room15cliftonterrace-2011

Extraordinary frontiers

2011-12-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

Room 15 went to the Nelson museum to be the trial class for the Cawthron Exhibition. Thomas Cawthron came to Nelson in 1849 and gave money to the city for many projects. The Cawthron Institute is named after him.

Scientists from the Cawthron recently investigated why dogs were dying on an Auckland beach. We acted as detectives to find out how they solved the mystery.

We found out how important fish ladders are for native fish that need to travel upstream past dams.

Long fin eels use these fish ladders. They can grow up to 2 metres long and live to be 50 years old. When they are ready to breed they swim nearly 5000 kilometres from NZ to Tonga. They only breed once in their life and then they die. The Cawthron Institute helps long fin eels survive by monitoring the water quality in the streams which are their habitats.

The Cawthron Institute also has a laboratory to test how some natural products can help us.

In the jars are some herbs and spices.

Scientists at the Cawthron aquaculture centre at the Glen experiment with growing different kinds of algae to feed the shellfish larvae that they breed. We liked the feel of the fake algae.

It was a very interesting exhibition and we all learnt heaps!

Springing into spring!

2011-11-15T16:16:00.000-08:00

We have been writing senses poems about spring.

Spring
Smells like soft rose petals
Looks like a great forest
Sounds like baby birds chirping
Tastes like a crunchy apple
Feels like a lambs soft white coat.
by Maya

Spring
Feels like summer is coming
Tastes like nectar
Looks like blossoms
Sounds like birds
Smells like flowers.
By Caleb

Spring
Smells like flowers sprouting
Looks like sun as bright as fire
Sounds like a rolling tyre
Tastes like candy floss
Feels like summer's coming
by Elisha

Mask Making

2011-11-13T00:20:00.000-08:00

Have a look at the amazing masks we made for the mask parade!

Tree-planting at the Glen

2011-11-13T00:16:00.000-08:00

Last term we went tree-planting at the new Glenduan reserve at the Glen. The Nelson City Council gardeners provided the plants and taught us how to plant them properly. Some of the things we planted were rushes, harakeke (flax), coprosma and kowhai. There were lots of fat worms in the soil so we think the plants will grow well.

Crazy Hair Day 2011

2011-08-31T01:24:00.000-07:00

A Funeral For a Special Mouse

2011-07-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

Our class mouse Jellybean died last week. We made her a beautiful coffin lined with fluffy sheepskin and buried her up in Nature's Way. After singing a waiata we read our farewell messages then put some flowers on her grave.

"It's time to say good-bye to the smallest member of Room 15. Jellybean was a good friend and we liked having her. She led a very adventurous life and we will miss her alot. I hope she is happy in her new mouse home."

"Jellybean was a great mouse to the class. Even though she had only one eye she was very cute. She probably had a great life here in Room 15. She had lots of kids to pat her and look after her."

"Dear Jellybean, we are so upset that you died today, we hope you rest in peace. we hope that you have a good time in heaven."

"Goodbye Jellybean. We will miss you. I hope you had a good death, not hard, and go into heaven. We might not replace you. You will be sad and we will be sad."

The Clifton Terrace Cross Country

2011-06-04T03:12:00.000-07:00

Room 15 shows perseverance yet again!
On Wednesday the first of June we had our cross country. When we lined up by our ages I was very nervous. After the six year olds and seven year olds had gone it was the eight year old girls. When we had just lined up I was getting really nervous.
"Ready, set, go!" The whistle went. I ran as fast as I could. We went down the steps, across the bridge, up through the trees, down the hill, through the mud and in between the fence and the fitness circuit. I could hear people cheering and I had to do two laps. When I got to the finish line I found out that I came thirteenth. After all of that I was tired.
By Bella-Rose

"Go!"
Running, coming first, Marcus is in front now! Kaio is in front of me, now I am coming third! Up the hill I go. I have now got a mark on my hand. Ryan is in front of me- now I am coming fourth. I don't want Joseph in front of me. Now up here, going down. Now I am running past the fitness circuit, now I am running past the playground. Now on my second lap, I am running up the bank again past the muddy part. Now I have got another mark from Dene, running down the hill, going up puff puff, going past the fitness circuit
again, past the W again, past the playground again - finished!
I came fourth now I can get a drink, that was fun! My Mum is proud of me. It is sad I don't get a medal. By Oliver

