THE FARADAY CENTRE

Last Wednesday our class went to the Faraday Centre to look at the display on wheels. We had lots of fun.


Gaynor, the teacher at the Faraday Centre, told us about the history of wheels.

Does this look easy? What do we need to do to make it easier?

Ah ha! Using cylinders of wood, like wheels or rollers, there was no friction and we could move our load.



There were lots of wheels on this vintage car. Not just four.

This was one of the largest wheels. It was attached to a fire extinguisher.

What do you think they used the sultana sorter for?

Imagine saddling up every morning to go to school. No cars!



The girls were much stronger than Mrs Strand. They did have an advantage though...the pulley helped.

Turning the wheel helped make clothes. Everyone loved using the sewing machine.



The jigger was fun too.




This wheel steered a boat.




"It would have taken a long time to make our school uniform."

"Hellooooo down there."

This wheel played music. You had to put a coin in. It was like a giant music box.



These carts carried logs. They were pulled by horses.

The wheels were made of wood.

WHEELS

On Friday we made cars and learnt how to make axles so that our wheels would turn freely. We used straws and put kebab sticks inside them, then fixed wheels onto the kebab sticks.

 

 

 

 

" I think I need some help to push the wheels on."



"Will it go fast? I think I need to give it a number."

"Just a bit more cellotape....."

"I wonder if my wheels are too close together?"

Ready. Steady. GO!!!!

"I hope my car is the fastest!"

"I'm going to cut out a place for the driver to sit."

"I want to put some lights on the front. I'll use this nail."

"What else does it need?"



"Oh no! Mine went crooked."

 As you can see, we had lots of fun!!

Folk Dancing

On Friday we got together with our buddy class and did some folk dancing. Our first dance was The Bird Dance. It was fun!

Our Buddy Class from Room 4 are  Year 4's (standard 2).

And around we go....change direction...



Get those wings flapping to the music.



We were moving so fast that the camera couldn't catch us!!

DISCOVERY  LEARNING

For the first 5 weeks of the term, each Friday between 11.30 and 12.30 the Junior School have Discovery Learning. This is where the children get to create, discover and learn, focussing on the Key Competencies of Managing Self; Relating to Others; Participating and Contributing; Language, Symbols and Texts; and Thinking.  They choose where they would like to go. There is woodwork, construction, IT, building technology , dress ups, water play, art, stitchery and science experiments. The children love Friday. I was lucky enough to get to wander around and see what everyone was up to.


Room 10 is popular for art and craft.

You get to use paint, glue, glitter and pastels.



A Year 6 student helping out with instructions.



Room 8 is also popular.
There is construction and creating.

Woodwork is enjoyable for lots of the boys.



Some work together.



Others like to be independent.

Using the road mat and vehicles is a
 bit quieter.



In Room 9 there are the i-pads and
computers.There are also some 
bee-bots. Ask your child what these are.



Role play. Some of the children made
a plane with seats and gave out food.

Measuring  Area

Last week we were learning about Area.  When you measure Area, you are measuring space or room that an object takes up.

Our activity was to measure how much space our foot took up. First we took off our right shoe, then we helped each other to draw around it, colour it in and cut it out.

Careful colouring.

Careful cutting.

Then we used counters to fill up the space inside the foot.

We had to make sure that all of the counters were the same size.

We also had to make sure that the counters sat inside the foot print.
 

Then we counted the counters and wrote the number inside the foot.




 



We found that some of us had the same area sized foot but were a different shape. It also depended on how accurate we were at measuring and cutting our foot.

Look What We Have Been Doing?

When we came back to school after the holidays, we read the big book called A Good Idea. It had thought bubbles in it. Do you know the difference between a speech bubble and a thought bubble?

This is a very young teacher.

Then we made zebra puppets out of paper bags. The zebra was one of the characters in the story.

This is the model of what it should look like.
It isn't quite finished.

Cut out carefully.



We used our glue sticks. We had to remember to put the
lids back on so that they didn't dry out.

"What are you going to call your zebra?"



Measuring Length



We were using animal strips to measure objects in the classroom.



The pencil was 7 animals long. 6 + 1 = 7



Measuring the pointer. That was really long! You had to count accurately



"I wonder how long the book is...."

 

 

Here is our bucket band. These are our buckets. We are learning about beat. First we clapped rhythms. Then used the buckets and claves to make music. Now we have a beat. Next week we will add chime bars for a tune.

 

 

 

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