Matariki trip

After a night of thunder and lighting and a torrential downpour in the morning, we decided to car pool all the children to the City and Sea Museum for the first part of the trip. It was fantastic how many parents and our staff came together to get everyone to the museum dry. After watching a video about the Maori migration to New Zealand, Karaka was split into two groups to explore the museum. The first group explored the Attic to find objects and displays they found fascinating while the second group were shown tools used for navigation. Then they swapped.

After taking the cable car up to the lookout and then walking to Space Place, Karaka was once again split into two groups. In the first rotation, the group went into the Planetarium to watch a video about space and satellites before being shown how to find the Southern Cross and Matariki. In the next rotation, the students investigated how to make navigational tools and how GPS systems use multiple satellites to locate points. Afterwards, they made compasses using a needle and magnet and used rulers to find points on the floor.

It was impressive how quickly the students walked back to school after getting off the cable car. Best of it, we stayed dry on a very wet day.

Supporting each other in our maths

We have been working in our table groups to discuss a number of written maths problems.
Each group member reads a problem out loud and tells the others how they will solve it.
If they get stuck then they can ask for help to it or or have a part of the problem explained. Others in the group need to solve the problem in their head, listen to the explanation and be ready to offer assistance.

Want to check your parents problem solving skills?
Why not try these problems from Under the Waves.

Image for our writing inspiration this week

We used this image to support our writing this week. Students brainstormed their ideas using the picture and then went on to organise these using a 'hamburger'. The 'hamburger helps to structure their ideas into paragraphs and add detail.

Most students have used the image to generate ideas. The questions are available for those who need a little help to structure their stories.

We have used the hamburger to help us structure our ideas. If you would like to try some writing at home here are links to the website and planning template. 

After looking at seasons in inquiry today we quickly looked at this video.
It shows the endless sunshine during the summer months (at the North Pole).

Matariki

Wow we've had a huge start to our Matariki inquiry.  Here's a taste of some of the things we've been up to:

Finding out about:
- stars and constellations
- seasons
- myths and legends
- how we celebrate
- Ki-o-rahi (a Māori game)
- Weaving using recycled objects

And it's only week 2!

Here are some photos of what we've been up to:
 

Sky map

If you'd like to do some star gazing at home, download "Sky map," which is an app you can get on android, i phones, i pads and chrome books.  When you point your phone to the sky, it can show you which stars, constellations and planets you are looking at.  You can also search for a particular constellation and it will direct you towards it.

Hopefully we'll get some cloudless nights soon and you can have a play with it!

Matariki

Today, we started our inquiry into Matariki. We visited Te Papa and explored aspects of Matariki, such as how they store food in a Paataka and how they ate raw fish on the journey to New Zealand. The stars were important as the Maori used them as a guide on their trip.

Then in the afternoon we broke into two groups and began some science exploration about stars and seasons.