Gases, liquids and solids

In science we have been learning about solids, liquids and gases.

   We poured hot water on to dry ice to see what would happen.

The Room 15 Snail Olympics

We collected garden snails to compete in our snail olympics. We did everything we could to keep them healthy before their big race. They were given lots of green leafy food. We made them dark, moist habitats so that they wouldn't go into their shells and seal themselves in and miss their race.
First we needed to design a track. The teacher gave us a list of criteria. Most important was that the snails had to be safe.  We trained them on tracks made of different materials-grass, plastic, flax and wood. On their entry form we had to write their name, who were their trainers, how many centimetres they measured at full stretch and what their favourite food was.

 We had a Snail Olympics.

 Faster, faster, faster! Snails are not the fastest creature in the world. But it was fun anyway. We had to train our snails so that they would go faster. This one is getting measured. Like they say- slow but steady wins the race!   by Grace

      At the award ceremony the winners sat on the podiums and  got tiny gold, silver and bronze medals.

Pow welly what?

Room 15 went to the Nelson Provincial museum to see the Powelliphanta exhibition. Powelliphanta are giant native land snails which mostly live in the top of the South Island. They are carnivores and we saw a video of one sucking up an earthworm just like we suck up spaghetti! We found out that their worst predators are possums.

 We learnt that powelliphantas are gastropods like  conch and other sea snails. They move using their muscular foot.

 We hunted under leaf litter to find which predator had killed
the most snails. Then we made a bar graph to show what we found out. The longest bar was possums. Rats were the second worst.

We saw some different ways to control predators. There were traps and poison.













 Wekas peck a hole in the side of the snail shell and eat the snail inside.

Terrific tennis

Terrific Tennis

Riley has been teaching us how to play tennis. We have learnt how to do forehand and backhand hits. Next week we will learn how to serve.

Our Trip to Faulkner's Bush

We went to Faulkner's bush. It was a beautiful environment all around. As we walked into the swaying forest the cheeky fantails swooped above us.  By India

I heard leaves rustling in the wind in my ear and the evergreen trees swishing in the sky and the sound of shoes trampling on the smallest leaves. By Ben E

Tweet, tweet, tweet went the little singing birds, the wind was whispering in my ear and the trees swayed in the soft wind. Everybody got prepared and we went off on a walk. The green scenery was amazing. It felt like Mother Nature was looking over us. By Emma

It was time to go into the bush. First we went in a circle then we were back where we started. We took the steps to a hill. I got a bit tired. We went through the tickly grass to the top of the hill and we saw houses and the school. By Joshua

When we got in the bush we sketched the trees and then we went further into the bush. I saw a bridge and a creek was under the bridge too. When we got up to the top of the hill we started to sketch Wakefield School.  By Matt

The smell of green tickled my nostrils and tuis, fantails and wood pigeons tweeted in my ears. By Grace