Time to Test!

You may remember a few weeks ago 1V were working hard on a design challenge to create a device that could tell the time on the hour. This post explains the challenge and the design process of prototype #1.

Before we tested, 1V proudly showed off their first effort at creating their very own time device.

Shortly after, 1V went outside to test their time devices to see if they really could tell the time on the hour. Can you make a hypothesis about whether they were successful or not?

The students spent some time outside testing and then re-testing their devices. Some very interesting discoveries were made….including the fact that NO time devices were able to tell the time on the hour.

Was this a failure? Definitely not!

Just another learning experience.

1V then spent time investigating their peers’ time devices. They looked at some of the prototypes that had potential to tell the time on the hour and why this was so.

Hear some student reflections.

1V are keen to design their next prototypes. It sure will be intriguing to see what they come up with, given this newfound knowledge.

A glimpse through the window

1V have discovered that natural forces such as clouds, rain or the position of the sun can change the appearance of our landscape.

Did you know that humans can also change how a landscape looks too?

We read Window by Jeannie Baker: a wordless picture book that explores the concept of exponential change. The story highlights how our natural landscape can rapidly change into that of a built one.

Jeannie’s remarkable artwork in the story was used as inspiration for our own water colour paintings. 1V students visualised how the scene would look if they looked out their own fictitious windows.

What amazingly creative and talented artists we have in 1V.

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How do clouds form?

Do you know how clouds form?

1V do!

We  used the Scientific Method to investigate.

Step 1- Make an observation- We went outside and observed many clouds in the sky.

Step 2- Ask a question- How do the clouds get up there in the sky?

Step 3- Make our own hypothesis- I think that clouds are formed by…..

Step 4- Do a test- We experimented by making our own cloud.

Step 5- Record the results- We recorded our findings.

Step 6- Form a conclusion- Our experiment showed us that the tiny water droplets that formed on the dust particles in the warm air rose up to meet the cooler air. When enough water droplets group together a cloud is formed.

More information about how clouds are formed.

1V LOVE being scientists!

You can try this experiment with an adult at home too. Be sure to tell us how you go.

Making Connections

During our modelled and shared reading 1V have been learning how to use a number of the Super 6 Reading Strategies to help them gain a greater meaning of texts. Going beyond the word-level to get the big picture takes the students to a new level of active understanding and insight. It also enhances language and vocabulary knowledge.

This week we read the story Rosie Revere, Engineer. It’s a delightful rhyming text about a little girl who has aspirations to become an engineer. The story follows Rosie’s journey and in the end she is offered some words of wisdom to help her achieve her dreams.

After reading the story 1V made their own personal connections to the text. It was a little light bulb moment for some students. Asking…What is an engineer? To then realising that they in fact could also be considered engineers because they have built and designed things themselves and also failed- just like Rosie!

Hopefully this connection with the text has inspired the students to see failure as something that is just one of those challenges that is all part of the learning process.

“The only true failure can come if you quit.”
–Rosie Revere

 

 

 

 

 

Cloudy with a Chance of POETRY!

1V have been learning about how to express themselves creatively and let their imagination flow through in their writing. Poetry has been a focus and students are learning how to use poetic devices to convey their written message.

Learning how to write descriptively has been our focus over the past few weeks. Many writers just concentrate on what they can see but 1V have been learning that great writers use their 5 senses to write about what they can also smell, touch, taste and hear too! This enables the audience to be captivated by our writing and during reading they feel as though they’re immersed right in the text, becoming part of the scene.

So far 1v have learnt the structure of some types of poems, using subjects which have been linked to concepts that we have been investigating in our changes in the landscape unit.

These cloud shape poems were created by brainstorming what our senses would be experiencing if we were floating high amongst the clouds.The words were then written free form in a hand-drawn cloud shape.

The next poems were created in Tagxedo. It’s a fabulous online program that enables you to turn words into visually stunning word clouds. All you need is a few words and you’re all set! Try it out if you haven’t already done so. The 1V students would love to teach you and it’s also great fun!

The rainbow simile poems were a lovely introduction into how to use similes in descriptive writing by using the words like or as to compare two objects. 1V enjoyed trying to come up with a different matching adjective to all of their colourful nouns.

What sensational writers we have in 1V!

Our Wonder Wall

This term 1V are going to be using an Inquiry-based Learning method to help them investigate the changes in our sky and landscape. Students are naturally inquisitive and this method allows students to build on their own knowledge to seek further information  through questioning. It allows for differentiated learning because students are working to seek the answers to questions that spark their own curiosity.

Clouds have certainly sparked our curiosity and although there are many 1V students who certainly do know a great deal about nephology we soon realised that there were still things about clouds that we were wondering about.

All students were given a trusty post-it-note and asked to write down one thing they were still wondering about clouds. These were then displayed on our class Wonder Wall.

 

Students then re-wrote their wonder questions into their journals and set off to the ICT room to learn about how to ethically research the answers to their own questions using Kidrex. They learnt that locating and then typing keywords from their questions into the search bar was vital to obtaining the answers. They carefully read the information and then re-wrote their findings in their own words. What champions!

