On Thursday year six and 8 other Hunter schools travelled to Kahibah Public School to participate in the annual Science and Engineering Day. The challenge is a practical day of fun, teamwork and discovery. Our school was split into groups of three or more and we were assigned two activities for the day. The projects are designed as hands-on activities to demonstrate the varied and practical elements of a career in science and engineering. One of the most popular activities was called GetOver It. Our team was asked to construct a bridge using Styrofoam trays, masking tape, pieces of A4 paper, drinking straws and paddle pop sticks. The aim of the activity was to get a cart full of weights across your bridge without it collapsing. Both our school’s bridges were successful in holding the heaviest weights.
Other activities on the day included creating a buggy out of planks of wood, axles, wheels, bolts and nuts and test its design over a bumpy surface, creating a structure to withstand the shaking of an ‘earthquake’, designing a balloon powered cart, creating an energy efficient city and transfering amounts of water to speci Throughout the day points were given to teams for their groups design and team work. It was a nerve racking wait for the point score updates as in the morning we were leading! By lunch we had dropped to 3rd place but gained points by mid-afternoon and had retained 1st place! The final tally was done and GEPS came in 4th position. It is the most successful position we have achieved to date. So well done Year 6!!
Here are some comments about the day: “It was a fun and educational day and I liked all the activities.” Martin Fogarty
“I enjoyed working with my group, trying to solve problems. I also learnt lots of new things.” Sophie Sykes
“I found the Science Day thrilling and challenging.” Lily Cooke
“I enjoyed working as a team.” Daneka Kennedy
“I loved the Science Day because we got to work as a team and the high school students were really helpful. I would definitely go again.” Jasmine Gibson
With Mr MacGregor's help, we used iMotion to explore the world of animations. We began to create our models and designs and then took a series of still photos as we went. When played in iMotion, we were able to create some fabulous short animations. Have a look at our class page on the school website for our actual video footage.
This term we have been reading and writing a variety of descriptive texts. We have now turned our focus to book reviews and personal responses. After reading The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry we have written our own review of the book.
The Great Kapok Tree by Lexxi
The Great Kapok Tree is a fabulous book written by Lynne Cherry. Lynne Cherry writes for children and is the author/ illustrator for some of her books. The Great Kapok Tree is one of her most popular books and has sold over one million copies. Lynne Cherry has also written the book The River Ran Wild which also shows children the love she feels for the rainforest. If you are looking for a good role model, it's Lynne Cherry.
The Great Kapok Tree is a story about a man who wants to cut down the kapok tree but soon he falls asleep under the tree. While he is asleep, animals such as the frog, snake, jaguar and macaw all tell the man why he shouldn't cut down the tree. The monkeys, porcupines and sloth are also in the book trying to persuade the man.
I believe that the book is magnificent because of the bright fluorescent colours of the water paints and the reasons that the animals give to the man. In the book they don't just teach the man not to cut down the tree, they also teach us to care for the rainforests and forests. Lynne Cherry's letter at the end persuaded me not to damage the environment and has probably taught thousands of people not to as well.
This week the students had a fun introduction to our rainforest themed digital art by exploring 'augmented reality'. This is where a view of reality (or an artwork) is modified using a computer app. The app wraps the images around an animated 3D model and instantly brings them to life. The children soon discovered that their artworks could become a form of entertainment.
This Thursday 5/6BM experienced working with the Apple staff at the Charlestown store to create their imovies about Life on the Goldfields. The students learnt how to import music, use filters to create special effects and add a trailer to the beginning of their movie. Below are some student comments about their day......
Our trip to the Apple store was great. I learnt how to use imovie on a Mac computer. Sophie
At the Apple store we were shown how to add text to our imovie and also how to import music It was fun! Iszack
On Thursday the Apple staff guided us through how to import a trailer into our imovie about Life on the Goldfields Brianna
We had an excellent time at the Apple store today. We were there to edit our imovie that we have been working on over the last 3 weeks. We learnt interesting ways to add a trailer to the beginning of our movie and even how to have credits at the end!! Sara and Lori
Last week Years 5 and 6 had a fabulous trip away down to Mogo on the south coast. Not even the constant heavy rain could dampen our spirits as we panned for gold and explored life on the goldfields!
Monkeys were a common subject in many of Henri Rousseau's artworks. As part of our unit on rainforests, we will be exploring the ways in which plants and animals have adapted to survive in their environment.
Sara and Daneka have both focussed on using radiating lines to add detail to their sketches.