Podcast #10

A Typical Day in Room 3!

Extreme Reading

Sleep Tight

The X-Men read a journal story called 'Sleep Tight' by David Hill. They discovered that we have up to eight dreams a night but rarely remember them. Charlotte and Kalani designed their own dream machines to solve this problem.

Should Seaworld release its Orcas into the Wild?

The Justice League read an article on Kiwi Kids News about Seaworld's Orca programme. They then evaluated the claim "Seaworld should release its Orcas"

Should Seaworld release its orcas into the wild?

Seaworld is a theme park operator famous for its live orca shows. Seaworld has 12 parks across the USA with a total of 29 orcas. Recently there has been a lot of heavy criticism regarding the ethical treatment of these creatures. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is petitioning the US government to force Seaworld to stop breeding orcas and release them into the wild.

PETA and others believe that the orcas should be released because their enclosures are often too cramped. When the animals are kept in small enclosures they get bored and depressed. Signs that an orca is suffering in captivity include when their dorsal fin collapses and hangs down, they also bang their heads and teeth on the enclosure.

The orcas imprisoned by Seaworld often die prematurely too from stress and from other captivity related causes. The orcas held in captivity also have a history of killing their trainers. According to the documentary ‘Blackfish’ no humans have ever been killed by an orca in the wild.

Seaworld defends its orca programme by saying that the orcas would not be able to survive in the wild as they have only been trained in captivity and may lack the necessary natural behaviours to survive (LAtimes.com).

Overall we strongly believe Seaworld should release their orcas. We recommend that they are released in open water enclosures where they can gradually learn the behaviours they need to survive in the wild. We encourage people to not support Seaworld by not attending their parks or shows.

So Good To Me

The Guardians of the Galaxy described the characters, settings and events in the music video "So Good to Me' by Chris Malinchak

Post It Wars

Inspired by the article here we have started our own #postitwars. Whose next Halsey Drive?

The Greatest Show On Earth

Welcome to the 'Greatest Show on Earth' featuring Halsey Drive teachers.

School of the Future

We think Halsey Drive School does amazing things with Technology, Music, Art and Science. You may even say we are the 'School of the Future'.

Our Whole School Assembly

Here is the reaction to our Art video we shared in assembly. You can watch the video yourself below

Need U 100% Radio News

The X-Men used their inference skills to imagine how the people in the music video to Duke Dumont's Need U 100% would have reacted to seeing the strange man with the music tape stuck in his stomach

Speech Semi Finalists

Should Animals Be Kept in Circuses?

WALT - Evaluate Ideas in the Text

In the story “One dog and his Boy” by Eva Ibbotson the dogs ran away to the circus. We wondered whether animals should be kept in circuses to perform for people’s entertainment.

Heila - Animals can be harmed

Some people argue that animals should not be used in circuses because they can get harmed. If the animals get a trick wrong or even ruin the whole show, the animals can get whipped by the ringmaster, get no food to eat or anything to drink for a day. Animals that don’t perform well may be sold to the worst animal shelters.

Sara  - Money raised can help people

However some people argue that animals should be used in circuses because the money raised can help the circus and if the circus gets more money they can use it to improve the care, health and shelter for the animals and they could also hire proper trainers that don’t harm animals.

Joshua G - Disrupt natural food chains

If animals were taken for the circus for example tigers are often taken to perform in shows. This would negatively impact not just the tiger. Because tigers are already rare if they are taken to circuses there would be not enough predatory animals left in the jungle food chain to control the amount of other animals.

Kaelem - Animals can be taken care of

One argument why animals should be used in circuses is that In the wild animals would find it much harder to find themselves food or make a home/shelter. If they were at a circus they would be taken care of, the animals would have lots of premium food to help for their performances and they would also have a nice warm shelter/home they could rest in safely.

Conclusion

Overall we strongly believe that despite some arguments animals should not be used in circuses to entertain people. Animals kept in captivity for performances often suffer depression, lack natural behaviours and often leads to self harming. We encourage everyone to boycott going to circuses that use animals.

Read All About It!

The first edition of the 'X-Men Chronicle" summarises the events in the video "Need U 100%"

Money Matters

Term 3 Concept: Financial Capability - ‘Money Matters’

Next term the whole school concept has a Social Science & Maths focus and links to developing financial capability from an early age.

The key understanding the children will develop is that financial planning matters as it influences future choices and possibilities.  The driving question, ‘how can we be smart with our money?’ will allow the children to explore the following aspects of money at an appropriate level.

• Money
• Spending
• Credit & Debt
• Saving & investing
• Income & taxation
• Budgeting & Financial management
• Setting goals
• Identifying & managing risk
• Rights & responsibilities

The children will develop an understanding of the value of money and the concept of “The Three S’s” (saving, spending and sharing). Through “The Three S’s” the children will learn that it is important to save a third of their earning, spend a third and share a third.  The sharing could be within the family, local community or wider community, e.g. charities, church.

Need U 100%

The X-Men watched the music video for the song "Need U 100%" they then described the characters, settings and events in the video

Karakia

Totara Statistical Investigation

Nikau Statistical Investigation

Rimu Statistical Investigation

Kauri Statistical Investigation

Delivering a Speech

Rocket Science

What was happening?

