Cross country & a clean up in the neighbourhood

On Friday the middles and seniors went to Wurundjeri Walk to practise cross country.
It was a very fun, but tiring day. Everyone had to do four laps of the park. Lots of parents were there and they kept cheering us on which helped us to keep running. Everyone did really well and tried their hardest. Ten girls and boys from each year level make it into the squad, but there are only 9 grade 4 boys.

On the way back to school, Will C made a comment about picking up rubbish, as this is a focus of our Inquiry this term. Our teacher found a bag with empty takeaway containers and then our audit 'snowballed' from there. We found a lot of rubbish on the way, which we put in the plastic bag and we also found a lot of stuff that is not good for the environment. We walked through another park on the way back and we found an old possum tail that sort of looked like a hairy poo! There were lots of full things, like barely eaten sandwiches and lots of bottles, which we know take 10,000 years to break down, but can be recycled.
Below is a photo of all the rubbish we collected. Some things we recycled at school and the rest we threw in the rubbish bin.

Fractions and Decimals

This week the Middles are exploring fractions and decimals. We began by describing and drawing everything we know about these mathematical and spatial concepts. Then we created posters that showed fractions using paper folded into different parts.
What do you think about fractions and decimals? Do you use them in your everyday life? How?

CERES

On Tuesday Middle S went to CERES. We learnt that it stands for "Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies". It's a place where people tell you about the environment. We went to three different areas. The first one was about water and how its being used. The second one was about energy. The last one was water bug catching. They were all really fun! - Madeline and Mia

These are some  of the things we learnt...
If you leave the tap dripping for a year, 15,000  litres or more could  be wasted - Ruby
I learnt that Moquito fish can live in any habbitat so you can find them anywhere - Angus
I learnt that you could be drinking the Queens water or someone else's - Mia
I learnt that clothes don't take as long as you think to disintegrate. I also learnt that there were ways to make moden houses without effecting the environment - James!!!
I learnt that C.E.R.E.S stands for Center for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies - Piers
I learnt that glass bottles take a very long time to break down- Jasmine
I learnt that 1 kilogram of beef is 15,000 litres of water- Alex
I learnt that when you have a shower you get a bucket and put it under the shower when you're setting the temp and you save tons of water. Last night I had a shower and I saved about seven litres of water. My mum said " I can put that in the garden and I wont have to water the garden in another week"- Jack
If a tap drips for one year it will fill up a whole water tank - Brandon
I learnt that one piece of rubbish can hurt lots of animals - Dylan 

Presenting our Learning about Celebrations

At the end of last term students from Middle S presented their questions and learning about the particular celebrations they had chosen to explore.
Some people chose to present their findings as posters, others as powerpoints. Students were guided through the expectations for presenting research in public, from publishing and editing their work in their own words, through to poster design and what would make their information interesting and easy to read.

Below are some student posters. The powerpoints have proved troublesome to upload, but I will continue to persevere...

When presenting your learning what things do YOU think are important to include or be aware of?

Our Curious Questions about the State Library

Children's Book Festival

Some photos from our excursion to the State Library of Victoria. We're in the midst of preparing a Haiku Deck of images and questions about the day....Stay tuned....

 

Making Choices Video

In our first RE unit this term Middle S examine the belief that the freedom of choice also involves being responsible for the consequences of their choices. Our initial task was to design and create an object from the materials of their choice. In this iMovie students discuss their creations, why they made certain choices and how they felt about it.
Thank you to Mia and Will for recording and editing the movie.