Change of School Hours

My teacher thinks that intermediate students should start ten minutes earlier than other students in our full primary school.  But as an intermediate student I believe that an extra ten minutes a day would not make a difference. Think about it ten minutes everyday for what? To muck around or to learn, what child would what to wake up earlier  for school than they are used to?

If this preposterous change were to occur how would parents react to this? I think they would react to this the same way the students would because this not only affect the students but also the the parents that bring them to school. They would have to wake earlier to drop their children at school .

This will stress parents, students and teachers as they will have to change their daily routines. Some students catch a bus to school and they may need to catch an earlier one to arrive  to school for this new time.  Has anyone considered whether or not there may not be an available.

Consideration should surely be given to those students who may have younger siblings at the same school. In the primary school, these children could range from five years old through to 11 years!  They would have to wait 10 minutes for their lessons to start. And of course having to arrive ten minutes earlier also means that ten minutes of sleep is lost and this of course could result in teachers being faces with yawning faces and drowsiness.

The idea of beginning school earlier is  in my opinion is unfair!  If as in our case students attend the same school then surely the times they start school be the same.

Rich Tasks

At our school a group of Mathematicians have not only been solving Rich Tasks but have also provided this video for the audience to see how they worked out this Rich Task.

Why to start playing Basketball!

Why should you start playing basketball? This was a question that I was asked recently and I might add it when it came to responding, I realised it was indeed a good question’.

Basketball is an excellent sports code to take up  because first of all it is a fun and competitive sport which allows each participant to play and socialize with other who have the same interest. This active and competitive  sport also helps to exercise your body and improve not only ball handling skills, but also hand and eye coordination.

As a player myself, I recommend playing basketball because it is good exercise and if you haven't played yet it is something new to do because it will give you something to do other than sitting in front of the t.v. playing Minecraft (said from personal experience).

When playing basketball you need to have good endurance and stamina to keep up with other players in the game as you will often need to sprint across the court to the oppositions to guard your hoop. Training is an essential part of this sport to build endurance which is necessary for your role in the team and to support other team players.

While playing basketball is definitely fun, and increases opportunities to be part of a group with similar if not the same interests, one of the benefits I have noticed apart from keeping fit and healthy is the improvement in my breathing.   Through the training programme I have found it most beneficial in making me more conscious of the way I breathe and using my diaphragm properly when breathing,  which is particularly important because I am an asthmatic.

Basketball, I highly recommend you give it a go!

Playing basketball can be fun playing because it improves social skills and can let you get to know other people. As fun as basketball it is also beneficial for keeping fit and healthy, as an asthmatic it has helped my body and lungs to breathe prior to the training given to me through basketball. So really what i’m trying to say is that if you already haven't you should try playing basketball and you never really know, maybe you’ll like it.

The King Cobra

      
The King Cobra belongs to the Reptilian family.

Description:

They can live in different environments like Deserts, Bush or even in homes in the Philippines, other Asian countries and the Sahara Desert.

Appearance:

They are scaly like most reptilians but what separates them from looking like lizards is not particularly their size but the fact that they have no legs. Like all snakes the Cobra has fangs and deadly venom. They can grow up to 18.5 - 18.8 ft equivalent to 5.6 - 5.7m.

Food:

Using their venom snakes take down bigger animals than themselves. They are carnivorous and eat meat. The venom seep into the victim which slowly causes agony to the person which kills them.

Predators:

Even though the Cobra may be poisonous it is preyed upon us, humans. Some believe that to kill a ‘Serpent’ is beneficial because of religious beliefs or of the medical uses of their venom. Other than human beings the Cobra is predated by the Mongoose

which are almost immune to the venom.

Medical Uses:

The venom gathered from the snakes, can be used to make an anti venom medicine.This kind of medicine is made from venom that is ‘milked’. The venom is milked by medical researchers, this is called one their most ‘Prized Researches’. The medicine is used by people with high blood pressure, heart diseases, a stroke or  Alzheimer's Disease and Cancer.

Interesting Facts:

Snakes shed skin, the term for the shedding of the skin is called ecdysis. When the snake is ready to shed it’s eyes become clearer. During this process the Snake does not eat.            

                                                                                    

Conclusion: They are called King of Snakes so BEWARE!

Watch this Video to see the feared Cobra face off with its deadly predator the Mongoose

Tech

Sink or Float!

    This Experiment is called Sink or Float

     Equipment

     Plastic Container

     Water 2/4

    Table Salt

    Teaspoon

    Eye Dropper

    Clay

1) Fill the container 3/4 full with water

2) Put a small piece of clay around the bottom of the eye dropper.

   DO NOT BLOCK THE OPENING

3) Float the eye dropper in the water

4) Now squeeze the bulb of the dropper to let air out one drop at a time, testing after each drop to                          see if it sinks.

5) Once the dropper sinks, stir in teaspoons of salt into the water one at a time until it floats again.

Record how many tsps of salt it took to make the eye dropper float again.

Hypothesis: I think it will float.

It did not I think this was because of the smaller size of my container

We carried out a science investigation to find out what affect adding salt to water would have on an object that was weighted doing in water.

My Hypothesis: It would definitely float.

The investigation showed initially that adding salt made no difference. After adding and mixing 6 tsps of salt however the eye dropper did not float. Me and my partner altered our eye dropper by taking some clay off but it still did not work.

    This Experiment is called Sink or Float

     Equipment

     Plastic Container

     Water 2/4

    Table Salt

    Teaspoon

    Eye Dropper

    Clay

1) Fill the container 3/4 full with water

2) Put a small piece of clay around the bottom of the eye dropper.

   DO NOT BLOCK THE OPENING

3) Float the eye dropper in the water

4) Now squeeze the bulb of the dropper to let air out one drop at a time, testing after each drop to                          see if it sinks.

5) Once the dropper sinks, stir in teaspoons of salt into the water one at a time until it floats again.

Record how many tsps of salt it took to make the eye dropper float again.

Hypothesis: I think it will float.

It did not I think this was because of the smaller size of my container

We carried out a science investigation to find out what affect adding salt to water would have on an object that was weighted doing in water.

My Hypothesis: It would definitely float.

The investigation showed initially that adding salt made no difference. After adding and mixing 6 tsps of salt however the eye dropper did not float. Me and my partner altered our eye dropper by taking some clay off but it still did not work.

Technicraft - Making a Boom Box

At Room 8 we have been visiting Pakuranga Intermediate every Thursday. At the Intermediate we have been learning about electronics. For the past few weeks we have been building a Boom Box.

To learn about the process of how we made these click here.