There’s nothing like a little rocket science to add some excitement to the day. When you add the vinegar it starts to dissolve the alka-seltzer tablet. This creates carbon dioxide. As the carbon dioxide is being released, it creates pressure inside the film canister. The more gas that is made, the more pressure builds up until the cap it blasted down and the rocket is blasted up. This system of thrust is how a real rocket works whether it is in outer space or here in the earth’s atmosphere.

Breaking News - Supernatural Occurence

The Avengers used their summarising skills to create a radio broadcast about the events depicted in the music video for Titanium by David Guetta.

Titanium

The Avengers used lyrics and the music video to describe characters, settings and events

Speech Conclusions

Podcast #9

Elephant's Toothpaste

Foam is awesome! 

The foam we made is special because each tiny foam bubble is filled with oxygen. The yeast acted as a catalyst (a helper) to remove the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide. Since it did this very fast, it created lots and lots of bubbles. The bottle got very warm. The experiment created a reaction called an Exothermic reaction - that means it not only created foam, it creates heat! The foam produced is just water, soap and oxygen so we could just clean it up and pour it down the drain. This experiment is sometimes called “Elephant’s Toothpaste” because it looks like toothpaste coming out of a tube.

Te Reo Guide to the Planets

Here is Fiona's guide to the name of the planets in Te Reo Maori.

Matariki Vs Pleiades

The Justice League compared two cultures myths of Matariki.

June the 6th marked the start of Matariki also known as Maori New Year. This time of year was traditionally used to remember and honour those who have died in the last year, and to celebrate the harvest of fruits, vegetables, fish and birds. There are many cultures who recognise the seven stars, two of which are the Maori and the Greek.

Cultural Myths - Kaelem

There are many cultural myths about the seven stars. One of the myths are from the Maori culture of Aotearoa. Maori used the stars to find they way around the seas they also used the starts to find the change of seasons. Greeks mythology says the stars were created by ancient gods. The Greeks studied astrology as part of their education.  

Creation Stories - Joshua

Both cultures have myths to explain the creation of the seven stars. The Maori believed that the gods created Matariki while the Greeks thought that the gods and the mortals created Pleiades. One of the Greek myths was that the god Zeus turned seven of Pleione’s children into stars and scattered them into the night sky.

Different names - Dineesh

Both cultures name the seven stars of Matariki. In Maori some of the star names include

Tupu-a-rangi which means grow a day, Tupu-a-nuku which means grow and move, Waiti which means white, Waita which means song, Waipuna-a-rangi , Uru-a-rangi and Matariki.

In Greek the names include Atlas, Taygeta, Pleione, Maia, Merope, Electra and Alcyone which are named after characters in ancient Greek mythology.

Many Myths - Rhea

There are many Greek and Maori myths surrounding Matariki. One of the Maori myths on how the Matariki stars (seven sisters) were made was how Tane-Mahuta was jealous of a very bright star. Tane-Mahuta got so jealous that he hurled the bright star so hard that it splintered into seven pieces. One of the Greek myths was that Greek god leader, Zeus, fought a war against the giant Titans. The Greek gods won and since Zeus was so angry at Atlas, he made Atlas hold the world on his shoulders. But he was still angry at Atlas, so he took all of his daughters and threw them into the sky.  

Six Sisters - Caleb

Both Greek and Maori stories include six sisters but include them differently. For many Maori, Matariki is a mother and her six daughters. In Greek myths the Pleiades stars are named after Atlas and Pleiones daughters.

Learning about the origins of Matariki is important because it is part of our New Zealand culture. In Maori it is a time of year to remember people who have passed away and be grateful for what we have (Harvest). Even though we don’t harvest crops it is still a good idea to be thankful for what we have.

Matariki Myth

The Avengers retold a Maori Myth of Matariki

Statistics and Probability

Created with Padlet

Samoan Language Week

 

Fa'afetai Mr Tomokino

How's the Weather today?

Can you guess the weather from the conversation above?

Podcast #8

Gecko-Man

The Justice League read an article on DOGO NEWS about whether spiderman could exist in real life? Some scientists believed that to climb walls humans would need to be more like a gecko. The Justice League created a super suit using ideas from the text for the next superhero 'Geckoman' 

Life as a Huhu Grub

The Guardians of the Galaxy collaborated on this short story. They used information from the text "Huhu Escape" by Jan Maguinness to imagine what it would be like to be a huhu grub.

WALT – Use information in the text

I slithered through the long, wet grass towards my lunch, an old rotting log. “Uhmmm delicious” I thought to myself. I began to eat and eat and eat the tasty treat.

I ate until I was so full I felt like I couldn’t move an inch. I lay very still waiting for something to happen. Then suddenly a strange feeling came across me as first feet and then legs started to grow from my body. Next delicate wings began to form from my back. I thought “what’s going on?” My soft, squishy body started to get harder like a rock. My white flesh turned black as the night sky. I had totally transformed into another creature.

I crawled through the tunnels and started to beat my wings. I left the ground for the first time. I wobbled in the air as I was not use to this feeling. I carried on until I was exhausted. I landed in a new home, ready for my new life.