Weighing and measuring Fluffy

Sketching Fluffy

More about Fluffy

Fluffy is very friendly and tame.

Fluffy

Here is Fluffy two days old.

Incubating eggs

We have a new member of our class. Her name is Fluffy. She is a Rhode Island Red chicken. We hatched her out in an incubator. It took 24 days, longer than the usual 21 days for hens' eggs. We had to roll the eggs over twice a day for the first 17 days and keep the temperature inside the incubator constant at 39 degrees celsius.
We named a second chicken that hatched out Duffy but she died. We buried her in Nature's Way.

Book Week

During Book Week we had a special day when we came dressed as our favourite character. Can you spot a pirate, Tintin, Mother Bear, Snow White, Pippi Longstocking or any of your favourite characters amongst us?

Nelson Provincial Museum Trip

Last term we had a very interesting trip to the Body Alive exhibition. We found out lots of things about our bodies and tested our strength and speed. Room 15's favourite activity was the Guts game. We climbed up the ladder into the mouth then slid down the throat into the stomach. We followed the intestines and ended up on the toilet!

Atawhai Cycleway Opening

On September 21st 2008 the Atawhai cycleway was opened. Now we can ride our bikes all the way to town without having to ride on the road. We decorated our bikes and the cycleway to celebrate the opening.

Terrific tennis

Tree planting at Corder Park

On Tuesday morning we walked up a steep hill and down a big hill to Corder Park. When we got to Corder park we had morning tea then Tracy, Ben and Glen from Nelmac gave us a demonstration on how to plant some trees and bushes. Then we got with partners and got a spade. The spades were sharp and shiny. Under the ground there was hard clay. When some people dug deep holes they could not dig any deeper. There were all kinds of trees and bushes, some were kowhai trees, flax, long grass and some other trees and bushes. In the holes there were millions of wriggly, long, brown worms.
We had lunch on the wet green grass, there were puddles on the grass.
On the way back we all had muddy shoes. My shoes were heavy and a little wet. When we were walking back to school people started to slow down because they stated to get tired. When we got back to school we all had to take off our shoes and put them outside.
by Holly

On Tuesday 26th of August we went tree-planting at Corder Park. We found lots of wriggly worms. Abby and I planted kowhai,flax, hebe, toitoi and pittosporums. I think we planted nine trees. There were lots of worms, nearly every boy in my class picked up the worms. There was clay in the dirt, it looked like the clay we have at pottery art class.
by Cedar

Room 15 and Room 2 went tree-planting. First we got into groups then we hiked to Corder Park. Tracy, Ben and Glen gave us a fabulous demonstration on how to plant trees. Keegan planted 25 trees. We got partners and got one spade. when Amanda dug through the top soil she couldn't dig any more so I had a try. We planted two flaxes, two tussocks and one kowhai.
by Callum

A few days ago the whole of Room 15 walked along way from Clifton Terrace School. We went a long way because we were going to plant trees. You go around Room 15, up the hill to the top then exit Clifton Terrace. Turn right at the pole, walk to the parking sign and cross the road. Cross another road and keep following the footpath. When the footpath has a dead end go down the driveway. Then you will find that you will be on the new footpath. Keep walking to Corder Park. If you go to Corder Park you will see the trees growing. For the long walk I did not get the stitch.
Eleus and Cian were collecting worms. There were big worms, little worms and black worms. One worm tried to bite Zack! The spades were sharp as can be. They were sharp to dig deep into the ground. It was very hard to dig deep. The dirt was very rocky.
We learnt how to dig easier. Ben said, "Make a square instead of in, out ,in, out." There was lots of trees, some people planted ten.
by Jarod

Windy Wednesday

On Wednesday 30th of July, Nelson was hit by the worst storm in 50 years. It gave Room 15 children a chance to practise expressive writing.

The Storm by Holly
One windy Wednesday there was a great, gusty, wild wind. There was a great, long power cut. Some strong, steady trees got blown over. We lit lots of bright burning candles. I was going to go to gym but the screeching storm was too bad. We cooked slippery spaghetti on the fierce fire. We had fifteen candles.

Wednesday’s Wild Wind! by Emma P
On Wednesday there was a wild wind. Thick red wood trees crashed on to the ground. Just about the whole hillside’s trees came down. Two metres of dirt with the roots of trees came down. It was like a mini whirlwind. One minute the wind would be then it wouldn’t and the power went out for about three or more nights.

Wednesday’s Wild Windy Day by Nadiya
On Wednesday there was a big power cut and a storm. There were strong gusts and fences being crushed and falling trees' roots getting pulled out of the soaking ground. There were even sheds being blown over. Because of the power cut we went over to Nana’s to have dinner and have a cup of milo. Mum had a cup of coffee. We played tryminos.

Wednesday Wild Windy Storm by Callum
On Wednesday there were mud slides, power cuts, fallen trees and broken fences. The police were telling people to not drive on the road unless they really have to. Strong gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour were thrashing, destroying houses, sheds and farm houses everywhere.

