P is for Paper Planes

We looked at how the shape of the wing can change a planes direction in Discovery today
First we decorated, then folded a piece of paper in half so that the long sides met. Then we opened it

out and folded the top corners to the crease
Then we folded down the whole triangle shape that we just made so that the tip lined up with the crease in the middle
Next, we folded down the corners at the top so that they met a little way above the tip of the triangle.
Then we folded up the tip of the triangle so it overlapped the folded-down flaps and held them in place.
Once we had done that we turned the paper over, folded it in half down the middle crease and smoothed out the creases.
To make the wings, we folded both sides down.

This would have been a fun dart throwing competition, but we took it further. We looked at how the planes flew then tried curling the wings up or down to see what happened to the flight direction.

Mihi - Introductory Speeches

Sunflower Art

Look at these beautiful sunflowers!

Sunflowers on PhotoPeach

Visit from the Volunteer Fire Brigade

We have been making sure we know what it means to be firewise.
Today we had a visit from the local fire brigade in Tawa. Simon reminded us all about keeping safe and also let us look around the big fire truck

Smoke Rises

As pert of our "Firewise" investigation, we know that in the event of a fire we need to "Get down, get low, and get out fast".
Today though, we looked at why we have to do this.
We lit a big candle and put a glass jar partially over it. We let the candle burn for a little bit and the jar 'caught' some smoke before putting the jar completely over the candle.

What happened (beside the candle going out) was that the smoke rose to the top of the jar and there was a clear gap at the bottom. We think that s because the smoke would have been hotter that the air and as heat rises, the smoke did too.

N is for Noses!

This week's Science Focus for Discovery was all about using your Nose!
We had to match up the similar smells in a lot of containers.

There were things like perfume,washing liquid, lemon, vinegar, and curry - all having their own distinct smell to find.

Fresh air never smelt so good!!

What happens when fire burns up oxygen

We have been looking at how fire burns. This is a neat experiment but needs to be done with a grown-up.

You need
- Candle and matches
- container
- glass jar
- Water
- Food colouring

What to do:

1. Add enough water to fill the bottom of the container.

2. Put 3 or 4 drops of your favourite colour of food colouring into the water and mix it up.

3. Place the candle in the middle of the container. (We used blutac to stick it down)

4. Light the candle.

5. Take the glass jar and place it over the lit candle.

 What happens to the water level inside the glass? What happens to the flame on the
candle?


What’s going on:

The flame on the candle needs the gas oxygen to keep burning. Once we place the glass
container over the lit candle, the oxygen inside begins to get used up. Once all the oxygen has
been used, the flame will go out. However, there are still other gases remaining inside the
glass (nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, etc). But these gases have lower pressure inside the
glass when compared to the higher atmospheric pressure on the outside of the glass.  This
higher atmospheric pressure from the outside pushes the water from the plate up and into the
glass.

http://www.weirdsciencekids.com/whydoesthewaterrise.html

Buoyancy

Buoyancy on PhotoPeach



Buoyancy by Lyvia

First Mrs Brieseman gave plasticine to our table group. We rolled it up into a ball and put it in a container of water. It sunk. After that we flattened it down and tried to float that but it sunk too. Then we folded the sides up like a boat and that floated because the air had something to carry it in. Air doesn't sink. Boats float because they can hold air even though they can be heavy.

Buoyancy by Caroline

First we rolled up the plasticine and put it in the water. It sunk because there was no air. Then we made it flat with sides. It still sunk because there was a hole! Then we fixed the hole. Then we put the sides up more. Then it floated – yay!! We floated 2 marbles on our boat. It really needed sides to float.

Buoyancy by Nikora

First my group got plasticine. We rolled the plasticine into a ball and put it in the water. It sunk because it didn’t hold any air. Then we flattened the plasticine and tried to float that. It sunk too. Then we put sides on to make it look like a boat. It sunk because we had holes in it. Me and my group covered up the holes one by one and our boat floated.

Top T- Ball Players!

We play t-tball. Ella has played since when she turned 5. Messam has as well. Our team is called PCU Wolves and we have had a great season.

At Prize Giving we both got prizes. Ella got the Most Improved Playerand and Messam got the Most Valuable Player.

By Ella and Messam

Magical Marbles with Momentum!

The letter of the week this week was 'M' so we looked at:

 Moving Magical Marbles with More Momentum than Most

We set up 2 metre rulers on a table - just wide enough to make a track for marbles to run along. Then we placed 1 marble on our track. We put another marble about 10 cm further along the track and flicked the first marble along to hit the second one. When they hit, the first marble stayed still and the second marble started moving. 

We then tried this with different combinations

 - 1 marble hitting 8 = the last in the row of 8 moved

- 2 marbles hitting 5 = the last 2 in the row of 5 moved.

The marble that had been rolling stopped while the one that had been still rolled! The momentum of the rolling marble transfers to the other one, stopping the first and setting the second in motion.