Thursday 20 October 2016

Which Pizza will rise the most?

Shona and Susie's base groups have been learning and wondering about raising agents. We found out that raising agents make food rise. The four raising agents we have been talking about are eggs, yeast, baking powder and baking soda.


Today we experimented which pizza base would rise the most. We made two pizzas one with baking powder and one without.

Mitchell thought the pizza base with baking powder would rise the most.

Leola was curious to see which pizza rises the most.

In a big bowl we had:
- flour
- 1 tablespoon oil
- baking powder
- salt
- water

In the little bowl we had:
- flour
- salt
- 1 cup oil
- water

Then we had to put them both in the oven. We had to flatten it down with a rolling pin, a spoon or our hands.

We think the pizza needs to bake for around 30 minutes. We think it will be ready to eat when it looks stiff, a little burnt, golden brown, tan, maybe black around the edges, a little hard, crunchy or smooth.

We took a vote...24 people thought the pizza with baking powder would rise the most. 2 people thought the one with no baking powder would rise higher.

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Exciting opportunity for students interested in environmental issues!

Our students gardening today
Hi Parents and Students in Tautoru,

Z are holding an annual Safety Day in late November. They would like us to help them to understand more about reducing waste...

Message from Emily Watt, "This is an event that brings 600 Z staff and friends together to share lessons about our company’s values and changes we can make in our lives to benefit people and the planet.
We’re aiming to make our event a Zero Waste event this year, and use the day to inspire our staff and guests to continue to reduce their waste. We’ve been looking for an inspiring speaker/s to help get the message across, and wondered if some of your students would be able to help? As a Zero Waste school, and champions of the plastic bag free peninsula, we can’t think of better ambassadors and educators for our guests!"

Students will create a short, fun video (made by a professional company) with the students explaining the importance of recycling and how to do it and urging people to do better."

If you would like to be part of the video and are passionate about recycling and environmental issues, then please apply to be part of this event.

Please write to Nicola and explain:
1. Why you would like to be part of this?
2. What environmental issues are you passionate about?
3. What skills can you bring?

Applications need to be in by Tuesday 25th October.

Many thanks,

Nicola

Gardening Inquiry




The Year Threes have been learning about planting. We will be planting gardens down at bottom grass. They have been measuring, persevering and using teamwork.

First we went into groups and decided to come up with what they wanted to plant in their little piece of garden.

Next we told the teachers what we wanted to plant in our garden.
We also made a grid and tried to fit everything in our pieces of land.

Then we had to tell our teachers what the size of our garden was.


Today we did some weeding and started to flatten the soil...
By Rim and Liam

Maths inquiry - planting and what to do with the mint?


In maths we have started an inquiry into planting. We wanted to find out how many plants we need for the space, how much money it was going to cost, and also decide what to plant.

We have started to weed the large planter boxes on the back court. They are filled with delicious smelling mint. We spent the morning removing the mint and we are planning to make mint pesto later on in the week.

It has been a great opportunity to work together and put maths into a real life context.



Tuesday 18 October 2016

Continuing learning at home...

We are really excited that our students are continuing their learning at home. We share learning on the blog, seesaw and the newsletter so that these learning conversations continue at home. This has helped us to have deeper conversations with our students at school. Just amazing!


Blakey (the sheep) and his friend have been growing plants at home. They are preparing for our growing/ planting Inquiry.

These students went home and made a healthy cake for an athlete after writing a recipe for a healthy snack.




And some more healthy snacks below... 


... And we love the rollerific marathon balls!


Please keep asking questions and talking about your learning at home! 

Jam and Preserving

We are wondering about jam... Please go home and see what the use by date is on your jam or other preserves. 


Made with Padlet

Monday 17 October 2016

Video Call with Bukit Timah School/ Singapore


We did a video call with Bukit Timah Primary School on the 15th of October. Nicola went to visit this school last term!
They asked a lot of  questions and we asked a lot of questions. They answered a lot of questions and we answered a lot of questions. They have around 900 pupils and they have 20 ish pupils in a class.
Singapore does have a few lightning storms because they have a very hot climate so most of them wear shorts or skirts.
They asked us if our teachers are fierce. We told them that our teachers are funny.
You might think it is an old school because they do have lots of desks.
They speak Tamil, English, Malay and Chinese and a lot of other different languges.
We enjoyed our video call with Bukit Timah School and we look forward to doing it again soon.  
    
By Edward and Ridley