Curriculum Day

On our second set of curriculum days we were learning about forces.

One activity we did was working in pairs to make vehicles using balloons, straws and meat trays. We had a competition to see whose vehicle went the furtherest in a straight line. We lined up two tables but we didn't really need them! 

The one I worked on with my partner Jane won - that's my story anyway.

Here's a picture of us hard at work, just to show it's not all fun and games.

I'm looking forward to coming back to school and sharing what I've learnt with you.

Ohakune Visit - Whio

Last week I went to visit my friend Kathy in Ohakune. She is also a Primary Science Teacher Fellow and is working with the Department of Conservation and the Ngati Rangi Trust. Her main project is creating an app that will allow people in her area to record sightings of birds and water creatures.

The birds she is interested in are the kereru, whio (blue duck) and karearea (NZ Falcon). The water creatures are koura, tuna (long-finned eel) and kākahi (freshwater mussel).

While there we went on a whio hunt - trying to get my first sighting of a blue duck in the wild. We first tried the Tongariro River but no luck, though we did see a shining cuckoo! Then we tried some smaller rivers on our way back to Ohakune. Finally we were successful on the Whakapapa River.

Here he is. Can you see him?

I've zoomed in a lot. Can you see him now?

Here he is. The blue-grey colour makes him hard to find among the grey rocks. Can you see his bright yellow eye and red brown chest?

Here are some pictures of Kathy and I where we spotted the whio.