Science Technology in Action!!!

An interesting afternoon to be had by 17B Tech group. 

All tied up with rubbish bags to protect them from firing mentos and coke.

Teko Teko Panels

Part of maths, art and Te Reo, we looked at the design and layout of  a Teko Teko in Term 2.  The result were these amazing pieces of artwork to be proudly displayed on the classroom wall.  At this stage, not everyone had completed their work.

With the exception of the tongue and patu, everything else is to be symmetrical.

Literacy: Reading Responses in a Visual Format

The class listened to and then read a sophisticated picture book, called 'The Island" by Armin Gerder.
After discussing and sharing their responses, they were asked to draw a scene or image from the story.  They had to use only words from their responses to the story.  After they had created their list of at least fifty words, they were able to begin drawing.  

The class also became aware of the painting 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch and the impact of the image in the art work. Several drawings in the story reflected facts and images that were similar to the painting. As a result, some of the images had an uncanny resemblance to 'The Scream' as shown in the work above.

Image of someone else's impression of The Scream by Edvard Munch.

Setting up a Fair Test

Caleb was the starter for a fair test to show the class how variables can affect the final outcomes.

We were looking to see where  the balls would end of up after being let go down two similar ramps. 
We wanted to see how far the balls would go.
We wanted to think about anything that could affect the outcomes of the balls being released and how they travelled.

We discovered that the floor was uneven as the ping pong ball went in a completely different direction to the large marble.  Even when we swapped slopes, the marble moved away from the direction the ping pong ball ws going in.
The balls did not travel the same distances, the marble always went the furtherest.
The marble deviated further from the straight line we were expecting it to travel.

Some of the variables we considered were these: 

• that the balls were unevenly shaped
• Caleb could let the balls go at at different time
• the texture of the carpet in walked on areas
• Caleb breathing on the balls
• different slopes on the ramps
• uneven ramp lengths
• movement of people in the room could affect the floor
• Caleb pushed one or both of the balls
• different slopes of the floor
• gravity affecting the balls in different ways
• the friction of the carpet against the heavier marble
• friction affecting the plastic of the ping pong ball.
• different students letting the balls go

Overall, it was an elightening activity when considering how many things can affect the outcome of one experiment.

Havelock North High School Open Day for HNI Students

Ashley focussing on his task in the science laboratory.

 During the initial open day at Havelock North High School for intermediate aged pupils, the HNI students had the opportunities to visit a science lab, do Maths, English and Social Studies with teachers who had availed themselves to them, for the day.

The students came back buzzing after their experiences of moving to different classrooms, trying out specialist subjects and working with equipment that we do not have at HNI.  After a lunch, hosted by HNHS, there were many positive comments about looking forward their next year's learning opportunities.

Caleb checking things out.

Magic or Science?  Some explaining is needed here!

Getting ready for their experiments - Leah, Kayla, Caitlin and Hannah.

Adam, prepared for a session in the science lab.

Sitting back, concentrating on what is happening at the front of the room.

Intriguing Science during our Visit to HNHS

The students enjoyed their experiences during the visit to HNHS.  The scinece lab was a big hit with the reaction to magnesium being ignited over the bunsen burners.

Maths da Vinci Style

One maths group is looking at ratio and are now applying it.  They had a task to look at the conclusions that da Vinci had made, in relation to the proportions of the human body.  He said that the human arm span, from fingertip to fingertip, would be equivalent to that same human's height. 

Kate and Alannah are making the initial measurements to test it out.