"Ready, set, go!" Racing across the field. "Go, go, go!" is all I hear. I try my hardest. Everyone is watching. The harder I go, the faster I go, everybody cheering in my ear. I try to get up the front but I can't, it's too hard, so I try again but I still can't, so I try again, but I still can't. by Latoya

At the cross country I was nervous because there were lots of people. When I had done one lap I slowed down like a soft green leaf floating in the air..... but then I sped up like the wind, it was blowing in my face. By Elisha

Bees are special!

2011-05-15T02:35:00.000-07:00

On Monday the 11th of April my dad Norbert came to talk about bees. He said that bees are different than wasps because bees have a little bit of fur and wasps have no fur. We got to hold a male bee. They won't sting. We also had honey tasting. The flavours were manuka and honey dew. My favourite was the manuka because it had more taste. He showed us some pollen, we can eat pollen. It is so, so yum.
By Elisha

Norbert came to talk to us about bees and wasps. The drones can't sting, they are the males. The females are worker bees and they feed the queen. This was one of my favourite things. The bees and wasps are cold-blooded. A bit of smoke makes them eat a lot of food so they become calm. This is funny but bees are furry! After questions Norbert showed us parts of the hive. Then we got to taste some honey. I tasted manuka honey first, then honey dew, then honey comb. The honey comb was chewy. He then showed us the smoker. We went outside and he let everyone have a turn, it made smoke come out when you pushed it in and out. Then we all went back inside and he showed us the drones and the worker bees. He took the drones out because they don't have a sting. Everyone got to hold one. Then he packed up and went home.
By Erica

On Monday we learnt about bees. There are over 200 kinds of bees. Bees are furry. Some bees make honey that is good for cuts. Bees die after they sting but if a queen bee stings it does not die, it pulls its stinger back into its body.
By Ollie

Elisha's dad, Norbert, came to Room 15. He works with bees. He has a funny costume, a hat and two gloves to wear. He said male bees can't sting you. I held the male bee. The bees are cute.
By Maggie

Bees make honey for us. Female bees sting, males don't. I love bees, they are fragile. Wasps are meat eaters. Some bees live in a box. I got to hold a bee. There are more than 200 kinds of bees.
By Latoya

Norbert showed us how to use a smoker to calm down the bees. When you blow the smoke in the hive the bees think that there is a bush-fire so they fill themselves up with honey and leave the hive so we can collect all the honey without getting stung.
By Leah B

Bees die after they sting except the queen. The queen can't die because she can pull her sting back in. Males can't sting. Bees collect nectar and pollen. Bees are cold-blooded and furry and they eat honey. They're vegetarians. Smoke calms them down.
By Caleb

Can you spot the bee?

The Water Cycle

2011-04-11T02:42:00.000-07:00

Mel, the Waimaori Streamcare co-ordinator, came and talked to us about the water cycle. She told us the legend of Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother. She used a model to show us different ways rivers can get polluted. We saw how the pollution was washed from the land out onto the beach and into the ocean.

Water monitoring at the Brook Sanctuary

2011-04-08T02:25:00.000-07:00

By Lachlan

On Friday 25 March, Room 15 got to go to the Brook Sanctuary. When we got there Rick gave us a demonstration on how the stoat trap works - it gave me a fright.

Then we went down to the river and said a karakia. We used the water clarity tube to see how clear the river water is.

After that we all got a net, a paintbrush and an ice cream container and went to catch some bugs.

Fifty minutes later me and Finnian caught a koura.

We used a ball and stopwatch to test how fast the river was flowing.

It was an awesome day.

Metamorphosis 2

2011-03-28T00:28:00.000-07:00

We left a swan plant in a pot outside and waited for a monarch butterfly to come and lay some eggs on it.
After a few days tiny baby caterpillars hatched out and ate up the egg shells. We brought them into the classroom so that they would be safe from predator wasps. They ate and ate until there were no leaves left on the swan plant then they found a place to hang in a j shape.

They hung quite peacefully like that for a while but then we saw them squirming and wriggling. The stripey skin split and out came a green chrysalis.

