Holt Planetarium Visit

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Replica model of the space shuttle!

Today Room 5 and Room 6 went to the Holt Planetarium in Napier. We got to view the night sky in extreme detail, guided by the amazing Mr Sparks. My favourite things under the dome were learning more about the significance of the Southern Cross and seeing exactly where all the planets and constellations are in the sky at the moment. The night sky is like a calendar.

I also loved the chance just to lean back and gaze at the night sky and get pointed out super cool stuff! Earlier, we watched an amazing video of NASA astronauts in space. It showed us some very amusing effects of being zero gravity.

I would strongly recommend a visit to the Hawke's Bay Holt Planetarium. Sunday evening is family night.

Images of Space

Today these photos were on the all whiteboard. They stayed up there all day long. Some of us talked about them. Some of us ignored them.

At the end of the day we stuck up post-its about the photos. We are becoming curious about our topic. There is so much to explore! Which is your favourite image?

Today my friend shared this photo. It is perfect as we start to get into our own inquiry projects based on this key question:

How do stars in the universe have an impact on us?

Speaking of curiosity, today we sent postcards to the Curiosity rover on Mars. Amazing! One of the many super activities you can try on the NASA Kids Club.

The Curiosity rover investigating Mars

What is Matariki?

Created with Padlet

Today we had a shared reading of the short information text, Matariki by Moira Wairama. Our Padlet shows what we now know about Matariki after reading this text. Many of us would like to find out more.

Planets, Stars and the Solar System

This is a great explanation of stars, planets and the solar system from the Science Learning Hub. You can watch their other videos exploring space here.

We are learning to explore, investigate, question and develop explanations. 

Key Question for our inquiry:

How do stars in the universe have an impact on us?

Outside Our Window

Outside our window we have a lovely view. Lately, our literacy groups have been writing hard or interesting words on the windows. I wonder if it will wash off.

Good readers notice words. They especially notice words they don't know the meaning of. They know it is important to find out the meaning of these words. The words in the window are from the Jedi Knights. What might they have been reading about?