Wednesday’s Windy Weather by Kirsty
On Wednesday 30th of July a big tree came and hit Iain’s bus and smashed a window. When I got home my dad’s car window was smashed and the bonnet of it was dented. We had lots of torches, lanterns and candles. We had a game of monopoly. I won. We had a gas cooker. We had spaghetti for dinner. We went on a light hunt. We had no tv so we did a play. It was cool. We played who wants to be a millionaire and the game of life on my mum’s cellphone. Then the power came on. The end.

The Day of Storm by Ian
At home the power was off. It was creepy at home.

Wednesday’s Wild Windy World Storm by Lilyanne
On Wednesday we had a power cut. It lasted for ages! What a wild windy day that was! Me, Dad and Lydia went to the United Video and saw on the Nelson Public Library sign the “P” and the “C” and a little bit of the “Y” had badly fallen off. It’s the same with Woolworths. The ( ) and the ( ) has fallen off! We used candles to see.

Wednesday’s Wild Windy Storm! by Zack
It was a terrible terrifying day. We had to have melting candles. I hated it. No xbox. What next? Oh no, no food! Suddenly a tree went crash!!!!! It scared my mum.

Wednesday's Wild and Windy Storm by Jake
On Wednesday there was a storm and we had a power cut. When we got home our trampoline blew away in the wind. My Dad's friend Brad came over and he had to pull it up the hill with his car. My Mum walked back up and Brad held the trampoline with his wife driving. Then our neighbour's wheely-bin rolled down the hill and a wheel came off. Dad came home and we had to go to our Nana's place and eat there. I got ice-cream.

Wild Windy Wednesday by Jarod
On Wednesday 30th July 2008 there was a humungous, screaming, windy, pouring, splashing inside day. There was a black-out! We got power at 3 o'clock in the morning. It went off at lunch time. The wind nearly tipped our bus over. The buses were stopped at Nelson Intermediate. I thought that the gusty, huge,ripper, freaky, pouring scary storm was going to be small!

The hovercraft

Emma's dad Rudy talked to us about how hovercrafts work. He brought his hovercraft to school to show us. He put some eggs out on the school field and drove over them but they didn't break! That's because the hovercraft floats on a cushion of air that lets it glide smoothly over the surface below it. Vents of slowly moving, low-pressure air are ejected downwards. The air is trapped beneath the hovercraft by a rubber skirt, which is also called a curtain. Rudy zoomed around the field and even gave the principal a ride. It was very noisy and the wind from the huge fan nearly blew us over!

Crazy Hair Day!

On the last day of term we had a crazy hair day.

The tidal flats

Room 15 explored the tidal flats across the road from school and discovered all sorts of living creatures. There were whelks, chitons, limpets, worms, baby eels, snapping shrimp and many different kinds of crabs. Richard de Hamel came with us. He is a marine biologist. He gave us a chart so that we could identify different kinds of crabs. He taught us how to tell if they were male or female. Some of the female crabs had eggs. We put them back carefully where we found them.

Caught!

Huxley the kiwi tracking dog helped the rangers Paul and Sarah find the burrow of this great spotted kiwi. He's been trained to track kiwis and not bite them. The kiwi had its legs strapped together with electrical tape to stop it hurting itself or kicking the ranger during its health check. Paul replaced the leg transmitter while Sarah held the kiwi. Replacing the leg transmitter took a very long time. This kiwi was a female called Pariwhakaoho. She had not been sitting on an egg because there was no bare patch on her tummy. Paul felt her body to make sure she was plump and eating enough. Did you know you should not sniff when you are around a kiwi? The noise upsets them. He checked her plumage and her body for any damage or injuries. She was weighed and her weight was 3.325kg. Her eyes were checked and he also checked her beak. Pariwhakaoho had brown eyes and the rangers could see her whiskers at the base of her beak. It took quite a long time to go through the health check. At the end of the check Paul said that she was a healthy female Great Spotted kiwi and she could now go back into her burrow. Paul placed her back in her burrow and they quietly left Pariwhakaoho to settle back down in her comfortable home.
Thanks to LEARNZ for making it possible for Room 15 to be part of this field trip.

Kiwi Helping Kiwi

Our class mascot Kiwi has been to the Lake Roitoiti mainland Island project to see how the Department of Conservation are helping kiwis and other native birds. Kiwi was able to go because our school has joined the Learnz programme. While Kiwi was there he sent Room 15 some videos and email diaries about what was happening. Here are some photos of him wearing a transmitter and checking out a tracking tunnel. (Read Max's entry under The Brook Sanctuary post to find out how tracking tunnels and tubes work.) The DOC scientists used the transmitter to locate a great spotted kiwi in its burrow.

