Innovative Pizza Competition- Eva and Rebecca

 Late last term Eva and Rebecca, along with other HNI students, were offered an opportunity to enter an Innovative pizza competition. They practiced over the school holidays then had a cook off to see who  would go into the competition as only 10 from HNI could enter.  Eva and Rebecca were both chosen.  
The competition was held at the E.I.T on Sunday the 25th of May.  They had 45 minutes to cook the pizza's before judging began.  Nine HNI students won medals, with Eva gaining a Gold (yay, go Eva!!) and Rebecca being judged the overall winner (awesome!!), receiving a $50 voucher from Pipi's.  Her pizza recipe was roast vegetables and roast lamb with feta and basil.  I can vouch for how yummy these pizzas were!!

Mobius Strips- How many sides does a strip of paper have?

Mobius strips are made by taking a length of paper, putting a twist in it, then joining the ends.  After looking at these strips, and having to answer some questions, the class began to question everything they thought we knew about a strip of paper. You see, Mobius strips have only one side!  If you follow the curve of the strip with your finger you end up on the other side of the strip from where you started from, which, mathematically, means you are still on the same plane (side).

They get even more interesting if you attempt to cut them in half (along the red line in the photo).  You would expect to end up with two separate, distinct loops but no!  Instead, you get one stip with two twists in it!  Try and follow a side with your eyes back to the start.

However, if you cut the strip close to one side and follow this around the Mobius strip, an even more curious thing happens- you end up with two strips linked together, one loop inside the other.

Repeat the process and, did you guess? Three loops, two as above and the third looped through the first two.  We stopped there but the process can continue for quite some time.

There's an algorithm which explains all of this mathematically.  I'm leaving that to the experts.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

I have started reading this fascinating novel about Hugo Cabret, an orphaned boy who lives in the Paris Railway Station, to the class.  Admittedly, the class was a bit taken aback when I told them Part 2 of the story started at page 257 (how long would it take to read the novel?) but at the end of day one we had reached page 80 because of how the book is constructed- lots of illustrations and some pages have very few words.




Each morning we build on our knowledge of the story, the characters and the plot by expanding our concept web.  This is to help students understand how they can improve their own writing by determining all the myriad details, and the connections between the details, at the beginning of the writing process.  Over the next few weeks watch the web grow as I add new connections.

Some illustrations from the book:

Hasting Boys High School Assembly performance

At this afternoon's assembly we had the pleasure of having Hastings Boys High School's Kapa Haka, Barbershop Quartet, and Pasifika groups perform for us.  They  gave a powerful presentation of their talent and teamwork and were very well received.  We look forward to a return performance in July when the Kapa Haka group will go through their full repertoire in preparation for the Secondary Schools' national Kapa Haka competition.  Thanks Mrs Goodwin for the Pic Collage!

Explanation Writing- Rainbows

Planning: Rainbows:

• Form up of different colours (what are these colours, and how?)
• Mix of sun and rain
• Beams separate colours (light waves)
• White Light
• Prisms and raindrops

Every once and a while you’ll look up into the sky and see a half circle of different colours. This is called a rainbow. Here today you will learn what a rainbow is, what white light is and how the rainbow is created.

What is a rainbow? A rainbow is made up of seven different colours. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. When all these colours are combined they produce white light.

What is white light? When sunlight shines through a window you don’t see a rainbow. You may say you don’t see any colour but actually it’s just white light. That white light is made up of all the seven different colours of the rainbow.

How is the rainbow created? The sun produces different sized beams. Because white light is made up of the seven different colours when the sun rays pass through a raindrop which acts as a prism that’s when we see the rainbow because raindrops and prisms separate the white light.

In conclusion, a rainbow is made up of seven different colours. White light is the sun beams made up of the seven different colours of the rainbow. Also we see rainbow’s because when white light is mixed with a prism or a raindrop the white light splits into it’s seven different colours.

Rebecca

Inventors- Sophie chose Joseph Niepce (the camera)

The first camera was made by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce

Born 7 march 1765

Died 5 july 1833 aged 68

Signature

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce infomation

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was a French inventor, now usually considered as the inventor of photography. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving product of a photographic process: a print made from a photo engraved  printing plate in 1825. In 1826 or 1827 he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. Among Niépce's other inventions was the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude.

Early life

Niépce was born in Chalon-sur-Saône,  where his father was a wealthy lawyer; this caused the whole family to flee the French Revolution. His older brother Claude (1763–1828) was also his collaborator in research and invention, but died half-mad and broke in England, having squandered the family wealth in pursuit of non-opportunities for the Pyréolophore. Niepce also had a sister and a younger brother called Bernard.

Nicéphore was baptized Joseph but adopted the name Nicéphore, in honour of Saint Nicephorus the ninth-century Patriarch of Constantinople, while studying at the Oratorian college in Angers. At the college he learned science and the experimental method, rapidly achieving success and graduating to work as a professor of the college.

The first Camera    

Websites that I used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nic%C3%A9phore_Ni%C3%A9pce

Inventors of great things!! Tijuana chose Bartolomeo Dristofori (the piano)

Bartolomeo

Cristofori

(B.04.05.1655-D.27.01.1731) (Age 75)

What did he invent.

Bartolomeo Cristofori was the inventor  of the piano.

Why did he invent it.

Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano basically because it was his job. He was employed by Prince Ferdinando, a lover of music. His job was not only to repair the musical instruments played by the other employees of the prince, but also to invent new instruments.

Planning prior to writing an explanation about How Gumboots are Made- Matthew.

Explanation Writing- Courtney's explanation (a work in progress)- clearly thought-out pre-planning.