1V did amazingly well for their first time using the Inquiry-based Learning method. I am sure they’re all looking forward to doing some more inquiry learning in the near future.

Little Engineers

1V are busy at it again!. Engineering that is.

This term students have been set another engineering design challenge. This time to link it to our unit on changes in the sky and landscape they are required to design and engineer a device capable of telling the time on the hour.

This term we decided to go about it a little differently and create our first prototype using the limited prior knowledge that the students had. Students were familiar with an analogue clock and know how to tell the time on the hour. The class had been introduced to the idea that the landscape changes and also looked a little at the sun and noticed that it created shadows that appeared differently depending on whether it was morning or afternoon. We had also experimented by tracking the sun hourly over the course of the day to see the shadows move.

 

The following design challenge was then set:

We have lots of clocks inside to tell us the time (wall, computer etc.) but we don’t have any clocks outside.

Can you design a device that uses the sun/nature to tell the time of day?

• You can use any natural material as well as paper/ plastic cup/ paper plate / tape /pencils / chalk.
• You must be able to accurately show/record the time in hours.
• You must be able to reuse your device another day to check your accuracy. E.g use it on Monday and Tuesday to tell the time and see if it works both days.
• You need to record each time by writing or taking photos.

Students set to work on the engineering process. First designing and then building their own time devices. It was very interesting to see the way in which students interpreted the task and to what extent they used their background knowledge to engineer their device. There sure were some creative designs and ways in which students hypothesised how their time devices would work.

Please watch these videos. I guarantee you will just LOVE them!

 

Next step TESTING our first prototypes! Stay tuned!

PS- Parents- I’m sure you’re itching to give hints for when we engineer prototype #2 but I ask you to please refrain from doing so. This whole process encourages students to use their own critical thinking and problem solving skills throughout the whole engineering process.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our wonderful 1V mums and grandmas.

We hope you have had a special day with your families.

Click on our cinquain poem video below to see just how much we love and treasure our mums.

 

We also had fun with our shadow photos. Can you tell who is who?

Let’s get active

For the next two terms 1V will be getting active every Friday participating in the SISA sport program. The SISA teachers bring some pretty awesome sporting equipment to our school while the students get fit, get active and importantly also have fun.

Activities that the students will participate in over the next two terms include basic fundamental motor skills and physical activities of locomotion, throwing, launching, tracking, catching, hitting & striking, games, co-operative learning, balance, fitness, co-ordination and core stability.

Look how much we enjoy SISA!

 

 

Up, Down, All Around

This term 1V are investigating changes in the sky and landscape.

As an introduction to the unit we went outside our classroom to observe the sky and landscape around us, looking up, down, all around. We were particularly interested in looking at finding things in our environment that we thought could change.

Two different views of the sky taken by our student photographers from our playground.

 

We hypothesised that if the sky changed then the look of the landscape would too.

We put our theory to the test by observing and recording the changes that happened over a three day period at both a morning and afternoon time.

Wednesday- 10 am and then again at 3 pm.

Wednesday 10am

Wednesday 3pm

At 10 am we observed that the sky was bright blue and Oliver had a short shadow, dark shadow.

At 3 pm the sun had moved position. We noticed there were some fluffy white clouds in the sky and his shadow had changed direction and was much longer. One student thought the shadow was longer because Oliver had grown during the day. What a cute misconception!

Thursday-  10 am and then again at 3 pm.

Thursday 10am

Thursday 3pm

At 10 am we observed that the sky was covered in a blanket of clouds. The sun was trying to peek through but where was Oliver’s shadow?

At 3 pm the sky had cleared but there were some of those fluffy white clouds visible in the sky again along with the sun which had moved position in the sky. Oliver’s shadow was back now! It was long shadow and pointed in a similar direction to that at 3 pm on the day before.

Friday- 10 am and then again at 3 pm.

Friday 10am

Friday 3pm

At 10 am we observed that the sky was covered in some wispy white clouds. Oliver had a shadow in a similar direction to the first day but it didn’t seem to be as noticeable as it had been previously.

At 3 pm the sky was once again covered in a blanket of clouds and his shadow along with the sun had vanished.

After looking at the results 1V investigated whether there were any patterns to be observed over the three days. They realised that the sun and its position in the sky has a huge impact on the look of the landscape. The sun creates shadows of a similar size and direction at a similar time of day. Our little misconception (read above) about the shadow was cleared up when the student had the self realisation on the second day that the sun was much lower in the afternoon causing the shadow to appear longer. 1V also observed that no sun=no shadow. Clouds visible in the sky are also pretty wondrous too and they can take many shapes and forms. Is that a fluffy lamb I spot up there in the sky?

Stay tuned this term as we delve further into this unit. It’s sure to be jam packed full of fun as we explore student misconceptions and follow an inquiry method to discover the how, when and why of changes in the sky and landscape.

Creating funny body shadows is cool!