We could see the stripey skin at the top. Soon it dropped down like a pile of old clothes and that was the only sign left of the caterpillar.

The best part is when we let them fly free to find a swan plant to lay their eggs on and start the cycle all over again!

Metamorphosis 1

2011-03-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year Marcus brought some incy -wincy baby gum emperor caterpillars to school. We fed them gum leaves and watched them change from black to green and then get very fat. Then they turned a pinkish colour before spinning a cocoon around themselves. At first the cocoon was white and we could see the caterpillar through it. Now it has gone brown and hard. We are waiting to see what happens next....

If you look closely you can see the caterpillar inside the cocoon.

Is Room 15 A Menagerie?

2011-03-22T00:31:00.000-07:00

me·nag·erie (mə naj′ər ē, -naz̸h′-)

noun

a collection of wild or strange animals kept in cages or enclosures for exhibition
a place where such animals are kept

www. your dictionary.com

In Room 15 we have lots of creatures. Jellybean, the pirate mouse and 3 fat goldfish live here all the time, the rest of the creatures are just visiting. We have had tadpoles, crickets, cicadas , stick insects, praying mantis, aphids, monarch caterpillars, woolly bear and gum emperor caterpillars, lizards and spiders.
We usually look at them through the dinoscope and then let them go.

Jellybean is our class mouse. She is very sweet and tame. She lost one of her eyes when a cat pounced on her.

Water Safety

2011-03-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

Room 15 went swimming in our clothes so that we could feel what would be like trying to swim if we fell into the water with our clothes on. We learnt how to hold on to our lifejackets in case we need to jump overboard off a boat. We practiced throwing ropes to rescue each other.

Rabbit Island picnic-Getting to know our buddies.

2011-03-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

Happy to be back at school with our friends!

2011-02-17T00:25:00.000-08:00

Planting Fruit Trees

2010-08-29T00:41:00.000-07:00

We planted some apple and pear trees behind our classroom. We gave them lots of compost, leaf mould and worm juice from our worm farms. We diluted the worm juice with water 1:20. Now we can watch them grow from our classroom window!

Go All whites

2010-06-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

All the Clifton Terrace kids and even the teachers wore white clothes to school to help bring the All Whites good luck in the football world cup.

Celebrating Matariki

2010-06-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Room 15 had a crazy hair day to celebrate Matariki. Matariki is the Maori new year. It is when the first new moon can be seen after Pleiades returns in the eastern sky. The Pleiades star cluster is sometimes called the seven sisters because you can see seven bright stars. We had a delicious shared lunch.

The Founders' Book Fair

2010-06-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

At Clifton Terrace School we try to reduce, re-use and recycle everything we can. Buying second hand books at the book fair was a fun way to re-use books that somebody no longer wanted. We love reading books!

Where Do Butterflies Go In The Winter?

2010-06-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

This autumn we tagged eight of the monarch butterflies that we raised in the classroom, before we set them free. We got the tags from the Monarch Butterfly trust. We have entered information about our butterflies on the Monarch Butterfly trust's website and if anybody finds one of our butterflies they can tell that it's ours by the number on the tag. One of our butterflies was found in Marybank two days after we set it free.

This way we hope that we can find out whether our butterflies are surviving the winter and where they go.

Our Scrumptious Harvest Feast!

2010-04-28T01:48:00.000-07:00

We did a cook-up of veges that we grew in our school garden. The cucumber was sweet and crunchy. We used a knife to cut up the carrots and tomatoes. We grated the zucchini and I made some muffins and we stirred the muffin mix with a spoon. When they were cooked they were delicious and lumpy. We picked the silverbeet from the garden and put it into the pastry and wrapped it up. I loved the potatoes, they were so warm. We served the food on the table. The food was yummy.
By Amy

Goodbye and Good Luck to the Godwits

2010-03-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

Godwits are on our school vision poster because they help us to remember our school vision Expanding Horizons. Three ornithologists came to talk to some of the classes about the godwits' incredible migratory flight. Rob Shuckard told us how they catch the godwits in a mist net and put transmitters on them. Then the scientists can track the godwits' journey all the way to Alaska to breed and back to New Zealand.

