like to have a go at making your own at home, this website has some really good stuff!  http://www.uswaterrockets.com/

Here are some photos of us designing and making our rockets. You can tell by the faces that this bit of our journey took a lot of creativtiy, flexible thinking, and quite a bit of courage!
































Launching our prototypes for the first time.












Some went very high and needed rescuing! 



Here are some videos you might like to watch:

Just click on the links below and it will take you straight to the Youtube video.


Decorating our rockets up for the final blast off competition!

























Finally the day arrived!!




Watch the following video to find our top 8 rocket launchers!  Well done to everyone. A VERY BIG   thank you goes out to Hyram Ballard and Russell Smithies - we couldn't have done it without you. 






CONGRATULATONS ANGUS! 




As part of our digital technology this year, the children in Room 5 are trialling a number of engaging, creative, and super fun gadgets that we might like to purchase for school.

Makey Makey is our first one.  Our challenge was to create a simple circuit that would replace the keyboard on a chromebook.  Once successfully made, the children then had to try and play simple songs on the makey makey piano.  
The music is then played through such objects as fruit, vegetables, utensils, playdough, even themselves.














Head to the following link to find out more!  https://makeymakey.com/




CoSpaces Edu is an educational technology that enables the creation of virtual worlds and learning experiences whilst providing a more flexible approach to the learning curriculum. Working inside your browser, CoSpaces Edu allows users to create, explore and experience their own creations using customisable building tools and 3D assets. With numerous practical uses for both teachers and students, CoSpaces Edu opens up a whole new classroom for creating virtual models, presentations, narratives and much more. Learners can animate and code their creations with CoBlocks, JavaScript or TypeScript before exploring and sharing them in VR.


The children are at the moment creating their own town or zoo in CoSpaces.  Their challenge after school camp is to create an eco sanctuary or an eco friendly tourist accommodation for the increasing population on Stewart Island. 
We will update this learning as we go.  I will also create a link to share their creations. 





Helping celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

A couple of weeks ago, we were given the opportunity to spend a morning at the museum seeing science for girls in action. 

The Otago Museum, in conjunction with the Dodd Walls Centre of Research Excellence, wanted to recognise the importance of encouraging females to pursue careers in science.  We were invited  to join them and celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

Science Wonders
A behind the scenes visit lead by our team of science communicators to TÅ«hura Otago Community Trust Science Centre, which has over 45 hands-on interactives, including a three-tier tropical butterfly enclosure and the Perpetual Guardian Planetarium, a 360° cinema. 

Changemakeher
A 2 hour interactive workshop lead by Girl Boss Alexia Hilbertidou and designed to outline the myriad ways a knowledge of STEAM will equip young women to powerfully impact their own communities.








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