The CSIRO visited us again and we investigated the Human Body!

We tasted, looked, thought, poked, timed, ran, balanced, took apart, put together, moved, spat, sniffed, read, laughed, talked, hypothesised, tested, and had heaps of fun.

Here are some photos we took on the day.

We have been making origami whales!

We read about the idea of making these whales at the “Origami Whale Project” site – and how they were used to raise awareness of the slaughter of whales internationally. Did you know that since 1986 over 30 000 whales have been killed by whalers from Iceland, Norway and Japan? 

Everyone folded the paper carefully and we strung the whales up on string to make a curtain of beautiful coloured whales in our room.

You can all make a virtual origami whale and send it off to the Japanese Prime Minister – just click here and off it goes!

Today we used a different Visible Thinking routine to kick start our individual Study Projects.

Our overall topic is the Ocean, but everyone is interested in different subjects and areas within this big topic.

The thinking routine we used was called:

Think

Puzzle

Explore

First we had to think of facts we knew (or thought we knew) about oceans.

Then we had to come up with something that puzzled us  or something we wondered about oceans.

Lastly we identified some areas of interest that we might explore as a class.

We used lots of post-it notes (MrsP should NOT buy cheapo ones from the $2 Shop – cos they don’t stick) but came up with lots of great ideas that we can follow through with in class, or in our individual Study Project.

.   

BubbleShare: Share photos – Powered by BubbleShare

 Today we looked at the work of a Japanese artist, Hokusai, who spent his whole life sketching, painting and drawing.Hokusai is famous for his collection called “36 views of Mt Fuji”.

This wood block print is called:

The Great Wave Off Kanagawa

From “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji”; 1823-29 (140 Kb); Color woodcut, 10 x 15 in; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York© Mark Harden www.artchive.com

We used the thinking routine called “See, Think, Wonder”.

Here are some examples MrsP wrote down at the start of the lesson:

“I see the volcano.

I think it has erupted.

I wonder if that’s what caused the tsunami.”  Moustapha

“I see the wave towering over the boat.

I think it looks like a monster.

I wonder if it’s angry at the people.” Sokeina

Please leave your thoughts in the comments using this thinking routine:

I see……

I think ……

I wonder ……..

How cool is this?

Last week we tried out a mind mapping tool called mind42.com to organise our thinking about Natural Disasters.

We had just been introduced to Natural Disasters through some wonderful hands on science activities from the CSIRO and we thought that we would like to investigate further.

This is what we came up with – have a look at the map above – you can move themap, make the text bigger/smaller, open and close the nodes. WOW

AllStars – leave a comment about the area you would like to investigate.  

It may not look like it, but the AllStars were all very busy and on task last Wednesday!

What sort of task would involve this sort of behaviour?   

Our Voices of the World February Task – that’s what     

We were discussing, planning, making and then setting up and taking photos for this month’s task on numbers. Great fun, great learning, great teamwork!   

Here is our finished product – what do you think?

It was great to see the “old” AllStars tutoring the “new” AllStars in the computer room today!  

Lots of important information, terrific tips and helpful hints about blogging were passed on to the newer students so that they can get their own blogs up and running as soon as possible.    

Now that everyone knows how to leave comments on blogs we can look forward to some interesting and (hopefully)  thought provoking discussions  taking place. 

A little word that means so much!”Sorry” was said in a very special place in Australia today …….

Sorry is a word not often heard in Parliament. Nevertheless, today Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized on behalf the present Government to the Indigenous people of Australia.

Many people believe the apology is long overdue, but are glad that it finally came.

Ramiz & Timothy

The “Stolen Generation” were remembered today by all of Australia.

Natalie & Lilly

The Government (in the 1900’s) had done the wrong thing to Indigenous people. They took the children away from their parents just because they didn’t have full Aboriginal background, never to see their parents again! That’s why they are called the “Stolen Generation”.

Momtahina & Nadine

The Government at the time thought they were doing the right thing ….. but Australia wants to say sorry……

Sharon & Kesaia

Today, on the 13th February, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said “Sorry” to the Stolen Generations. We thought it was fair, kind and brilliant; as well as this it was a relief to Indigenous Australians.

Justin & Winson

Reconciliation: a long word as its a long story ….. A long time ago , from the 1930’s the Government took the aboriginal children because they thought that it was the right thing to do. But nowdays we think that in most ways it was bad. Because of this our new Prime Minister said “Sorry”.

Dushan & Marshall

Today we have been investigating dragons – it seems that many places and people right around the world share stories, myths and legends about dragons.

Do you know any stories about dragons? What are dragons like in the stories that you know?

Do you believe that they are/were real?

Do you think that dragons are related to these two “real” Australian dragons -

Lake Eyre Dragon

Sea Dragon

Please join our conversation about dragons

The AllStars have been studying history this year and are pondering the saying

“History never repeats”

Read this article about Stonehenge and then leave a comment about what you think!

What were you thinking about as you read this article?

What surprised you about this article? Why were you surprised?

What sorts of images or feelings did the article stimulate?

Why do you think scientists are so interested in finding out how people lived in times past?

Does the information that the scientists gather have any impact on our lives today? 

Do you think that a shared knowledge & understanding of times past can / does help us understand problems and issues of today?