Eden wrote:

Last week we went to the Boulder Bank to look at the godwits. We went with three scientists. We took our bags because we were having lunch there. We saw the godwits fly in, it was really cool, they were going round and around for a while. Then we started sketching them. I kept looking through the telescope. It was a bit blurry at first so I tried looking through the binoculars. We saw some black swans as well as the godwits and we saw some ducks too. It was really fun to watch the black swans with the godwits.

Alexi wrote:

Godwits store fuel at the bottom of their tummy for going to Alaska. First they fly from New Zealand to China and have a break there. Then they fly all the way to Alaska to lay eggs. The eggs hatch and the mother teaches them how to find food, then she sets off back to New Zealand. Soon the chicks store food to go, and then they set off to New Zealand too.

Luca wrote:

When I looked through the 'scope I saw heaps of godwits. They were flying around and around again and again. It made me dizzy. They went fast as rockets. It was cool to watch, they were good flyers. They fly a long way but they are not good swimmers. There was a swan and some seagulls. It was fun as.

Brayden wrote:

Godwits go to China and then they go to Alaska and then they go back to New Zealand. Then they are very hungry from flying. They get fatter and fatter from eating ragworms so that they can go back again.

Beautiful Butterflies

2010-03-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

The monarch butterflies have hatched out of their chrysalises. It took 10 days. Can you see the empty chrysalis hanging off the toy's tail? We have let the butterflies go and put a swan plant outside for them to lay their eggs on so that the cycle can start all over again.

Caterpillars do some crazy things!

2010-03-13T02:02:00.000-08:00

We have some caterpillars in our classroom. They used to be caterpillars but now there are chrysalises everywhere! There's one on the lid of a box which I think we're not allowed to open. There's one on the tail of a toy dog and one on the swan plant we've got. Its really funny.
By Alexi

The Clifton Terrace Tryathlon

2010-03-13T01:27:00.000-08:00

On Friday last week the whole school had a tryathlon. We did it in this order: running, biking swimming. All of it was awesome, fun and easy.

By Tristan

On Friday Clifton Terrace had a surprise. We had a tryathlon and it was great but I nearly died because when I ran my breath got really cold, but I carried on. It was really fun. We had to run and bike and swim. By the time I got to the pool I was puffed. I had my hands up in the air, then I was like an old granny running but i managed to end and when I had I was dead!

By Poppie

On Friday last week the whole school had a tryathlon. We did it in this order: running, biking swimming. All of it was awesome, fun and easy.
By Tristan

On Friday the whole school did the tryathlon. My friend Isabel in Room 3 came third. I was proud of her. When the year three girls went we biked, we did swimming and we ran. It was hard work and it was fun. I came second and I was puffed out. It was wicked.
By Mary

Last week the whole school did a tryathlon. It was fun!!!! When i got to the swimming pool I swam fast.
The wall of the pool was like the hull of the Titanic!!!! When I crossed the line I thought I was last but there were two boys to cross the line after me.
By Jamie

In the tryathalon I was excited! Wow! I was speeding like a rocket. I was so fast that I could not see where I was going and there was wind going through my hair and eyes.
By Lydia

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

2010-03-09T00:36:00.000-08:00

Sarah Langi came to talk to Room 15 about Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. The most important one is reduce. She showed us how we could reduce (make less) rubbish by using reusable or biodegradable containers in our lunch boxes.
This is how long it takes some things to biodegrade (breakdown) when they are buried in soil.

Paper-2-4 Weeks;
Leaves-1-3 Months;
Orange Peel- 6 Months;
Milk Carton- 5 years;
Plastic Bag- 10-20 Years;
Plastic Container- 50-80 Years;
Aluminium Can- 80 Years;
Tin Can- 100 Years;
Plastic fizzy drink bottle- 450 Years;
Glass Bottle-500 Years;
Styrofoam-Never!

Half of the plastic ends up in the ocean.

David De Rothschild is so worried about all the plastic floating in the ocean that he has built a boat out of 12,500 plastic bottles to sail through the great Pacific garbage dump.
He has called the boat Plastiki and you can follow his journey at www.theplastiki.com.

A New Year Begins!

2010-02-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Yeee-haa - a brand new year of school begins!