Grandparents day

It was great to have so many special visitors in class today.
Thanks for supporting and encouraging the students.
Here are a few photos from the day.

 
 
 

Marae Trip

Today we had a fabulous time visiting the Orakei Marae.

We did a quick practice with Matua Paul

 We waited to be welcomed onto the marae

Miss Bridgeman was our kaikaranga

Whaea Ngahuia welcomed us in to the marae.
Matua Paul spoke for our school to say thanks for having us.

We sang our song 'E rau rangatira ma'

Matua Jamie talked to us inside the marae.

Look at the amazing kowhaiwhai designs

 We learned about what the carvings meant.
The hawk is the marae's guardian.

 Whaea Ngahuia taught us a haka powhiri

The marae grows vegetables and has a nursery to replant the area in native trees.

What a great day!

Observing Crystals

Room 16 examined some well known crystals using magnifying glasses thinking about their shape, colour, smell & size.  (Sand, salt, jelly crystals!)

Making Crystals

This week in Room 16 we have been making crystals.

We twisted pipe-cleaners into interesting shapes and then hung our shape in a mixture of boiling water (1l) and Borax crystals (2/3 c).
As the water cooled, crystals began to form on the pipe-cleaners.
The next day we found sparkly crystals.
Very cool!

Crystals forming on the pipe-cleaner

 Pipe-cleaners suspended in the Borax solution

Walking Trip to Hobson Bay

Room 16 had a great time at Hobson Bay.

 We looked at the changes to Hobson Bay:

* Rocks and sand

 * Seats and signs

 * The boardwalk

* Fabulous art!
This mosaic was made by VAS students in 2015!

We had lots of fun.