Planning:

How do you know it is a Earthquake? The Ground Shakes

Why does the ground shake? Because of the Seismic Waves

Where does the seismic waves come from? Rocks/Plates breaking

Why does the rock/plates Break? From the pressure they have built up

Why is there so much pressure? Because the rocks push against each

Why do the rocks push against each other? Because the plates expanded

Why do the plates expand? Because of the heat inside earth

How? Plan:

Earthquakes are most likely caused when two underground tectonic plates break apart and begin moving against each other. That causes seismic waves which makes the ground shake. When two tectonic plates are rubbing together they don’t just move smoothly, but catch on each other. The plates still push against each other, but without movement. Soon after, the plates break because of all the force they built up, this is the when the earthquake occurs.

While the earthquake is still going and afterwards, the plates continue to move until they catch on each other again. Underground where the plates break is called the focus of the earthquake, the place above the ground is called the epicenter.

Explanation writing- we are learning to follow a planning process to help us write clear explanations.

This is Chloe's (not-yet completed) explanation of how butane lighters work:

Planning:

Uses: light cigarettes, start fires, Lighting candles, Lighting BBQ and lighting fireworks.

How it works:

What is a lighter: The lighter was invented before the match. Chemist Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner invented the lighter in 1816.

What is a lighter? A lighter is a container that stores a gas called butane and starts a controllable flame when ignited by a spark.

What is a lighter’s uses? A lighter is used to light cigarettes, start fires and many more things such as Lighting candles, Lighting BBQ and lighting fireworks. It is used in gas stoves which do not automatically start. The lighter was invented before the match. Chemist Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner invented the lighter in 1816.

How does a lighter work? Inside almost all disposable lighters is butane, used to make it a liquid at high pressure but a gas when let go into the air.This means it can be stored as a liquid inside the lighter, made of plastic to give a high pressure vessel. Lowering the pressure by pressing a button and opening a hole lets a small amount of butane to go. A small spark will start the small flow of gas and start a flame. To create the spark, a piezoelectric crystal starts an electric charge when compressed or struck by a small hammer in the lighter.

Questioning strategies for Reading- Questioning

These are Wiremu's questions from School Jornal October 2011, level 4

Red Hot Racers- a School Journal article

Questions I Have from the text:

1. What does it mean when it says, “each student is absorbed by the challenge making a red hot racer”?

2. How would it get up to 100 km/h when the air canisters are so small?

3. How would they get the cars to have less friction so they go faster?

4. Does the fishing line slow the car down if the car started swerving?

5. Does it matter how long it is (the car is) and does it (length of the car) make it go faster or slower?

6. Could the air canister explode?

7. How would they be able to carve out the perfect shape for the car?

8. What was the point of them creating the red hot racers?

9. What did the students learn?

10. Would the car lift if it went really fast?

11. How long would air canister last before it runs out?

12. How much air could the CO2 canister hold?

13. How does the size of the wheels factor in how fast and far the car goes?

15. How did they get the cars to go so fast because looking at the size of the CO2 canister it looks really small?
16. What would happen if the car crashed?

DogoNews reading activities- Sahmara's Dead Sea article

Reading- Sahmara's reading from DogoNews:  Giant Sinkholes along the Shore of the Dead Sea Cause Concern

1. Where is the Dead Sea and why is unique?

The dead sea is in between Israel Jordan and it is really unique because of its salty waters.

    2.  Why does it attract so many visitors?  

Because of the massaging mud and the relaxing water where it is easy to float (because of the saltiness (salinity) of the water).                                                                                                            

    3.  What is causing so many sinkholes to form around the Dead Sea?

The buried minerals are touched the fresh water and that causes them to dissolve.  

    4.  What is one possible solution to prevent the Dead Sea disappearing all together?

Make it illegal to take water, salt and minerals (What is the water being used for?  The text states it is the water from the River Jordan being diverted for drinking and agriculture that is lessening the amount of water entering the Dead Sea).

    6.  Why are environmentalists concerned?

Because the Dead Sea is shrinking fast and one day it might be all gone.

Read the article here: Giant Sinkholes Along The Shores Of Dead Sea Cause Concern

Reading- Making Connections and Questioning strategies

Edward's questioning of a text- 'High Flyers (sic)', about NZ's own Richard Pearse

School journal part 4 number 3 2003

Making Connections(with the text, with the wider world (TV, News, reading)

• Richard Pearse was not the first person to fly a plane
• I have watched fair go ad awards
• Richard Pearse could not turn his plane when he made his first plane
• TVNZ Studios- I have seen before
• I Know that Richard Pearse Crashed his plane when he was flying
• Richard Pearse was one of the pioneers making the planes
• people believed that it was Richard Pearse who flyed first.  
• Richard Pearse was a quiet inventor
• Richard Pearse was a farmer
• Richard Pearse made several planes

Questions

• Where did they make the parts?
• How did the community know that they were making the model?
• How long has the ad competition been around ?
• Was all the classes from year 6,7 & 8 helping to make it?
• Why did they choose Richard Pearse ?(Book Cover)
• What materials did they use ?(Book Cover)
• What motivated the classes and school to enter the Fair Go Ad Awards?
• What made them win the Fair Go Ad Awards and why?
• How heavy was the plane?
• Where did he get his engine?  
• Where was the engine placed? It was put at the front of the plane on top   
• What motivated Richard Pearse to build his plane?
• Why did Richard Pearse keep quiet about his invention?
• Could Richard Pearse have waited to finish his plane?
• Was Richard pearse building fast when everyone started to make planes?
• Why did richard pearse put the propeller on the top of the plane?
• What type of wheels did Richard Pearse’s plane have?
• did the kids in the ad actually fly in the plane?
• Did he have a timetable for when he would make the plane?
• Did he have a job or any social life?
• what held Richard's plane together?