Magic Mathematicians

Two maths groups (pyramids and cones) have been learning a new strategy. They are learning to solve addition problems by splitting numbers to make a tidy ten number (such as 10, 20, 30, 40...100, 110 etc) using a number line.

Being able to use a number line correctly is an important skill to have. Here is one group showing off their number line skills. Well done guys!

You could try these ones at home:

87+6=

98+7=

325+7=

A visit from another expert!

Today we visited the star dome set up in the hall. It was amazing and very realistic. Here is a sneak peek of what we saw!

A Visit from an Expert!

Mr Esler came to visit us on Wednesday. He taught us some interesting facts about space. 

We learned that Pluto isn't a planet anymore because it is too small! Some planet's moons are bigger than pluto. The planets are all different colours and Jupiter has a red spot. We learned that you can't land your rocket on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they are made out of gas. At night when you look into the night sky you will know you are looking at a planet not a star because planets don't twinkle like stars do. Stars twinkle because they are burning hot balls of gas. 

Mr Esler also taught us about gravity. He brought along a model of a brick. When you pick up the model model brick it is very light (this is how heavy own normal bricks would feel if you were holding it on the moon), when we lifted it a little higher and held the milk bottle full of water up off the ground this would be how heavy an average brick would feel on Earth (we agreed!), when you lifted the model brick even higher and picked up the last two full milk bottles also this would be how heavy a brick would feel on Jupiter as the gravity is much stronger than Earth's. The brick was REALLY heavy. We decided that you would not want a job laying bricks on Jupiter!

In the background of our photos you can see the huge piece of space junk that Mr Esler brought along. Up until March this year it was the largest known piece of space junk. Its a 30kg titanium sphere, he found in Fiordland in 2003. Its a pressurant tank from an American rocket, and it has a big dent in it from when it smacked into the sea. It would have come flying out of space at over 200kmph. However, now another piece of space junk was found near Stewart Island earlier this year in March, which is even bigger and still filled with liquid! Now Mr Esler has the second largest piece of space junk! Here is the link to the story about the man who found the tank this year http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10184532/Houston-we-have-a-question

 Makayla is holding the weight of a brick on Earth

Now shes holding the weight of a brick on Jupiter

Our 100 Day Party

On Tuesday we had been at school for 100 days this year! We celebrated this mile stone by doing things by the 100. Most children in the class brought along 100 objects. We found the quickest way to count 100 items is by putting them into groups of 10.

How many groups of 10 are there in 100?

Here we are with our 100 items:

Saydee found 100 magnets in our classroom

Sam has 100 lentils 

Ethan brought 100 toothpicks

Stephanie has 100 loom bands

Summer has 100 loom bands too

Madison also brought along 100 loom bands

Allie brought 100 pink buttons

Georgia found 100 blocks in our classroom

Charlee brought 100 pop corn kernels 

Myia brought 100 loom bands

Tom brought along 100 marshmallows. YUM!

Anouk brought 100 pieces of spiral pasta

Makayla brought along 100 pieces of lego

Jack brought 102 popsicle sticks 

He had two packs of sticks - how many were in each pack?

Olivia brought along 100 small stones

Isabelle brought along 100 rose petals

Josh brought along 100 pumpkin seeds

George brought 100 chocolate buttons YUM!

Kazia brought 100 pieces of nutrigrain

Brianah brought along 100 silver ball sprinkles

(These were tricky to count! She did well!)

Well done everyone on finding and bringing along your 100 items! 

We were given the task to estimate how far we could go in 100 steps from our classroom door. Some children thought 100 steps would get them to the school gate, others thought 100 steps would get them to the edge of the playground, some thought they might be able to get to the playground and back in 100 steps. When we tested it we found that most of us reached the middle of the ramp outside room 7 some children took ginormous steps and reached the edge of the tennis court! Great estimating!

Our Upcoming 100 Day Party

We have been counting the days since we started school this year. When we left school on Friday (the last day of term 2) we had reached 98 days at school. This means that the 100th day will fall on our second day back in term 3, Tuesday 22 July.

I have set a challenge for the children of Room 3...

I challenge you to each bring along 100 small items on Tuesday to share with the class.

I am reminding you of this now so that you have time to think about it before you return to school in term 3.

Here are some suggestions for what you could bring along:
- small stones
- buttons
- pasta
- leaves
- popcorn kernels
etc etc

I look forward to seeing your 100 items at our 100th Day Party! 

French Baguettes for Lunch!

This term our inquiry topic has been "Where do we belong?" 

We have been looking at our country, New Zealand, and comparing it with France. 

We learned that people in France love to eat fresh bread. Today we baked our own fresh bread.

Some children made baguette style breads and others twisted or plaited their dough.

Here we are enjoying our tasty freshly baked bread - just like the people of France!

A huge thank you from all of Room 3 to Toni and Kristin for their help today! We couldn't have done it without you! Thank you!