Kiwi's Adventure

Kiwi went on a trip. He is one of the Learnz ambassadors. There are lots of other ambassadors there too, all from different schools around the world. Kupe the Kea is the leader and one of the others names is Seven. First Kiwi went to Christchurch and then he went to Kaikoura. He had lunch on the rocky beach and saw some some seals. He saw the hills of salt. At Lake Rotoiti they found a great spotted Kiwi, it was huge. We can look on the computer to see him. Mike is the scientist that travels around all the places that we have been talking about.
by Kate

Dehydrated feijoas

In Room 15 we dehydrated feijoas. We got to chop up the feijoas and put them in some trays with tiny holes in them. There was one big hole in the middle. You had to build up the trays on top of each other then the top went on. It took 12 hours to dehydrate them properly. Afterwards we got to try them if we wanted to. Not everybody wanted to try them! I loved them. I took some home and Dad also liked them.
By Holly

The Egg Bounces!!

We had fun bouncing the egg. Why did this happen? The acid in the vinegar dissolved the shell, leaving behind just the inner membrane which is like the skin of the egg. It made it feel very rubbery.

The Incredible Bouncing Egg

How do you remove the shell from a hard boiled egg without peeling it off?

On week three Ms Cooke came to school with a hard boiled egg. Then Kirsty came up in front of the class and poured vinegar into a jar. Ms Cooke carefully put the egg into the jar with the vinegar. All day everyone wondered what it would look like. We watched for a few days and some brown slime appeared on the egg. John and Jake tipped the vinegar out into the sink. Everyone got to hold and feel the egg.
By Callum

Making Lemonade

Room 15 has been studying kitchen science. We have been learning what dissolving means.

On Thursday Cian, John and me made lemonade. While we made lemonade we talked about how the sugar dissolved. We squeezed the lemon out in a bowl and then we poured it in a pan. I stirred it round and round and took it off the stove and we got a little spoon and we drank it. It was yummy and then the bell rang and we were still drinking it.
By Jake

We found all of the lemons up the hill. It took us three days to find them. We made the lemonade with Callum's Mum. We learnt about the heat dissolving the sugar and I said the opposite of dissolving was what happens to lava rock. When we tasted the lemonade it was sweet and yummy.
By Cian

Star and Moon Cookies

Room 15 baked Star and Moon cookies for guests to eat at the opening party for the observatory. They were delicious and yum! Clifton Terrace children sang the song "Just One Earth" and everybody clapped.

Putting the lid on!

Here are some photos of the dome being put on top of the new observatory. We are so excited to have it at our school. We think we are the only school in New Zealand to have an observatory, maybe the only school in the world! Holly has had a look through the telescope and she saw Saturn!

The Brook Sanctuary

On Friday the 4th of April we went to the Brook Sanctuary. I went in Steve's car. When I was in their car I felt sick. When we got there we went into a little building and looked at stuff and it was interesting. We went to study birds. They are trying to stop the stoats from eating the birds eggs but soon they won't because they are buiding a fence to keep the pests out.
By Jake

I loved the class trip to the Brook sanctuary. I loved hearing the bellbird's song. It was awesome. I loved going in the icy cold water. I have something special, I can get really close to birds, even rare ones that are really scared! I reckon the birds (every type) really like me! We went for a walk and we caught heaps of stream creatures like mayflies and heaps of others. We went there to learn about birds and fish (including mayflies). We saw lots of sparrows and fantails. We learnt about beech trees. The honey dew feeds the birds too.
By Amanda

The first thing we did was look at photos of native birds. Someone called Shine took us for a walk on the special track. If you saw a ribbon stuck on to a tree that means there's a stoat trap. Someone else called Mel took us too, but she took us in the river. She gave us a net, a paint brush and an ice-cream container. We had to chase bugs in the water. The water was very clear but cold. We went because we are studying New Zealand birds.
By Jarod

We went to the Brook sanctuary because we wanted to know how to look after native birds because possums eat them.
Shine showed us around the beech tree and then we came back for lunch. We went in the stream and looked for creatures in the water. After that we talked about somethings. We talked about clear water. I caught worms. Ian fell over in the water and he caught a fresh water crayfish. Me and Emma were buddies. We caught heaps of things then we freed them again.
By Amy

Shine taught us about the beech trees and we went through the magic tunnel. The walk wasn't really long for me because I've done a three hour walk with out crying and I was the first one to reach the top. Shine also taught us about all the traps they have in the bush because they have heaps of pests like stoats, rats and other creepy stuff that eat the birds and their eggs. They also have a tube out in the bush and they have an ink-pad in the middle of the tube. They have two pieces of paper on each side of the ink-pad so the pests step in the ink-pad, then step on the piece of paper so they leave their footprints.
By Max

The Case of the disappearing axolotls

At the beginning of the summer holidays we had 25 baby axolotls but during the holidays they started disappearing. Finally there were only 7 left. Strangely one baby axolotl was twice as big as the others that were born the same time as him!
How could this be?
We decided to observe closely and
this is what we saw -can you see the grey tail sticking out of the axolotl's mouth?
This is the fat axolotl gobbling up one of his brothers or sisters. We have named him Chompa!