Autumn Leaves

Room 1 are investigating changes that take place in Autumn and we have been studying the colours in autumn leaves that we have collected.
Our art topic is Painting so the class have been blending and mixing the colours we can see in the leaves. 
Can you spot the tagged butterflies resting on them?

Year 1 and 2 Assembly

Well done to  Yoshiki and Rio, our wonderful assembly presenters this week. Thank you to Mia  and Lola who talked about our artwork and to all the great role models who earned CARE certificates last week!

Cross Country

Today we all ran in the year 1 and 2 Cross Country run at Bishop park.
Room 1 you ran so well!  Congratulations to everyone!
Special congratulations to Rosa, Lola and Mia, who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Year 1 Girl's race and Theo, Nelson and Ned, who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Year 1 Boys.

You are so awesome at running Room 1! 
It was a wonderful morning.
Thank you so much to all the parents and grandparents who came to cheer the children on.

Ballet at School

We were so lucky to have the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company visit!
Room 1 were impressed at how strong the boy dancers were! They could lift the girls so high!

They were amazed to see the dancers balancing on their toe 
shoes!

Week 4 certficates

Well done to the week's great role models!

Rocket Power!

This afternoon we went out to see the rocket that Mr McMillan and Room 11 had assembled for science week.
Mr McMillan and I filled the bottle with vinegar and the firing tube with baking soda as it was a bit tricky to line it up.
We waited for it to blast off!

Oh dear! 
Nothing happened! 
We refilled it and tried again. Success! 
It took off so fast we missed getting a photo of it taking off into the air!
Everyone cheered!
Thank you Mr McMillan and Room 11!

Science Week: Fizz Inflator

In this experiment we mixed vinegar and baking soda in a bottle with a balloon stretched over  the top.
Mixing vinegar and baking soda creates  carbon dioxide gas which then fills the balloon and blows it up!

It was very exciting to watch!

Plasma Ball

Today I brought my plasma ball to school for science week.

It is filled with gas. It has a strong electromagnet in the base and when it is turned on the gas collects as lines of plasma called streamers. The streamers hit the inside of the glass and are attracted to your fingers if you touch the outside of the glass! Everyone made beautiful patterns with their fingers but unfortunately they did not show up in the photos!

Performing Arts with Mrs Hooke

Every Thursday for the past 8 weeks Room1 have been enjoying a movement and dance programme with Mrs Hooke. We have been learning about rhythm and beat and have been practising moving to different types of music. Everyone loves it! 
Last week we danced on stage with Room 3.

National Primary Science Week

This week is National Primary Science week and all the students at Muritai School are working on physical science investigations!
Room 1 enjoyed making lava in a cup.
Will it still work if you use sugar instead of salt? 
Try it at home!

Try some lava in a cup

What we used:

A clear cup

¼ cup of vegetable oil

1 to 4 teaspoons of salt

Water

Food colouring

What we did:

1. Fill the cup about ¾ cup full of water

2. Add about 5 drops of food colouring

3. Slowly pour the oil into the cup. See how the oil floats on top

4. Sprinkle the salt on top of the oil

5. Watch blobs of lava move up and down in your cup!

6. Add another teaspoon of salt to keep the effect going.

How does it work?

It looks a bit like a lava lamp because the oil floats on top of the water because it is lighter than the water. Since the salt is heavier than oil, it sinks down into the water and takes some oil with it, but then the salt dissolves and the oil floats back up to the top!!!

Holiday recounts

Room 1 have been working especially hard at writing this term! 
Everyone has their own special goal that they are working towards. Some of the goals are writing more than one sentence, writing  a recount with a beginning, a middle and an end, using WOW (interesting) words to make the writing more exciting or using capital letters and full stops in the correct places.
We hope you enjoy reading our school holiday recounts.  

Certificate winners Week 2

Well done to Toby, Yoshi and Rosa - our fantastic focussed and hard working role models this week!

Tagging a Butterfly!

Last week we learned how to tag a newly hatched monarch butterfly with a little numbered sticker!
Local scientist and butterfly lover Stan Swan held the wings carefully so I could stick the sticker on gently. 
We learned that butterflies that hatch in April know that if they lay their eggs it will get too cold for for the eggs to hatch and complete their life cycle.  Instead the butterflies find a sheltered place to live for the winter and delay laying their eggs until the following Spring. Our butterfly is number 500 and we have entered it's details on a data base so it can be tracked by the New Zealand Monarch Butterfly Trust. We wonder where it will shelter? The trees in Titoki Street and the gardens at Te Omanga Hospice are two places that monarch butterflies like to spend the winter. 

Valanga Khoza: African Storyteller

Last week we were lucky to enjoy a performance in the hall by an African story teller,Valanga Khoza. He came to our classroom first because he was lost and could not find the office! Superstar of the day Yoshi showed him the way and Valanga was very impressed with Yoshi's lovely manners! Well done Yoshi!
You are a great role model for Muritai School!
Valanga told a traditional African story and sang and played some instruments he had made himself in a refugee camp. It was a fascinating experience for us all and Room 1 wrote about it in their writing books.