Systems

This term we have starting learning about systems and how the parts in a system connect.
This week we have been looking at our star - the sun!
Here are some of the amazing information we have found out so far:

• The sun is our closest star.
• The sun provides us with energy, which supports life on our planet.
• The Earth orbits around the sun.
• The sun is way bigger than the Earth.
• The sun is VERY, VERY hot!
• The sun is made of gas.

We talked about this question.
What if we had 5 stars that were close to Earth?
We decided that if we had 5 stars as close to the Earth as the sun we would have no water because it would all dry up.  We also thought that it would be too hot for us to last long outside as it would be too hot to stay alive.

Jeffery's Impossible Bridge

I read the book called 'The Impossible Bridge' during reading.  It is about making bridges.  In the book the teacher challenged the children to make a bridge out of paper without using any sellotape or glue that could hold a toy car.  I made a bridge using just paper and this is what it looked like.  My bridge can hold a toy car.

By Jeffery Armstrong

Survival Video

Hi Room 3 and parents :).
Here is our Survival video at last.  There were some major problems getting this to upload so I have had to save it with a lower resolution and then upload the smaller file.  If anyone would like a copy of the original bring in a blank DVD and we can run a copy off for you.  What a wonderful effort from all of our little budding movie stars in this video.  Well done kids! 
Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday.
:)  Mrs Brown

A cicada in time-lapse

Brooklands Zoo Visit

Wow, what a great day the Junior Syndicate had at Brooklands Zoo and Pukekura Park.

Here are some more interesting facts about cicadas:

• Only male cicadas sing. They do this in an attempt to find a mate.
• Different species have different songs to attract only their own kind.
• Adult cicadas have short lives, usually only a few weeks.
• Most of their lives are spent as nymphs underground. For some species this can be up to several years.
• Cicadas feed only on plant sap using their piercing, sucking mouthparts.
• Cicadas feed on a huge range of plants, including eucalypts and grasses.
• Birds, bats, spiders, wasps, ants, mantids and tree crickets all prey on cicadas.

Can you answer this question:

What is the loudest insect in the world?

Post your answer as a comment.

Cicadas

Thanks for your great comments. Cicadas are very interesting. The male and female do make different noises. Only the male 'sings' by vibrating two drum like structures in his abdomen (called tymbals).  The females make a clicking sound to attract the males. We are having a great time learning lots of exciting facts. We have also learnt about their life cycle and what they eat.  We were fascinated to learn that cicadas have 5 eyes - 2 large compound eyes which they can see with and 3 small eyes which scientists think only detect light. 

Survival

Our topic for this term is SURVIVAL.  We are going to be learning how species continue to live through adversity and we will be investigating different species that live around our school.  

For this week (20-24 Feb) we will be learning about these creatures. 

Let us know what you think this creature is and any interesting information you know about it.  Looking forward to reading your replies. 

2012

Welcome to Room 3 in 2012.  We have already had a great start to the year and we are looking forward to all the different things that will be happening during Term 1.  Remember it's SWIMMING season so pop those togs and a towel in your school bag every day.  Speaking of swimming even Mrs Brown gets fairly wet most days - it's amazing how far the water in the pool can travel ;p.  Mondays is our library day so try and remember to bring your library book back to school on Friday or Monday so you can get a new book out during library time.

See you all back here soon.