Jaidyn's Motorbike Instructions

Jaidyn shared this video with me. I loved it and thought I would share it with you. I have put it under the label Adventure Learning because real learning is an adventure!



Jaidyn's Motorbike Instructions from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Does air weigh anything?

A powerful chop!

We have been doing science experiments around air, movement and force. Check out the wonderful science reports on our students' blogs like this one by Marcus. Yesterday we did a fun little experiment to prove if air weighs anything or not.

 Equipment: 

Ruler, newspaper, table, volunteer (who can karate chop).

 Method:

1. Place table on ruler so it balances with some of the ruler off the table.
2. Karate chop the ruler (to the side of the table).
3. Pick the ruler up, place it back where it was.
4. Screw up a sheet of newspaper, place it on top of the ruler on the table side.
5. Repeat step 2.
6. Repeat step 3.
7. Place a flat sheet of paper so that it covers the ruler on the table side. Smooth it down so that there is no air between the ruler and the piece of paper.
8. Repeat step 2.

 Hypothesis: 

 The ruler will flip with the force of the karate chop. When you put the screwed up bit of paper on, there will be a catapult effect. However, when you flatten the paper down, the weight of the air on the ruler acts like a counter force. When you karate chop this time, your force is met by the weight of air now holding the ruler down and the ruler smashes.

 Results: 

 Look and see!




Ruler Smash! from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Here is a clown doing the experiment:

 

Three Dice Multiplication Game

Room 16 love playing this multiplication game. It is very simple and involves addition, multiplication, number sense and written recording of equations in a simple table. Here is how to play:

Equipment:

• 3 dice
• Pencil and paper
• A buddy

Rules:

1. Draw a t-chart table with your name on one side and your buddy's on the other.
2. Take turns at throwing the three dice. When you throw the dice you use addition and then multiplication to get your score for that round. For example if I rolled 2, 6 and 4, I would go (2+4) x 6. That makes 6 x 6 = 36.
3. You keep a running total of your score. For example if I got 24 the next round, I would add 24 to 36 which gives me 60.
4. The first person to 200 is the winner. 
5. You could adapt this game in many ways, for example changing the target score.

Today, I played Nikitah J. I was in the lead early. Unfortunately, she finished the game stronger than me and deserved the ultimate victory. Hopefully, I will beat her next time. 

Update: Check out Nikitah's blog post (using Explain Everything)!

Nikitah's famous victory.

Two Weeks Until Camp!

There are now two school weeks until we go to Camp Kaitawa!

The video below has important advice for heading into the outdoors. By following The Outdoor Safety Code, we can enjoy all our outdoor adventures safely. It's from the Adventure Smart website, which is especially for enjoying the New Zealand outdoors. I watched it on Room 17's blog. They go to camp the week before us. 

First Aid with Room 17

First Aid Instructions from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Room 17 have been practising first aid and learning to write effective instructions. They invited us over and we had to follow their instructions on what to do if someone has a broken arm. Glad wrap rules!